Post-Game Quotes: Nebraska

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo

Opening Statement…
That was some of the best basketball that we've played in a while. Give my staff a lot of credit. I thought that Fred did some really good things defensively, how they prepped the baseline, and we played to it. But the hockey assists, the ball movement, the extra assists and the extra passes; and yes, we made shots at the end, but some of them were practice shots because I thought that the ball movement was so good. In the second half, I was a little disappointed, because A.J. (Hoggard) played so good. I feel like the head died a little bit in that stretch and the body followed it. To his credit, he bounced back, and all in all had a very good game. I felt like, even though Joey (Hauser) got a double-double, Joey missed some good shots. I thought that Jaden (Akins) missed some good shots in the second half, but he had some great ones. We played good defense. We had 24 assists on 31 baskets. We got 65 shots up. We only had nine turnovers. We hurt them bad on the boards, which we haven't done in a while. So, all in all, other than missing those shots and shooting 32% in the second half, I thought it was one of our best games in a while. I was very concerned about the game, and they (Nebraska) have been playing really well. I think that Fred (Hoiberg) has done a hell of a job with this team. Tonight, they didn't make some shots, and I didn't think they guarded quite as well. Some of that can be attributed to our ball movement, but it was a start. Malik (Hall) just brings a calmness to our team. He wasn't great, but I just feel comfortable when he's in there. I think we're going to get better, and that's the name of the game right now.

On how MSU's ball movement effected the game…
I think it does wear on the defense, especially when the game plan; they double the post. They're really good at it. They come from baseline side, and we just decided that we weren't going to mess with it. We were going to get it out and get it moving, but that's easier said than done. This time, we did it. They move so well to the ball, but the crosscourt passes were open. Somebody has got to make those shots. I thought that Joey (Hauser) had some good shots early that he missed. But Tyson (Walker), it was fun to see him, because he's been struggling. He has been missing shots, but he's come in and worked. We've talked about getting a little more arch on the ball. He was fired up, because today, he did a good job in the shootaround, and that's why at the end of the game, he felt good. He was almost thankful. He was like, 'thanks for the help.' I think that's a big positive with this team right now. We will work on the little glitches that we had in those stretches, but I thought all in all, the ball movement put us in position to make good shots.

On his level of confidence in the team so far…
I don't know yet. I'm not confident in this team yet. We had one good game. We've played decent in the last couple of games, but the competition hasn't been the same as it was during that 11 games in 30 days. I don't think Malik (Hall) is anywhere near the guy that he's going to be. But, he just brings something to the table. And Pierre (Brooks) hit some shots. He's got to work a little better defensively. I thought that Jaxon Kohler made some nice plays, but he too though, defensively, we struggle a little bit. So we've got some things that we need to get better at, but I think the ceiling is a lot higher than it was a couple of weeks ago. Most of that is getting two of our guys back healthy.

On how the team worked together to find success…
We wanted to get the ball moving, and we wanted to get bodies moving, so we did do a better job of that. Mady (Sissoko) did a good job of calling some of those things. I thought A.J. (Hoggard) did a good job directing them. We did a good job as a team tonight. Everybody, the assistant coaches, the coaches, the trainer did a good job. I thought that there were a lot of great things, but that stretch in the second half made me realize that we still have some immaturity left in us. That's what I told them at timeout, and that's what I told A.J. on the floor. He's got to be the guy. Mateen (Cleaves) would have strangled a couple of guys. But, you've got to hold yourself accountable first. We are playing him maybe a few too many minutes. We've got to get Malik's (Hall) minutes up, and we've got to get Pierre's (Brooks) minutes up. Then, maybe we can get A.J.'s down a bit, because he has to guard the opponent's best guy usually, and he still has to push the ball, so some of it is my fault too.

On the progress he has seen from freshman forward Jaxon Kohler…
I don't know how ready he is for the next 17 games, but he's definitely made some progress. He's getting in better shape, but he still gets tired. His offense; he's starting to feel a little more comfortable offensively, which he really is a good offensive player. He is starting to do a few things defensively, I think. The one thing that I would really like to see him improve on; because he's a good rebounder, and he had three tonight. But, I thought a couple of those, he has a knack for rebounding even though he doesn't jump very high. I'm very pleased with Jaxon. Those freshmen were under fire. They got thrown into a deal, and he played 14 minutes tonight. He's been playing 13 or 14 minutes a night, and that's a lot of minutes for a freshman in his situation. We've gotten a lot out of our two freshmen, and I think we're going to play Carson (Cooper) a little bit more because of the problems that we had with their (Nebraska's) athletic ability. Of the three guys, Carson is probably the best athlete, so we probably could have played him a bit more.

On the role Malik Hall plays in bringing calmness to the MSU roster…
He knows when to drive the ball. He made a couple of nice drives. That one right before halftime, there are still times when you come back from injury that your head tells your body what to do, and your body usually tells your head to go to hell. Until you get back feeling comfortable with your dribble and your decision making, and that just comes with time and reps. He laughed about it as we were walking off the court, because he agreed. If I need him to be grounded and just do his job, he's very good at it. As he gets more comfortable, I think he's going to be able to hurt some people, because we can play him at so many different positions. He can post up. He can handle the ball. And he's been shooting it really well, even though he didn't shoot it very well tonight. I love the direction he's headed in, and I wish I could speed it up, but that's not going to happen. He is a guy, unlike Jaden (Akins), where he understands that because he is a four-year player. He knows what he's got to do, what he can do, and what he can't do a little bit better. We will be able to gradually get him there.

On the play of Mady Sissoko…
Mady, I thought, did a great job. He had to guard (Derrick) Walker, and Walker really puts the ball on the floor well. One of our biggest fears. He really does get rebounds and goes, I've seen him get two, three layups a game. We did a pretty good job as a team with that. Mady did a decent job, but that kid just bullied him. And I thought he played pretty good. He rebounded well, blocked three shots, didn't get as many touches in there because of the way they played. But yeah, I was pleased. Our centers played good, our guards played pretty good. Everybody played pretty well, that's why you win by 20. Otherwise, you don't. Especially against a good team. And I think that is a good team. And they've proven it all year.

On the Spartans' ability to limit their turnovers this year…
Well, I think we're a year older. We've got some guys that play together. I've done a poor job over my career – that's one area – I think we've turned the ball over too much. We use the excuse that we're a running team, but there's no excuses. I'm kind of hard on our guys on a lot of things. That's one that I haven't been. So, I look at it as more my fault than their fault. But, we have done a better job. We've talked about it as one of the goals this year, trying to get it down to 10 (turnovers per game). We've made some progress. We've had a couple slip-ups, but for the most part, we've made some progress.

On what it'll take to win the league this year…
You know, one of the sad things for me about where the league has gone is who plays who once and who plays who twice. That's what's going to determine some of it. You gotta win games, but somebody's going to get a tremendous advantage, somebody's going to get a tremendous disadvantage, and a bunch of teams are going to be in the middle. And then, do you hit a team when they're hot? Do you hit a team when they're injured? I think this league is the deepest it's been in 15 years. I didn't say the best. Predominately, Northwestern's been an average team the last few years. They're good. They got it handed to them (against Ohio State), but they're good. This team (Nebraska) has proven it on the road and at home, and they're really good. Rutgers, they're really good. So, I think what happens is the bottom is really good. But, I don't think the top, other than Purdue, has shown to be really, really good. A couple years ago, we had three or four of us, and we were in there, were in the top 10. We don't have that right now, but boy, we have a lot of good teams. And we've played tougher schedules. That's one thing that bothers me about some of the rankings. I don't think they've taken into account – other Big Ten teams, not us – that they've played a lot tougher schedules than they had in the past. So, I think the league is really good. I don't know what's going to win it. I think it's assumed that some of those teams wouldn't be very good. Some of those teams have been really good. And some of the teams that everybody assumed would be really good haven't been quite as good. You're going to have to play good. You can't drop a game at home like we did. That's a problem. But, some of it's going to be schedule-related too, I really believe.

Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg

On if he was happy with the looks his team was getting…
You're not going to win a lot of games on the road when you shoot those percentages. I don't think our urgency was where it needed to be on the other end. Tyson Walker got a look early and we didn't get our hand up and you saw what happened. They got confident and on the other end the ball wasn't going in the hoop. That affects your defensive energy, it shouldn't, but with human nature I've been around this game long enough and it does unfortunately. We've been hanging in there for the most part all year. The identity of this team has been being able to guard and we've been struggling. We're really struggling to shoot the ball right now and we have to keep that energy going on the other end regardless of what is happening offensively. Second half we came out and I thought we had great energy. It was what we needed and we climbed back into the game and cut it to 12, but were 1-for-6 from the free throw line in that span. You knock a couple of those free ones in and you might have a chance. Our guys kept fighting, I'm proud of them for that in the second half with the way they came out. As far as the looks, I thought we had some good ones in the first half, but I thought we got sped up a little bit. Give credit to Michigan State, they came out with the right mentality tonight and set the tone. We missed a couple of easy ones at the basket and the free-throw line continues to be a struggle for our team.

On trying to disrupt Tyson Walker in the second half of play…
He hit some tough shots. I thought we got separated a little bit on a few of those screens. Emmanuel Bandoumel is one of the better defenders in this league and I thought he did a good job sticking to him much better in the second half. They hit some big shots in the second half though. Joey Hauser hit one in the corner. They hit some tough pull ups and part of that is I think the confidence we gave them in the first half. It has to be a sustained 40-minute effort in this league if you're going to have a chance to win and win consistently.

On Michigan State…
It's a very versatile team, especially with Malik Hall back in the lineup. They're able to play a lot of different combinations. They go Malik and the four and Joey at the five, they've got Pierre Brooks II out there. They have a lot of guys that can contribute. Love (Jaxon) Kohler as a young player. He made a couple tough shots for them in the first half, and then those guards with the experience that they have. But nothing changes. Tom (Izzo)'s teams always come out and play with great energy. They make it difficult on you with the speed that they play with. It's impossible to simulate that in practice. We put two keys on our board, get back and rebound. We got smoked on the glass and in the first half they got too many in transition on us.

Michigan State senior guard Tyson Walker

On playing off the ball and having the opportunity to score more...
It was good because I'm still on the court. I feel helpful when I'm there and free up the ball for everything. It helps me gain some confidence and be more aggressive.

Michigan State senior forward Joey Hauser

On Tyson Walker's performance...
That was awesome seeing him bounce back. I mean, he's struggled a little bit with his shot lately. I mean, he almost outscored them in the first half, We know that on any given night he can break out and go on a streak like that.

On the team building a rhythm heading into conference play...
Yeah, it's really important, you know. We got all of our pieces back now. I know Malik (Hall) is still working his way in, but, you get everybody back, it kinda builds that chemistry. The ball was really moving tonight. That's the way you win games.

Michigan State freshman forward Jaxon Kohler

On balancing his offensive and defensive games...
I mean, every day is a work in progress. I'm just trying to find ways to become a better defender, and always trying to take mental notes, and try to do everything I can to my knowledge to become a better defender.

Players Mentioned

Pierre Brooks II

Malik Hall

Joey Hauser

Jaxon Kohler

Mady Sissoko

Tyson Walker

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