Guard Glynn Watson Jr. blocked a Maryland triple on the Terrapins final possession, guard James Palmer Jr. sunk two free throws to ice the game and Nebraska (20-8, 11-4 Big Ten) escaped with a 70-66 win over Maryland (17-11, 6-9 Big Ten) on Tuesday night.
Here's a few notable quotes from after the game:
Head coach Tim Miles on picking one reason the Huskers beat the Terrapins:
“Well, the obvious answer is James Palmer’s outburst. It was really uplifting. It allowed us to stretch out and get a bit of a lead. But I really think our defense and ability to keep them off the 3-point line and still rebound with them was just as important. It’s just not as pretty.”
Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon on Palmer (24 points, 9-13 shooting):
“Well, he got hot obviously. Two of my best defenders to guard him both have fouls. We made some mistakes, too. We let him get to the rim. When [center Jordy Tshimanga] was in, our five-man should’ve been standing at the rim. It was pretty frustrating to be quite honest with you, but Palmer is good.
“I've watched him since he was a sophomore in high school. Nothing he did tonight surprised me.”
Watson on Palmer’s second-half scoring:
“That’s big man. I think he scored like 12 straight, 13 straight, I don’t know but he got cooking. I’ve got to talk to Coach Miles about taking him out. That was big. [Palmer and forward Isaiah Roby] made big plays at the end. Roby did a better job second half being aggressive, that was the key to winning.”
Miles on if Palmer is an All-Big Ten candidate:
“I’ve got to think about that, but he’s certainly all-conference worthy. I don’t know that I’d trade him for a lot of guys, so yeah, probably.”
Palmer on his scoring and what it feels like getting in a rhythm:
“It feels good. I mean, you know when you get in a rhythm, it’s like throwing a rock in the ocean. You don’t think you’re going to miss. The guys were doing a great job of finding me. Shoutout to Glynn, he got his 1,000th point tonight, that was big too.”
Watson on hitting 1,000 career points:
“It really doesn't mean anything to me unless we're winning. We've been winning. I haven't been playing that well on offense but I just try to bring it on defense. It means a lot that I got 1,000 points, but if you don't win it doesn't mean anything. So shout out to these guys for doing other things.”
Roby on if this game felt like a tournament game:
“Yeah, I mean, I think they're battling too, I'm not sure what their tournament chances are, but they're battling like a team that's trying to make it, too. So all the teams from here on out are playing for something, so every game is like a tournament game. You lose, it could hurt your chances a lot. So we're taking every day like it's our last, pretty much.”
Miles on if he thought his team came out nervous to start the game:
“I thought that we were a little nervous early. I really do think we were nervous. I thought the moment kind of got to us a little bit and both teams knew what was at stake. These are two teams that have to put together a run. We’re in the middle of one. Maryland needs to get on one, and they’ve just beat a good Northwestern team handily and this was a big opportunity for them.
“So I think that gravity certainly sunk in, the gravity of that moment. I told the guys after the game, ‘This is a special circumstance, but enjoy it. This is what you work for, so let’s relax. Let’s just stay in the moment, play great and don’t worry about, oh it’s a big game. They’re all big. Illinois is huge, so big deal. Just go out and play the way you can and I think the results will take care of themselves.’”
Derek is a newbie on the Hail Varsity staff covering Husker athletics. In college, he was best known as ‘that guy from Twitter.’ He has covered a Sugar Bowl, a tennis national championship and almost everything in between (except an NCAA men’s basketball tournament game… *tears*). In his spare time, he can be found arguing with literally anyone about sports.
