Notable quotes from Nebraska’s 83-80 win over the Purdue Boilermakers.
Coach Tim Miles on the meaning of the day:
“This is a very important day for us for a lot of reasons. Obviously the win caps it off but our coaches versus cancer and Avery Strong Day, that really means something to this group. It’s a personal connection the way Kristen Eichorst organized the swabs and the bone marrow registry. I know we have four matches and that could be four saved lives. All of that combined with such a thrilling game made for a great day.”
On Michael Jacobson:
“I don’t know who knows what but Michael … We put Jordy (Tshimanga) in, he got a couple fouls and we were going to put Michael back in but Michael was gone. Where’s Michael? He’s vomiting, all right? He gets back later, Jordy back in. I’m ready to take Jordy out. Guys, get Jordy. Michael’s vomiting. So at halftime, he’s laying there with Dr. Albers and the trainer and he’s taking an IV. I just went in and said, ‘Hey, don’t kill yourself over a basketball game, for crying out loud.’ And he said, ‘No, no. I’ll be ready.’ I didn’t know if he was talking about a date later tonight or the basketball game but he came back out. He had some struggles but at the same time, I think there were two or three plays late where he had a stop and then he had a steal and then someone hit him for a layup on a cut. I don’t know who it was but it put us up by one. Then they called a timeout and it just gave me chills. He had the best fist pump I’ve seen in a long time.”
Purdue head coach Matt Painter on the difference makers in the game:
“I thought (Jack) McVeigh and (Jeriah) Horne were the difference in the game. I thought we did a pretty good job guarding Glynn Watson and Tai Webster. If you look at their numbers and how many shots they took and their percentages, if you would have told me that starting the game and we went 14-24 for 3, I’d say we were going to win this game but I thought Horne and I thought McVeigh were great and I thought their overall hustle to rebound, I mean (Michael) Jacobson got five offensive rebounds, Horne gets three but as a team they get 15. That’s pretty impressive.”
On what surprised him about Horne:
“It surprised me that he played. Most guys that don’t play in the game before don’t play but he was on the scouting report and we talked about him. He’s made shots before in games this year but not a lot. Any time you play sparingly, it’s hard to gauge a guy because it’s not who they are. It’s really hard to be consistent when you have inconsistent minutes.”
Jack McVeigh on what the win does for Nebraska’s place in the Big Ten:
“We battled. The other games where you put yourself in a situation where anything is possible and I’m sure as everyone has been watching the Big Ten lately, no game is a joke. You saw Rutgers and Wisconsin go at it. Every win is a good win and that’s really been proven here in conference play. That was a big win for the morale and in terms of positioning and everything.”
On being a team win:
“I just saw I went 70 percent from the free throw line. I don’t like that but it was good we got the win as a team. That’s big. Every night, someone has to step up and everyone did really when you look at it. The whole team played big time.”
Horne on Nebraska’s up and down season:
“I feel like that’s been our whole season, especially in the Big Ten. Unfortunately we’ve lost a couple close ones but tonight I feel like we just came together even more and we were able to get over the hump and make sure we had each other’s backs. It’s really important when we’re huddling together there and talking through things, that shows a lot about our team.”
Tai Webster on what this win means for the team:
“It was huge. I think a lot of guys contributed tonight. Especially for guys like Jack and Jeriah, obviously their minutes have not been the same lately and they’ve been on the bench a lot so for them to come in and contribute, they’ve been doing a good job in practice and coaches been on them a lot – especially Jeriah – it’s just a true show to their character to those young guys to follow the course, stay the course, face adversity and just come through and obviously we couldn’t have done it without the big plays by those guys tonight.”
On what he’s told Horne:
“Just to stay with it and when the success comes, just remind him what got him to that stage. He’s been practicing. He got called out by Coach Miles for his effort and he responded. He’s been practicing great lately. Even before we saw some success out of him, he’d been practicing really well so just constantly staying on him and reminding him what’s getting him to the performances he had tonight and in the past. Just being that guy on his side when it feels like everyone is against him in the world and letting him know that his time is going to come. If you just stay working and doing the little things right, consistently every day, as Coach Miles says redefine yourself every single day and get better every single day, it will come with time.”
On if the changes to the team routine pre-game helped:
“I think so. I think when you’re in the hotel, your mind is fully on basketball. As Coach Miles talks about, whatever dominates your thinking is where you’re going to go in life. I think just being locked in at the hotel, there’s no outside distractions. Coach makes sure are phones are off early. It’s a good feeling being in the captain’s standpoint knowing everyone is locked in and I think it showed today.”
Erin is the Deputy Editor and Digital Marketing Strategist for Hail Varsity. She has covered Nebraska athletics since 2012, which has included stops at Bleacher Report, Cox Media Group’s Land of 10, and even Hail Varsity (previously from 2012-2017). She has also been featured on the Big Ten Network, NET’s Big Red Wrap-Up, and a varsity of radio shows nationwide. When not covering the Huskers, Erin is probably at Chipotle.
