Story by NU Athletic Communication
*-Braden Frager finished with 21 points, including six 3-pointers. NU has had three players hit at least five 3-pointers in the two exhibition games (Mast-7 and Essegian-5 vs. BYU).
*-Nebraska hit 15 3-pointers which would have eclipsed last season’s high.
*-Kendall Blue had a team-high five assists and no turnovers in 14 minutes off the bench
*-13 of the 15 players who played broke into the scoring column, as no Husker played more than 18:14
*-Nebraska averaged 90.5 ppg during its two exhibition wins
*-Nebraska improves to 20-0 all-time in exhibition games against in-state foes
Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg
On using the next week to figure out rotation spots.
“The one thing about this team is that it could be somebody different every night. And you know, Reink I think went for eight points in his 13 minutes, but you know, Ugnius (Jarusevicius) had a day in practice last week where he looked like Reink in the BYU game, where he hit 7 threes. So you know it could be anybody’s night, and our guys have to be okay with that. You might not play as much on certain nights, you know, we have talked about that, and I think this team is very selfless and very unselfish. If we continue with that throughout this season, we have a chance.
On narrowing down the guard spot
“Well, I think Jamarques (Lawrence) has been great with it. I thought Kendall (Blue) I said gave us good minutes, Sam and Cale both can initiate for us, and then you got Reink and Berke brought the ball down the floor quite a bit tonight as well. So again, I know I talked earlier about the point guard by committee, and we got a lot of guys that can initiate for us.”
On Braden Frager
“Well, I think he was the one guy that you know, played well against BYU, and he was the one guy that didn't score. So you know it was good to see, like this is what Braden can do. He can really get it going. He’s very streaky when he gets hot like that, and you saw it. It’s almost like there is nobody else on the floor, and you know sometimes that’s a great thing and sometimes it’s not. But you know, he really took the lid off the basket. Pryce obviously had it going as well between the two of them; they’re making 10 threes. Last week, it was Rienk and Connor that made 12 threes combined. That's the beauty of Braden Freger; he’s athletic. You know, I would love to see him go in there with two hands on the one he got going to the rim there in the
2nd half, but overall, this is a very important game for Braden, you know, to see that thing go in the hoop, and hopefully be a confidence builder for him heading into the open.
Midland Head coach Tyler Erwin
On what he can take from this game, giving them confidence going into the season
“I can go back and look at the film, but for the first 14 or 15 minutes, we did some good things. We were within striking distance. We made a few shots. We made a few plays. We followed our script. We followed our scout. Just like anything, we wanted to get off to a good start, and we did. That gave us confidence right away. Their Big Ten bodies and athleticism just wear on you.”
On defensive intensity in the first half
Fred (Hoiberg) and their staff do a great job of their offensive actions. They are a tough guard, whether we switch ball screens or hedge. It has been an emphasis for us because we have to be better defensively in the half-court. And tonight, it's tough, because their bodies are different. We aren't going to see that type of athleticism and bodies night in and night out in our league. But it's a great experience for us.
On returning 3 of 4 top scorers from last year and being projected to finish 5th in their league
“It's not where you start, it's where you finish. We feel like we have taken a step. We have had some heated practices over this fall and summer. We have some good depth now. Going into my fourth year I feel like we have that athleticism, which didn’t show tonight because their athleticism is a bit different then ours. But we do have good athleticism, and I like our depth. I like the direction that we are headed. Quick turnaround for us, on Wednesday and our home opener on Friday. Just trying to stack days. We can teach film here tonight and be better. And just constantly working on the process to be better.”