BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 9, 2022

Fred Hoiberg

Alonzo Verge

Derrick Walker

Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Postgame Press Conference

Northwestern 71 - Nebraska - 69

MODERATOR: We're going to get underway with our first press conference. For Nebraska we have Head Coach Fred Hoiberg, we have Senior Guard Alonzo Verge, Jr. and Junior Forward Derrick Walker.

Coach why don't you start off with an opening statement about the game.

COACH FRED HOIBERG: First of all, congratulations to Northwestern. They hung in there, stuck around after a brilliant first half by our team, continued to play well and build up what we've done the last three games. Couldn't have been prouder of our guys the way they finished the season after facing so much adversity over the course of the year and just kept battling and coming in. Behind the scenes, what you don't see is preparing, continuing to learn and continuing to grow. Played our best basketball this season. Unfortunately we had a horrible lull there in the second half where we allowed Northwestern to get comfortable. Better defensive energy was the best it's been maybe all year in the first half and we built that lead. We had a couple possessions I thought where we could have pushed it up even higher and they came out and really threw the first punch in the second half and got the momentum going. I think they hit nine of their first 10, so take your hat off to Northwestern for continuing to grind and continuing to play.

The thing I focused on, the thing I talked to our team about after the game is just how much I appreciate these guys and the guys that aren't going to be back here a year from now did a lot of things at the end of the season that our young guys can build on and young guys can learn from. It starts in a couple weeks when we get back in the weight room, the development part. But we showed certainly what we're capable of doing. We're going to have a lot of these guys back in a Husker uniform next year, but these guys' lives are going to go by very quickly. I'm 50, felt like I was in this position yesterday. Alonzo talked about that in the locker room after the game, just how quickly your career goes and don't have any regrets when it's over. Our guys continue to go out there and do things the right way and I couldn't be more proud of how they continue to battle and finished the year off the right way with playing our best basketball of the season. And that's something again that we can really build towards next year. These guys, hopefully when we take this program to where it's never been, can look back on this, say they played a big part in it because they really helped our young guys understand and realize what it's all about when you play basketball the right way, which our guys did really this last month.

Q. Derrick, what did you just see in the second half when Northwestern made that run and got back in the game?

DERRICK WALKER: Just a lot of mistakes on our end, a lot of mistakes we really didn't have in the first half. They did make a lot of shots, but came off of our mental mistakes.

Q. Alonzo, what changed for you guys on offense when Northwestern went to that zone?

ALONZO VERGE, JR.: We got pretty stagnant just holding the ball for just like two seconds longer. Then we took a timeout and Coach just told us start moving the ball a little bit more and we started getting to open the offense up. I just think we were stagnant for a little bit. It played a part with me not calling the plays and just getting into offense quicker. When they got in the zone, I should have got into offense faster. But yeah, that was the main key.

Q. Alonzo, you guys were up 15 there with 15 left. What was the feeling in the huddles on the court? Did you guys feel -- I guess you felt like you were in a pretty good spot, but did it feel like it felt the last few games for you, Alonzo?

ALONZO VERGE, JR.: We felt good, man. We felt like we were going to win. That's how we've been approaching the last couple games, feeling like we could win and beat everybody. We all had a good spirit, but I was just trying to remind everybody that it's not over, got to keep battling, keep fighting. I missed a couple box-outs at the end, just mental mistakes. Yeah, we were pretty confident that we were going to win.

Q. Alonzo mentioned the offensive rebounds in the second half. What could you guys have done better?

DERRICK WALKER: We could have boxed out better. We could have rebounded better, including me. My man got a few offensive rebounds and I take that very personal. Yeah, we just could have just stick to what we doing. Coach told us before the game, if they win the rebound battle, they're going to win. If we win it, we're going to win. I don't know what the rebounding number was, but the second half they really started to crash the boards a lot more and we didn't rebound it as we were supposed to.

Q. Derrick, how do you kind of assess the season as a whole? I know it's just over, but with the way things started and the way you finished, how do you look at everything overall now that it's done?

DERRICK WALKER: I haven't even got to think about that yet. I was planning on being here longer than tonight. I don't know how to answer that question yet.

Q. Alonzo, Fred mentioned everything that you and Derrick had done to maybe help the program spin forward. What do you feel like you've given to this program that you hope guys can take with them in the future?

ALONZO VERGE, JR.: Just intensity, man. Just I feel like I passed down. Just even Q (Quaran McPherson), I just try to work him, get him to work hard every day and battle with the guards. Even Kobe (Webster), just battling with him in practice every day and just getting the extra grind in. I feel like I just passed down intensity to those guys and how important it is to be vocal. I think I passed that down to them.

Q. I asked Derrick and Alonzo about it. What do you think changed about your offense when Northwestern went to that zone?

COACH FRED HOIBERG: We were humming pretty good there. It was a good change-up on their end. I think it was 8 out of 9 halves that we've been over 50 percent. I thought we were very efficient in that first half and really missed some good looks and fumbled a couple balls. After a couple possessions where I thought we were a little stagnant, once we got that thing in the paint, it did open things up and we missed some wide open shots against it. But you change up your defense to try and get a team out of a rhythm and that's what happened to our team tonight. Once Alonzo got into the paint, and started spraying it out and got some shots to fall, that forced them back into the man and (we) just didn't execute well enough in the end. We went too quick on the one, and that last one obviously with seven seconds left after the miss, we had a play to run up and we didn't get to it. Again, the thing I'm going to focus on, you can talk all you want about this game, it's just the appreciation I have for this group for how they continued to battle all season.

Q. What was going through your head when you have such a great first half? Like you said, you're up 15, did you feel like this was going to maybe go your guys' way?

COACH FRED HOIBERG: We continued to build off how we've been playing lately. I talked about this yesterday going back to the Iowa game where I thought we played really good basketball and we get rewarded by winning three games in a row, playing the right way and that carried over into tonight's game. I just thought the swagger and the energy we were playing with was exactly where we needed it. And then unfortunately we had a lull, they hit some shots and they completely took momentum away from us. Again, give Northwestern credit, they did a great job in the second half.

Q. What did you think of those last couple possessions where Alonzo and Trey both attacked the rim?

COACH FRED HOIBERG: That's what I just talked about, Jimmy. We obviously didn't execute very well.

Q. Fred, I want to ask you about Bryce. With the game time decision with him, obviously he struggled shooting. Was there any second thoughts about the amount of minutes that he played in this game just considering his injury status?

COACH FRED HOIBERG: No, I don't think so, Rob. Bryce is one of those guys that can play all day long. I did think his timing was a little bit off and then he has a couple shots that are right there in and out, that if those go down, it might have been a completely different outcome. But I appreciate Bryce going out with an injured wrist and giving it a go tonight, but we've obviously put the ball in his hands a lot late in games. We had the play called for him where we didn't get it to him there late in the game. Bryce, I'm proud of him for going out there and giving it a go without getting a lot of reps in practice this past week.