Gallegos

Biggs

Webster

South Carolina State Men's Basketball Head Coach Quotes Murray Garvin

Opening Statement-

"I thought the game was a tale of two halves. I thought in the first half we jumped out and got a few baskets and we were in the basketball game. In the second half we came out and it was much the same for the first five or six minutes and then after that our execution dropped off. Nebraska, they are good enough to capitalize on our mistakes."

On the team's offensive ball movement

"The ball movement was good for about 26 minutes for the game and then it kinda got stuck. Sometimes we get into a hole and we kinda put it on ourselves to try and dig ourselves out. But give credit to Nebraska they have a really solid basketball team."

--Garvin asks if it was Biggs and Gallegos first game this year-- "Yeah.. right.. *laughs* We did not see them on the film and that really worked to their advantage. I believe both of them were in double figures tonight. You know we have to move on to the next one, we have another one here before we go back to South Carolina. We play UNO (Nebraska-Omaha) 48 hours from now."

On defensive strategy during the game

"Well, we like to keep teams off balance in that they have to really recognize what we are in defensively every possession."

On the moment with Coach Miles in the first half

"We had Louie Adams get injured, so he got to pick who shot the free throw and I tried to slide our best free throw shooter in. They (Nebraska) were going over their scouting report trying to find our worst free throw shooter and he was confused on the numbers so I tried to get my guy in that I wanted in."

Senior Ray Gallegos

On coming back after suspension

�It felt pretty good to just be out there and contribute and do my part being out there with my teammates. I�ve been working hard in practice and I�m just finally getting to show it. It feels good again.�

On making 6 three-pointers

�My goal this year is to really put the ball on the floor more and try to get to the cut more. Obviously, I didn�t really do that tonight, but 6 threes is always pretty good so I can�t really complain.�

On Deverell Biggs

�He�s a big help. He gets to the cut a lot. He�s a strong guard. He can make a lot of plays happen for us and he looks for the open man. He can also score. He�s a really big offensive threat so he helps a lot.�

On Biggs and him working together

�He knows we�re looking for each other, and also Tai (Webster) too. All of us are just trying to play off of each other.�

On if the past three wins gives momentum heading into the tournament in Charleston

�I think it helps because UMass is very good actually. We just have to take it a day at a time and practice and get ready for that game.�

On if the team had to adjust with him back on the court

�In the first half it kind of seemed like a lot of players were just trying to get shots for themselves. I think in the second half we all just figured it out and started clicking together and sharing the ball, moving it around.�

On if his shots were coming easier than last season

�It feels like it. I don�t really have to do too much work because we have other scorers on the team as well. We�re a lot more talented and deeper. I don�t have to worry about other players and can just wait.�

On how many minutes per game he can play

�Whatever it takes to win.�

Junior Deverell Biggs

On how his first game felt

�I�m blessed to go out there and showcase what God gave me. It�s been a long road for me, a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of places I�ve played at. I�m just happy to be here playing for my home town, my home state and get the job done.�

On if they had to adjust with him in there for his first game

�With the guys, no. We play every day with each other. I get used to how they play and they get used to how I play. In the game, it�s probably just a little bit different because the lights are on. A lot of people change when the lights come on. It was easy.�

On shooting ten free throws and drawing fouls

�That�s how many I shot? I can pretty much shoot about ten to twelve free throw shots per game. I feel like I�m that physical going towards the rim. I can draw a couple fouls.�

On the new rules

�That�s the only part I need to adjust to, the new rules. If you touch them it�s a foul. It�s the same way with me. I like the old style better but the new style I can handle."

On how he feels about his shot

�I didn�t even showcase my shot today, I just wanted to get to the rim. It�s kind of hard to scout me because I can do a lot of things. I can shoot and pretty much drive. I feel like I can do a lot, more than what I did tonight. Good luck scouting me.�

On what Ray Gallegos and him said to each other before the game

�First game back. We have to showcase the good talent that we have. Go out there, play hard and have fun. Those are the only things we said to each other.�

On where this team lines up in the MEAC this season

"I think it is wide open, there are a lot of new players playing because a lot of players graduated. I still like our chances--at this time of the year it is tough for teams in our league because of the amount of road games we play. I think we will be okay, as long as we stick together and keep trying to get better every night and we win the games we are supposed to win and compete in the games we are not favored in. I think we will be ok before conference starts."

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles

On how Ray Gallegos and Deverell Biggs impacted the game

�Ray, first of all, we got him shots that I know he can make. Last year we had to run him off of so many actions. He�s a spot-up jump shooter and he�s got good elevation on it. I thought those were most of the shots he took today. He took a couple other ones coming off of screens. Deverell is really clever with the ball. We got Ray really good looks which is why he went six for ten. Deverell is one of those guys that is a home run hitter. Home run hitters strike out some too. You�d rather have a guy like that who can go out and make plays. If you play with the defensive discipline, then you can live with some of those mistakes. He played a lot of minutes and we only turned the ball over five times which is a real concern about inserting him into the lineup. One of those turnovers was a freshman trying to be a hot dog, or it would have been better than that. We�re getting better with ball handling. We still take some really questionable shots, which is why we don�t have very many turnovers, because we�re taking bad shots before we turn it over.�

On the game overall

�I think we were in some foul trouble. Tai (Webster) has kind of taken that role on as a distributor and we need him a little more that way. I think we�re going to figure it out. It�s interesting. We let play almost completely motion in the first half. Our first 19 possessions we only allowed ten points. I think we ended up with a 33 possession half and they scored 21 points in those last 14 possessions. That�s terrible defense. Some of that was bad offense, bad shots or whatever it might be. We�ve got a lot of room to grow, especially physicality inside defensively. I played small because I was letting them play motion against their zone and we didn�t rebound well at all. We had the first set of possessions and then we had a sub rotation and got Leslee (Smith) and Ray (Gallegos) in the game and Deverell (Biggs) was in there too. There was six guys where we extended the game that I thought was a really good bunch. They played together and did a lot of good things. Even during that time, I thought that South Carolina State threw in some tough shots right at the shot clock. Just some really difficult shots that they made.�

On the explanation for the technical foul on Walter Pitchford

�There was just an exchange of words that I think the official thought the exchange was directed toward him. I think it was toward another player. Either way, just play. Let�s not worry about talking to our opponents or anybody else. There was another exchange on a loose ball. Some games are like that. Guys are aggressive and they have pride. It can get heated. I thought the referees did a good job. There was a whistle on the next 11 possessions, but that�s to their credit. Those are veteran guys. They know what they�re doing.�

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                       1st   2nd   Total
South Carolina State    31    26      57
Nebraska                39    44      83
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Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.