Gallegos

Ubel

Talley

Nebraska Postgame Notes

*-Shavon Shields made his first career start today, the first time in 15 games NU used a different starting lineup. With Shields and Benny Parker in the lineup, it marked the first time since 2009-10 that the Huskers started two freshmen in a game.

*-Nebraska held Wisconsin to a season-low 47 points, the eighth opponent held under 60 points this season. NU falls to 6-2 in those contests

*-Nebraska lost for the first time in eight games when getting three or more players into double figures

*-Brandon Ubel's 3-pointer with 2:24 left in the half was his first 3-pointer since Nov. 21. He went 2-for-2 from 3-point range after coming into the game just 1-of-9 from long distance. Ubel also had a career-high three blocked shots (previous high was two on five occasions).

*-Nebraska was held to 36.7 percent and is now 1-6 this season when shooting less than 40 percent from the field

*-Shavon Shields grabbed eight rebounds and is averaging 8.5 rebounds per game in NU's two Big Ten games.

*-Nebraska committed just eight turnovers, the sixth time this season Nebraska committed 10 turnovers or less.

Nebraska Coach Tim Miles

Opening Statement

"I told the guys in the locker room I can live with that effort. I can. I mean, that's got to be what our identity looks like: that kind of team that's out there scrapping and fighting. I can live with that. (I am) disappointed with the loss; kind of go back and forth on what we could've done late in the game and try to score the ball a little bit, right? There was a critical juncture in the five-minute area where we miss an inside layup and then miss a bonus-and then (Traevon) Jackson hit two tough plays on Benny (Parker). Benny's right there and fighting the whole way and Jackson made two tough plays."

On if NU's offensive struggles were self-imposed "We kind of disintegrated at times, shot selection-wise, you know? Dylan on the end of a clock took a bad three, and then with 25 seconds left inside, one off two feet-kind of a left-handed prayer. But there's a whole bunch of shots I thought we got that were good. We ran a play that was actually designed to be a drive play, Shavon (Shields) gets it out high, nobody around him, and that's a play you can drive, too. But some of these guys are used to just shooting that, and then we just shoot and miss. We tried to get Ray (Gallegos) going a little bit off some actions, and he hit a couple, but got a couple and missed. Brandon (Ubel) shot the three better today. We're challenged offensively regardless, so against a really good defensive team like Wisconsin, it doesn't surprise me that we're in the 40s."

On if it is easy to lose focus on offense in a defensive struggle "Basketball is like life: it needs to be in balance, so we don't just talk about defense-we're always talking about all facets of the game. I can't speak for the guys, but I thought we had some looks. My regret is, did we take too many outside shots? But we had a couple outside shots that were actually designed to be drive plays, and they just felt like they were open-and they were-and we just shot and missed. We tried to go inside earlier in the game and Brandon traveled twice and they blocked three other shots, so it was essentially five turnovers and I wasn't all that set on going back inside."

Nebraska Guard Dylan Talley

On how hard it was to get a basket today "It was tough, and Wisconsin played tough defense, but I thought we played a lot better (than at Ohio State). We improved, but we just have to continue to fight."

On what makes Wisconsin's defense so tough "They contest threes, and they do a good job of not fouling at the rim. It takes discipline not to foul. All your points come from tough twos, mainly. And they rebound the ball, so you don't get a lot of second-chance points. They have a tough team."

On if he feels like they let one through their hands "Yeah, definitely. We feel like we were right there. We feel like we should've won the game. They have a good team. It's the Big Ten. Sometimes you are going to come out on top and sometimes you aren't."

On if the defensive energy caused Nebraska to miss short on shots "No. It was not a factor. The defense was the No. 1 priority for us. If that's the cause for that, then we have to take it. We've got to play defense to stay in the game in this league. I don't think that was a factor at all. We just missed a couple shots I thought."

Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan

Opening Statement "That's as physical and as tough of a game on both sides. I thought our guys played extremely well defensively, and I thought their guys did too. I don't think there is any other way to describe this type of game. If you are a fan of people showing that they want something, no 'hot dogging' no 'in your face stuff' just all hard clean good basketball, and boy did it make for some tough looks at the basket. Then you get a little tight when some aren't going down, and that rim gets awfully small."

On the defense played "If you don't play like that, you don't come out of here with a win. Tim gets his guys to play like that too; he is doing a heck of a job coming into a situation like this. He is probably thinking about the open looks we allowed them to get. We were trying to guard a little bit better at times, but I thought they used their screens well, they got some looks, but maybe some times you are working so hard on defense your shots come up just a little tight."

On Ryan Evans free throw shooting, and how he played "That's why I had him out there, did you see those big rebounds and the blocks he had down the stretch. We just figured Nebraska would hack at him, so we put George (Marshall) in."

On Jared Berggren's performance in the second half "He just gave us life! It was like the guys were so down, and I could tell the guys were like thank goodness, because we finally had a guy that got into a rhythm and could put the ball through the net."

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                       1st   2nd   Total
Wisconsin               19    28      47
Nebraska                19    22      41
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Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.