Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo and Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles Talk Spartans vs Huskers

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo Opening Statement "Back in the first half, Pettetway came down and that is what he does, he hits them in succession--he hit

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo

Opening Statement

"Back in the first half, Pettetway came down and that is what he does, he hits them in succession--he hit two tough shots. They weren't guarded, but they were long shots. Give him credit--that kind've broke it open. When you have 11 turnovers, and you miss 11 free throws and at least one front end of a one and one, you just aren't going to win on the road against good teams. Unfortunately. I thought when (Pitchford) got ejected, it was a strange game, with the fouls and the things that went on. Here is a team that shoots 62 percent (in Big Ten play), you have to give them a lot of credit because they made every free throw and shot their best percentage of the year. We did a helluva job on the boards considering they started to bring in more size in the lane. Dawson did a great job, Trice was put in a situation where he had to take a lot of shots because Valentine was in foul trouble much of the first half. They deserved to win it, and they deserved to win it more than they did. I think the positive I take out of this game for me---there was none. If I really stretch my imagination, I guess I would say that we never quit and came back and found a way to make it a game."

On foul trouble in first half, if he considered subbing players back in

"I would have, but Valentine was struggling so much, I had him out but we were just missing wide open shots. It was wide-left and wide-right, the way Petteway can drive, I just didn't have enough people to guard him. So maybe I could have, if you look at it, as you look, Valentine still played 28 minutes. I had Dawson in there, I had Trice in there, just about the whole way. It was really only Dawson, and I definitely couldn't do that with my bigs. Even Colby, he goes up there and he is a very good free throw shooter, and he bricks two free throws. Maybe I second guessed, that but wasn't something I thought about too be honest with you."

On why he thought the Pitchford ejection effected his team.

"I just thought in a little way it energized them, and the calls went different after that, I think they normally do. We had a gameplan going in with him, nothing major, just we didn't respond I think. I think those big guys did a better job of setting picks. Yet the whole thing came down to our offense, missing shot after shot that were good shots and turning the ball over that they get layups off of. Missing free throws was big also. You can't do that on the road and win.. I don't know how we scored 77 points with all the missed, all the bad turnovers and all the missed free throws."

On cutting the deficit down to under 10, then Shields and Petteway's run

"They were difficult to deal with, but as somebody said there was some tendencies that we picked up on that we did not cover. I just don't know why that happened, but I thought the most impressive thing was when they went to the line at the end, this is a team--Petteway is shooting 44 percent in the league. Give him credit, as a team they are shooting 63 percent and when in time, you learn something about the character of your team when you can step up to the line and make big shots. Give them credit they did."

On the second half comeback, does that make the first half that more frustrating

"It makes the first half more frustrating, What really has been frustrating is we have practiced good, felt good about our preparation, felt good about our mindset our guys had. As soon as a couple things go wrong for a couple of these guys, they look very unconfident. Valentine should never do that because he works harder than any player I have ever coached. So your confidence should never be rattled when that happens. If you have a scorers’ mentality and you don't make shots, it affects the team. To his credit, he did bounce back in the second half. He had 11 points and some rebounds. If you look at his stat line you thought he had a helluva game, without those turnovers. That is the thing, in the first half with 11, four or five turnovers led to layups. Makes those shooting percentages go up higher."

On turnovers, was it the atmosphere, energy, etc,

"I think it was a great atmosphere, and let me say one thing, I just got the chance to meet Avery and I commend all of you that are involved in this incredible thing. We went through something, similar, with a girl named Lacey (Holsworth), that kind of touched the hearts of the world by the time we got done. What you were doing for Chris, That is phenomenal. That was awesome, but did that bother us? I thought the problem was mental toughness on our part. We have played everywhere in the world with this program, that is not a shot at Nebraska, this arena was really good. I don't think that had to do with it, I think it was more of our mental makeup which I am disappointed with.

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Miles

On atmosphere

“The atmosphere in Pinnacle Bank Arena was is always good, but in January and February when we get Big Ten opponents, it’s phenomenal. Our fans are so great and certainly tonight with the cause and the Harriman family, especially Avery. The strength and resolve they’ve shown and the lessons they’ve shown our players. It was such a neat night”

On Walter Pitchford

“I thought Walt (Pitchford) deserved to get kicked out. After seeing it, he made a mistake. I know he’s sorry for that mistake, but you don’t do that. That’s uncalled for. Walt will learn from that.”

On his thoughts moving forward

“I’m very happy. We’ve done a nice job at home since the Indiana game. We’ve played really tough. I think our offense is getting better. We made our free throws when it mattered.”

On Tai Webster’s attitude change

“What I see is Tai (Webster) playing his butt off. I thought he used to play with a little bit of cool to him, and you can’t be cool and play. Unfortunately, he worked his way out of the rotation. I told him ‘you have to figure out what works for you, and until then, you aren’t playing.’ He’s playing his butt off and that’s what matters.”

On Leslee Smith’s increased playing time

“I thought his energy was okay. He had to come out only once. We’ll just see how sore he is tomorrow.”

On progress

“I’m never sure what to expect, so we’re just going to keep working hard, put our nose to the grindstone and overcome any obstacle that comes in our way and just not let it affect us.”

On getting outrebounded

“We got them in some other areas. We got to the foul line more because they fouled, but we were going to get there anyway. We turned them over a little bit more. We shot the ball better.”