Q. A lot of teams in Nebraska's situation might have kind of folded up a little bit with COVID, the pause they had, not much hope for going to post-season. They've really fought. What's impressed you about them?
FRAN McCAFFERY: I think you have to give a lot of credit to Fred. When he got sick, when they first paused, he called me to tell me. He said, We're going to make up the games. We're all systems go. We'll get better.
You have to give them credit. Not only have they done that, they played well. They played really well yesterday. Won three out of the last four, whatever. Really playing well, sharing the ball.
I think making a statement with, okay, we had some difficulties we had to overcome, but we're going to go ahead and finish out the schedule, continue to compete. You got to respect that.
Q. You've been asked a lot in the last few of these that we've done about the way the defense has come around, really made a difference. Could you detail how the progress has been made and the results have been gotten.
FRAN McCAFFERY: It's not complicated, it really isn't. You have to get down and guard the ball off the dribble, you got to get back, you got to rebound. It's all connected that way.
When you only give up two offensive rebounds to Ohio State, a very good offensive rebounding team, that's a big statement. How we defend ball screens, doing a much better job there. This stuff is hard to guard when you have other actions going on.
I think our guys have really locked into personnel, scouting, really committed to playing defense on all levels, which is obviously transition, halfcourt, regardless of which defense we're in, and fighting people on the glass.
Q. Looks like you're going to be able to get all 27 of your games in this year. What does that say about your program? How have you been able to do that? A lot of teams can't say that.
FRAN McCAFFERY: I think it starts with the commitment our institution made, our department, to daily testing. It really comes down to the discipline I think that our players showed and a commitment to one another to be safe, do everything we could in terms of making good decisions off the floor so we can show up in practice every day, we can show up and play in all of our games.
I'm really proud of our institution, our department, Mr. Barta has done an unbelievable job along with Bruce Herrald and Kevin Warren, our commissioner, to put us in a position where we could make this happen.
Q. What do you see in Nebraska now that's different from a couple weeks ago? What are they doing differently now that they weren't doing before?
FRAN McCAFFERY: They're really sharing the ball, making really good decisions, playing very unselfishly I think. You look at the last six or seven games, they've played really well. Even before that, sometimes you look at a team's record and you think, They lost a bunch of games in a row. But every game they're right there. You kind of see it coming, they were going to win some.
Great play out of their center position. They're just playing more consistently, I think, with their decision making, their ball movement, their commitment on defense. They're a tough team. Just happen to be in a really good league.
Q. We haven't had a chance to ask you, I know this could change, but Jack's timeline for getting back, how he's dealing with this mentally? Where is Josh at? Is there a chance he could help you out as a big body in there?
FRAN McCAFFERY: Jack had surgery today. Went well. We expect him back sometime during the summer, maybe the middle, maybe the end of the summer. We expect him back next year. He has a very positive outlook on this whole thing despite what he's been through. He's been amazing, in my view. I've been doing this a long time. Really, really proud of him. We're all pulling for him.
Josh is getting better. He didn't make the trip to Ohio State. He wasn't feeling good. We'll see how he is today. But the other guy that can jump in there is Kris Murray. I think he's ready for a shot. That's a possibility. We could also play smaller, put Tony Perkins in there, a really athletic wing that really attacks the glass. There's a lot of ways we can go.
Obviously it starts with our top three subs: Keegan, Patrick and Joe T. We're able to play those eight, do okay with it. But at some point we're going to need another big guy, you're right. I'm comfortable, I should say getting more comfortable, with the possibility of playing Josh and Kris in particular.
FRAN McCAFFERY: I think you have to give a lot of credit to Fred. When he got sick, when they first paused, he called me to tell me. He said, We're going to make up the games. We're all systems go. We'll get better.
You have to give them credit. Not only have they done that, they played well. They played really well yesterday. Won three out of the last four, whatever. Really playing well, sharing the ball.
I think making a statement with, okay, we had some difficulties we had to overcome, but we're going to go ahead and finish out the schedule, continue to compete. You got to respect that.
Q. You've been asked a lot in the last few of these that we've done about the way the defense has come around, really made a difference. Could you detail how the progress has been made and the results have been gotten.
FRAN McCAFFERY: It's not complicated, it really isn't. You have to get down and guard the ball off the dribble, you got to get back, you got to rebound. It's all connected that way.
When you only give up two offensive rebounds to Ohio State, a very good offensive rebounding team, that's a big statement. How we defend ball screens, doing a much better job there. This stuff is hard to guard when you have other actions going on.
I think our guys have really locked into personnel, scouting, really committed to playing defense on all levels, which is obviously transition, halfcourt, regardless of which defense we're in, and fighting people on the glass.
Q. Looks like you're going to be able to get all 27 of your games in this year. What does that say about your program? How have you been able to do that? A lot of teams can't say that.
FRAN McCAFFERY: I think it starts with the commitment our institution made, our department, to daily testing. It really comes down to the discipline I think that our players showed and a commitment to one another to be safe, do everything we could in terms of making good decisions off the floor so we can show up in practice every day, we can show up and play in all of our games.
I'm really proud of our institution, our department, Mr. Barta has done an unbelievable job along with Bruce Herrald and Kevin Warren, our commissioner, to put us in a position where we could make this happen.
Q. What do you see in Nebraska now that's different from a couple weeks ago? What are they doing differently now that they weren't doing before?
FRAN McCAFFERY: They're really sharing the ball, making really good decisions, playing very unselfishly I think. You look at the last six or seven games, they've played really well. Even before that, sometimes you look at a team's record and you think, They lost a bunch of games in a row. But every game they're right there. You kind of see it coming, they were going to win some.
Great play out of their center position. They're just playing more consistently, I think, with their decision making, their ball movement, their commitment on defense. They're a tough team. Just happen to be in a really good league.
Q. We haven't had a chance to ask you, I know this could change, but Jack's timeline for getting back, how he's dealing with this mentally? Where is Josh at? Is there a chance he could help you out as a big body in there?
FRAN McCAFFERY: Jack had surgery today. Went well. We expect him back sometime during the summer, maybe the middle, maybe the end of the summer. We expect him back next year. He has a very positive outlook on this whole thing despite what he's been through. He's been amazing, in my view. I've been doing this a long time. Really, really proud of him. We're all pulling for him.
Josh is getting better. He didn't make the trip to Ohio State. He wasn't feeling good. We'll see how he is today. But the other guy that can jump in there is Kris Murray. I think he's ready for a shot. That's a possibility. We could also play smaller, put Tony Perkins in there, a really athletic wing that really attacks the glass. There's a lot of ways we can go.
Obviously it starts with our top three subs: Keegan, Patrick and Joe T. We're able to play those eight, do okay with it. But at some point we're going to need another big guy, you're right. I'm comfortable, I should say getting more comfortable, with the possibility of playing Josh and Kris in particular.
