Thursday night, Northwestern took down Nebraska, 73-61, behind 19 points and 22 rebounds from Dererk Pardon. Chris Collins and some of his players, as well as Nebraska’s Tim Miles, discussed the game.

Nebraska head coach Tim Miles

• Miles began his statement with a statement praising what Chris Collins and his staff have done in turning around Northwestern as a program: “People are lucky that these guys are here doing their jobs. ... They can get you anywhere.”
• On Dererk Pardon: “The story of the game was certainly Dererk Pardon. We couldn’t get him under control... That’s twice he’s got us.”
• On the 0.7 seconds they played out at the end of the first half: “I thought, with 0.7 seconds left, Chris Collins called a great play.”
• On defending Vic Law: “I heard one of the Big Ten guys say you have to treat him like Peter Jok.”
• More on Pardon: “He’s a true center... He hurt us on the offensive glass. We’re going to wear black next time because it seems like he likes red.”
• Miles added that he thought Nebraska lost their composure in the last four minutes, when Northwestern pulled away.
• On the crowd: “From earlier in my tenure here to now, the student body is calling me all kinds of new games that I didn’t know existed. The atmosphere is incredible.” He said that, next time, Nebraska may have to develop some new hand signals to combat the Welsh-Ryan crowd noise.
• The ultimate question: “These guys are a tournament team. They’re a good tournament team.”

Northwestern head coach Chris Collins

• On Pardon: “Must be something about the color red. I have to find a way for him to think that every team is red. He’s had some great performances against these guys. Dererk didn’t play his best against Ohio State, and he took it personally... For him to come home and have this kind of performance is just incredible. I’m so proud of him.”
• On McIntosh: “The shooting isn’t there, but the leadership is. You see what it’s like when he’s not on the floor.”
• Collins said Lindsey was bothered by back spasms: “I was proud of him for gutting it out.”
• “The opportunity to win five consecutive league games... That was something they brought up for some motivation for this game.”
• On the crowd: “It’s awesome... We just had to win. I didn’t blame anyone initially [for not coming to games]. It’s like the Field of Dreams saying: ‘If you build it, they will come.’ We just wanted to put a product on the floor that people would be excited about coming to see... This is something I envisioned when I first came here. In order for us to be relevant in this league, you have to win at home. And a big part of that is your atmosphere.”
• On Isiah Brown’s growth: “He was going so fast [at first]. You’re looking at a guy who was the most-prolific scorer ever in the city of Seattle... You have to learn when to be aggressive, when to pull back. He’s a weapon. When things are stalled, you have to have some guys who make plays. He did a great job of that tonight.”
• On Pardon: “I have to watch the film, but I felt like he was getting every rebound. I happened to glance at the video board late in the first half and he had 12 rebounds... He has a knack for the ball, he knows the angles, he’s long. He’s always been a great offensive rebounder, but to get 16 defensive rebounds is awesome.”
• “We have a feisty team. A lot about three-point shooting is talked about. But we have blue-collar guys. They compete. They battle.”
• On the Indiana game this Sunday: “They’ll bring fans, but I know we’ll have fans, too.”

Northwestern forward Vic Law

• On his second-half alley-oop: “When Bryant got it, my eyes lit up... It was a perfect pass, and the rest took care of itself.”
• On Isiah Brown: “I think Isiah helped us a lot tonight. He gave us the lead. What he brings offensively, and the energy he brings, is something you can’t ask of a lot of guys.”
• On winning five-straight Big Ten games: “Our goal is just to be different. I’ve always been saying that this is a different Northwestern team—a new Northwestern team.”
• On the “new Northwestern”: “Just with my class, when we were younger, we were just trying to learn how the Big Ten is and build our identity going forward... Now, we know what it takes to win. We have a lot more leadership and a younger base to build off of.”
• On the crowd: “Could you hear anything after that dunk? Evanston is really coming together. The support is just fantastic. Previously, when a team like Nebraska or Ohio State came in, you would see a lot of red. Now, you see mostly purple.”
• On Pardon: “Last year, he had the first Dererk Pardon game. Now, he had the second. I don’t know what it is about Nebraska.”

Northwestern center Dererk Pardon

• On his good performances against Nebraska: “It’s just a coincidence. I have no clue.”
• “I knew my shots were going to fall. We talk a lot about the basketball gods. If you miss the first four or five, you’ll make the next four or five.”
• On Northwestern’s game-sealing run: “We just knew we had to step on their throats. They’re a good team, and we knew if we gave them any inkling of hope, they would take advantage.”
• On MVP chants: “It feels great. It’s a high. You have to ride that.”
• He said this is his personal record for rebounds in a game (at any level).

Northwestern guard Isiah Brown

• On his second-half foul from the floor: “Coach always talks about throwing yourself in the game. When you’re only thinking about winning, you do some things you may not know you’re doing... You have to try and make as many plays as you can, no matter how crazy they seem.”
• On sparking the offense: “Any time you have an opportunity to come in the game, you want to bring a positive impact... When I come in the game, I just want to be aggressive and make plays.”
• On winning five straight in Big Ten play: “It was something we’re aware of. But we take it game-by-game. We do a good job of staying in the moment.”
• On his development: “It’s a learning process... Fortunately, I have a group of guys that implores me to have as much confidence as possible.”