Huskers run away from Cougars 74-39
December 10, 2009 by Bret Nellor, under Husker Basketball Game Recaps, News.
Nebraska took advantage of an over-matched Chicago State team in tonight’s 74-39 victory. The Huskers were able to stifle the Cougars offense from the start holding them to a 24.2% shooting night. While CSU was struggling with their shot, NU had a good 55.6% shooting effort.
Nebraska bounced back from Sunday’s loss to Creighton and improved to 6-2 on the season. Leading the scoring for Coach Sadler’s team was point guard Lance Jeter with 13 points. Joining Jeter in double figures was Brandon Richardson and Adrien Coleman with 10 points each.
Turning point in the game:
- How about the tipoff? Nebraska scored the first 6 points of the game and extended that to a 30-14 lead at the half. An 18-1 run to start the second half put this game on ice quickly. It was very apparent that Chicago State was over-matched in this game.
Encouraging points:
- The Huskers took control early in this game and dominated the Cougars like they should. It’s good to see them take care of business.
- Brian Diaz nearly came away with a double-double in 20 minutes of action – 9 points and 12 rebounds. Despite his slight build he does some good things on the court. He has really good hands. Whether he’s shooting, dribbling or passing, it’s impressive for a freshman big man.
- The youngsters on the roster received extended minutes tonight. It’s great for the development of the team. From my perspective the roster looks better from top to bottom than it has in years at Nebraska. That could bode well for the next couple of years.
A couple of nit-picky things from tonight’s game. Rebounding was better, but still not where it needs to be. Quincy Hankins-Cole sitting out certainly didn’t help. Nonetheless, it is unacceptable for Brandon Ubel to come away with 0 rebounds in 12 minutes. The interior guys must step it up in this area.
Lastly, Chicago State showed a 2-3 zone late in the first half and during stretches in the second half. The Huskers struggled somewhat with the zone defense. It was eerily reminiscent of their loss to UMBC last season. I expect NU to see quite a bit more zone in upcoming games. Hopefully, Coach Sadler will have the guys prepared for it.
Nebraska Player of the Game: Lance Jeter
Up next: Nebraska welcomes Pac-10 foe Oregon State Beavers to Lincoln on Saturday evening.
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2 Huskers bothered by injuries
December 9, 2009 by Bret Nellor, under News, Player Updates.
Quincy Hankins-Cole will sit out Nebraska’s game against Chicago State tomorrow night. Hankins-Cole has a sprained MCL which happened in practice on Monday. He has not practiced since. Coach Sadler doesn’t believe to be serious.
Also, Eshaunte Jones has been slowed by a sore tendon in his foot. The injury limited him to only 7 minutes of action against Creighton. His status for tomorrow’s game is uncertain.
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Pre-Game: Chicago State vs. Nebraska
December 8, 2009 by Bret Nellor, under Husker Basketball Pre-game, News.
Chicago State Cougars 3-3 vs.
Nebraska Cornhuskers 5-2
December 10 – 7 p.m. tipoff
TV: Fox Sports Midwest
The Huskers return to the Devaney Center for a matchup with the Chicago State Cougars from the Great West Conference. Both teams come into this game after a loss. NU is looking for a bounce back win after their 61-67 loss to Creighton and CSU is looking to rebound from their 40-78 loss to Central Michigan.
The Cougars are coached by Benjy Taylor and finished last season at 19-13. They are off to a 3-3 start this season with some tough 20+ point losses on the road to Iowa State and Central Michigan.
CSU leading scorers
Carl Montgomery 14.3 ppg
Christian Wall 13.2 ppg
Marquis Young 10.3 ppg
NU leading scorers
Ryan Anderson 11.3 ppg
Sek Henry 9.1 ppg
Brian Diaz 9.1 ppg
Doc Sadler’s troops should cruise in this game. I expect to see plenty of players coming in off the bench as Doc continues to determine what he has and what player combinations work best. The Husker’s defense will cause a lot of problems for the Cougars and should lead to plenty of easy baskets for NU.
Coach Sadler has hinted at starting a 4 guard lineup in these pre-conference games, but I don’t believe he will against Chicago State. CSU’s starting frontcourt has good size going 6-9, 6-8, and 6-7. This is good to see since it will give Nebraska’s 3 interior players plenty of action. With Quincy Hankins-Cole, Brandon Ubel, and Diaz all in their first go-around in Division I basketball they need as much playing time as possible to get them ready for the Big 12 Conference season.
My pick: Nebraska
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Creighton tops Nebraska 67-61
December 6, 2009 by Bret Nellor, under Husker Basketball Game Recaps, News.
The Creighton Bluejays take the state’s bragging rights after defeating the Huskers 67-61 at the Qwest Center in Omaha. This was a back and forth game that saw CU capitalize on NU’s turnovers and make shots and free throws down the stretch to pull away.
Nebraska (5-2) was led by Lance Jeter’s 12 points. Sek Henry had 10 points and Ray Gallegos also pitched in with 10 points in a strong performance off the bench.
Turning point in the game:
- Creighton identified the advantage their center Kenny Lawson Jr. had over Nebraska’s interior defenders. Using a screen and roll game with Lawson in the second half, he was able to roll to the hoop and get easy baskets off feeds from his teammates. And when he didn’t finish, he was able to get fouled and make shots from the line. He finished with a game high 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Encouraging points:
- The Huskers are starting to figure out that they have some players on the bench that can provide a lift when they come in. Ray Gallegos and Quincy Hankins-Cole were the most impressive tonight. Both contributed points and played good defense. This depth is a noticeable improvement compared to other Doc Sadler teams at NU.
This game went about as I had expected. (Aside from the fact that Creighton won.) I figured it would be a close defensive battle. The tempo was maybe a little higher than Nebraska would have liked but they had their opportunities down the stretch but couldn’t convert. Both teams fought hard and you could see how badly Dana Altman and Creighton wanted this win. And that was probably the difference today.
The Huskers did not pick up the win today, but they did pick up some valuable experience in a hostile environment that should help them down the road. Plus, I think they are starting to find some positive things to build on on the offensive end. Such as using Ryan Anderson as a trigger man in one of their offensive sets. I really like how they used him on the elbow, allowing him to feed the post or cutters, drive to the hoop, or shoot. This was good to see. Had he not fouled out just under the 4 minute mark, I think we would have seen Doc go to Anderson down the stretch.
It’s obvious that Anderson is the leader of this team. When Nebraska needs plays on the offensive or defensive end, they look to him.
Nebraska Player of the Game: Ray Gallegos
Up next: The Huskers entertain the Chicago State Cougars this Thursday night in Lincoln.
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Pre-Game: Nebraska vs. Creighton
December 5, 2009 by Bret Nellor, under Husker Basketball Pre-game, News.
Nebraska Cornhuskers 5-1 vs.
Creighton Bluejays 2-4
December 6 – 4 p.m. tipoff
TV: KMTV Omaha
It’s time for the yearly in-state rivalry game between Nebraska and Creighton. This is always a fun game for both school’s fans. A win means bragging rights and early season momentum. A loss provides you with plenty to work on to improve before the conference portion of the schedule begins.
In my opinion this game generally holds a little more meaning for Creighton. Being in the Missouri Valley, the Jays know that will they have to win their conference tournament to guarantee a bid to the NCAA tournament. Occasionally, the MVC will gain 2 bids but Creighton learned the hard way last year that not winning the conference tourney can lock you out of the NCAA. So with Nebraska coming to town, this represents an opportunity for them to pick up a nice win over a Big 12 foe. Granted, the Huskers are no where near the top of the Big 12 race, they still represent a quality win for the Jays.
On the flip side, this game doesn’t provide as much of a lift to Nebraska’s NCAA tournament chances. It does represent an opportunity to pick up a nice road win and build confidence & momentum for this young team. Doc Sadler has gone on record throughout his tenure at NU about this game being the 17th most important game behind their 16 Big 12 games. While Creighton fans see this as a sign of disrespect, Sadler is absolutely correct. the Huskers understand that if they can finish in the top 6 spots in the conference they have a very strong possibility of picking up an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
While a win Sunday for Nebraska would be a nice feather in the cap for Sadler’s NCAA resume, one can argue that the Husker’s win over USC this past Sunday was more valuable.
NU leading scorers
Ryan Anderson 12.3 ppg
Brian Diaz 9.7 ppg
Sek Henry 9.0 ppg
CU leading scorers
Kenny Lawson Jr. 11.3 ppg
Darryl Ashford 11.0 ppg
Justin Carter 10.7 ppg
This year’s game features 2 teams going in different directions recently. Nebraska enters the game with a 4 game win streak. Creighton on the other hand comes in with a 3 game losing streak.
In my mind, this game is a tricky matchup for Nebraska. Facing Creighton on their home court at the Qwest Center will a factor as they bring a very vocal crowd which feeds into their home court advantage. Dana Altman’s Jays have spent all week licking their wounds from 3 losses at the Old Spice Classic Tournament in Orlando, FL. There’s no question that they’ll have used their practice time this week to get things corrected. And they’ll be very motivated to get the win.
Nebraska has been playing well since their first loss on the road to Rick Majerus’ St. Louis Billikens. They’ve buckled down their defense and are valuing each possession on offense much better. One thing that’s interesting is that as good as the Huskers have been on defense, they’ve had a problem defending the 3-point shot. This is a definite area of concern facing Creighton.
With so many first-year players on the roster this year NU has had trouble finding their chemistry and rhythm on the court. This will iron itself out as the season progresses. However, for Nebraska’s young players, facing Creighton’s press and crowd could cause problems. The Huskers will need to have both Sek Henry and Ryan Anderson, the team’s only seniors, to play well and provide leadership on the court. In addition to those 2, a strong effort by freshmen Brandon Ubel and Brian Diaz on the boards will be important.
My pick: Nebraska
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2008-2009 Husker Basketball Season Recap
March 26, 2009 by Bret Nellor, under News, Season Recap.
It’s been a little over a week since the Husker’s season ended with a loss to New Mexico in the first round of the NIT tournament. Now that I’ve had some time to sit back and reflect back on this season, I felt that a recap was in order.
Off-season struggles
The story of Nebraska’s 2008-2009 basketball season began well before any games were played. The offseason was not kind to the NU program as they learned in late May that prized recruit Roburt Sallie was denied entrance by the Big 12 Conference. Unfortunately the fact that Sallie was enrolled briefly back in 2006 led to him being denied entry by the Big 12. The loss of a key recruit was a major blow to the momentum that Sadler and the Huskers had picked up through the 2007-08 season.
NOTE: Sallie ended up playing for John Calipari and the Memphis Tigers. Sallie, who had a quiet season, suddenly became the darling of the Tigers as he led them to a first round NCAA tourney win by hitting 10 three pointers and scoring 35 points against Cal State Northridge. That kind of explosive scoring ability would have been quite helpful for NU this past year.
This lost recruit ended up summing up the tale of the off-season for Coach Sadler as Nebraska appeared to be cursed. The team was desparate to replace Sallie’s scholarship with another player to address their lack of size. They were unable to secure a big man until Brian Diaz comitted in August, little did they know at the time that he would not be admitted to Nebraska until January 2009 and after a few short weeks decided to redshirt. Shortly before the season began, 6-11 Christopher Niemann was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. Which then led us to 6-9 Alex Chapman, a redshirt sophomore who waited until a few weeks into the season to leave the team and decide to transfer. Needless to say the Huskers were left with what would be the shortest team in Division I basketball.
Despite the team’s “short”comings, NU pressed on. Coach Sadler knew this team would have a difficult time but if he could get them to give maximum effort and play tough defense they had a chance. Behind the example of 4 seniors Ade Dagunduro, Steve Harley, Paul Velander and Nick Krenk, that’s just what this team did.
Let’s get the season started
The Huskers started the season 6-0 which included a nice win over Creighton before enduring their first 2 losses to Arizona State and Oregon State. After a rebound win over IPFW, the Big Red had their first devastating home loss of the season to UMBC. This was the game that showed how thin the margin for error was for Nebraska. Without an inside presence or a true go-to scorer they would continue to have a tough time scoring points all season. These weaknesses combined with the loss to UMBC foreshadowed a return trip to the NIT.
Big 12 Conference
NU reached Big 12 play with a 10-3 record and came out of the gates with a surprising upset of the Missouri Tigers. This was followed up with a rough stretch that saw the team lose 4 of their next 5 games – a tough road loss to Iowa State, a 2 point overtime loss at home to Oklahoma State, and a close loss at home to Kansas. Although they sat at 2-5 in the conference at this point, Sadler’s team was encouraged by the fact that they had played Blake Griffin and a very good Oklahoma team close on the road and were so close against OSU and KU.
Nebraska then rattled off 2 straight road wins and an impressive upset of Texas to get back to .500 in the conference. As soon as hope had returned that the Huskers could somehow manage their way to an NCAA tournament bid, they dropped 4 of the next 5 games. The most damaging loss of that stretch came when Texas A&M won with a last second shot in Lincoln. NU finished strong winning 2 of their final 3 games to reach 8-8 in the conference for the first time since the 1998-99 season.
Post-season blues
The Big Red clung to a very slim chance that they could still get an at-large NCAA bid if they could get to the championship of the Big 12 tourney. But they faced a difficult challenge having to play Baylor in the first round after having beat them in Waco only 4 days earlier. Baylor, who had underachieved the entire Big 12 season finally started to play up to their potential and sent the Huskers home after a short stay in the tournament and sealing their NIT fate.
Second-straight NIT berth
Nebraska soon learned they would play on in the NIT, earning a #6 seed and traveled to #3 seed New Mexico for a first round game. Hopes were high that NU could string together a run and possibly reach the NIT final four in New York. It wasn’t meant to be however as the Lobos used their home court advantage to eliminate the Big Red from the tournament. The loss ended the Huskers season at 18-13 overall.
The big picture
Before the season started I predicted that Nebraska would finish at 19-9 and an NIT appearance. I also figured that Coach Sadler would get them to 20 wins for the second consecutive season with at least one post-season victory. I was a little off on that, but considering that the team reached .500 in the Big 12 for the first time this decade, I feel like that was a major step forward for the program. Especially when you consider the obstacles this team had to overcome to get there. One could argue that this may have been Doc Sadler’s most impressive coaching job.
It’s hard not to look back at the season and say what could have been had the ball bounced differently for the Huskers – turn the Oregon State, UMBC, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M games into wins and Nebraska could have held a 22-7 record going into the Big 12 tourney and quite possibly a lock for an at-large NCAA berth.
Of course, college basketball doesn’t live in the imaginary “what could have been” world, but I am hopeful that what this undersized team was able to accomplish has helped to set the foundation for the future. While the Nebraska basketball future may not be so bright that we need to wear shades just yet, I believe we’re taking the necessary steps to get there.
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Nebraska lands #6 seed in the NIT
March 15, 2009 by Bret Nellor, under News.
The Huskers will play on in the NIT after receiving a #6 seed from the Selection Committee. They’ll face the #3 seed New Mexico Lobos in Albuquerque, NM on Tuesday. This is NU’s second straight appearance in the NIT under Coach Doc Sadler.
Nebraska joins Kansas State (#4 seed) and Baylor (#3 seed) in the NIT tournament, bringing the Big 12’s number of teams in post-season play to 9.
Other notable teams in the 32-team NIT field include: Creighton (#1 seed), Auburn, Florida, Davidson, Kentucky, St. Mary’s.
Also of note is that fact that the Huskers are in the same bracket as the Bluejays. 2 wins by both teams would setup a rematch with a trip to the NIT finals in NYC on the line.
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Can Nebraska make the NCAA tournament?
March 8, 2009 by Bret Nellor, under News.
With the regular season now over for the Huskers and the Big 12 tournament just around the corner, does Nebraska have any chance of getting into the NCAA tourney without winning the Big 12 tourney? It’s a longshot, but there is still a possibility although it will require the stars to align perfectly.
Before I detail what the Big Red will need to do and have happen, here is Nebraska’s NCAA tournament resume:
- 18-11 overall record, 8-8 in the conference, finished 8th in the Big 12
- Projected RPI sits at 61 on kenpom.com, 69 on RealTimeRPI.com, and 74 on CollegeRPI.com as of today.
- Key wins include Creighton, Missouri, and Texas
- Key losses include Oregon State, UMBC, and Iowa State
- Record against current Top 25 teams: 1-4
- Record against likely NCAA tournament teams: 3-7
- Last 10 games: Huskers are 6-4
Here’s how it needs to happen:
- Nebraska’s regular season resume is not good enough to get them into the tournament. Doc Sadler’s team will have to put together a strong run in the Big 12 tournament in order to pick up some marquee wins and bolster their resume. Obviously winning the Big 12 tourney would be ideal, but short of that the Huskers will need to get to the championship game to have a chance. This would give the Big Red potentially marquee wins over Kansas and Kansas St./Texas.
- Nearly all of the NCAA tournament projections have 6 Big 12 teams getting into the dance (Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State). In addition to winning 3 games in the Big 12 tourney, Nebraska needs poor performances from Oklahoma State and Kansas State in order to jump those teams for that 6th spot. Husker fans need to cheer for Iowa State to upset Oklahoma St. on Wednesday and for Kansas St. to lose against Texas/Colorado on Thursday.
- The last piece of the puzzle includes other mid-major conference front runners to win their conference tournaments. Gonzaga needs to win the WCC, Butler needs to win the Horizon, Memphis needs to win Conference USA, and Northern Iowa needs to win the Missouri Valley. Any upsets in these conference tournaments hurts the Huskers chances.
If all these things fall in place for Nebraska, it would produce one of the most unlikely yet memorable runs to an at-large bid. I doubt that the Huskers will get into the NCAA tourney and are more likely headed for a 2nd straight NIT appearance.
