hhcmatt Posted February 7 Report Posted February 7 Nebraska Cornhuskers (16-7) at Northwestern Wildcats (15-7) Date: Wednesday Feb 7, 2024 Time: 8:00 pm Arena: Welsh-Ryan Arena Broadcast: BTN Northwestern Info Head Coach: Chris Collins Location: Evansville, IL Conference: B1G Nickname: Wildcats Mascot: Willie the Wildcat Last time out: Lose to Minnesota Point Spread: Northwestern by 5.5 Typical Rotation Depth: 7 KenPom rank: 51 Nota bene: Nebraska recently broke their 7 game losing streak to the Wildcats. Tonight they look for their first win in Evanston since 2018 Northwestern ranks 342nd in bench minutes as they have 4 starters who average over 30+ minutes per game Both Nebraska and Northwestern come into this one having played consecutive OT games KenPom most used lineups PG SG SF PF C Pct 1 0 Boo Buie 6-2 180 Sr 3 Ty Berry 6-3 185 Sr 5 Ryan Langborg 6-4 195 Sr 13 Brooks Barnhizer 6-6 215 Jr 34 Matthew Nicholson 7-0 280 Sr 35.1 Player to watch: Boo Buie 5th year starting PG Boo Buie was one of the main catalyst behind Northwestern's surprising run to the NCAA tournament last season and continues to play at a high level, leading the 'Cats in scoring and assists. If Nebraska finds themselves in a close game at the end, NW will be at the advantage simply because they have arguably the best PG in the conference. Player to watch: Ty Berry Northwestern isn't quite the defensive team they rolled out last season with Chase Audige graduating but have increased their offensive output in part due to Berry finding his shooting stroke back. After a 38.3% 3pt success two years ago, Berry struggle last season, shooting 29.1% from 3. This season he's hitting a career high 43.1% from 3 and 50.0% from 2. Player to watch: Brooks Barnhizer Barnhizer is Northwestern's glue guy where his most important contribution is grabbing rebounds for a Northwestern team that is one of the worst in the conference at this statistic. Barnhizer will add some rim protection along with competent shooting ability. Scored a career and game high 24 points vs Nebraska in Lincoln. Player to watch: Ryan Langborg The Princeton transfer is another high level 3pt shooter for the Wildcats and is currently shooting 40.7% from 3. Went 4-10 from 3 in Lincoln vs Nebraska Others to watch Matthew Nicholson might be the most noticeable player on the court due to his unmissable stature. He's NW's best rim protector and he almost always makes the right plays. For the last few games 6'10" 255# Luke Hunger has been getting the start over Nicholson, presumably because he allows the 'Cats to play 5 out. Both centers tend to be foul prone. 6'7" forward Nick Martinelli averages 20 minutes of the bench where he brings rebounding and inside scoring. UNL Game Notes Out indefinitely 5 Ahron Ulis 6-3 190 lbs Junior - Likely out for the season Questionable 15 Blaise Keita 6-11 257 lbs Junior - Ongoing ankle injury recovery 11 Eli Rice 6-8 213 lbs Freshman - Ankle injury Possible starters for Nebraska 10 Jamarques Lawrence 6-3 183 lbs Sophomore 30 Keisei Tominaga 6-2 179 lbs Senior 3 Brice Williams 6-7 213 lbs Junior 53 Josiah Allick 6-8 231 lbs Senior 51 Rienk Mast 6-10 248 lbs Junior Bench 4 Juwan Gary 6-6 221 lbs Junior 0 C.J. Wilcher 6-5 214 lbs Junior 9 Jarron Coleman 6-5 213 lbs Senior 1 Sam Hoiberg 6-0 183 lbs Sophomore 21 Matar Diop 6-10 213 lbs Freshman 35 Henry Burt 6-7 216 lbs RS Freshman 2 Ramel Lloyd Jr. 6-6 210 lbs RS Freshman 31 Cale Jacobsen 6-4 200 lbs RS Freshman 24 Jeffrey Grace III 6-3 197 lbs Sophomore The Skinny: Nebraska and Northwestern both come into this one with NCAA tournament hopes. With this much season left, this game is more of a 'winner is in better shape' than a 'loser is out' sort of game. Northwestern at home has turned itself from punchline to the type of inhospitable environment where Purdue loses. Does their crowd get as amped for a team like Nebraska? Northwestern completely sold out to stop the 3 vs Nebraska in Lincoln to the point that Nebraska spent most of the first half running a layup drill. On the flipside, Northwestern was able to generate 18 turnovers in part due to intercepting some of these passes. It will be a balancing act for both teams as Northwestern wins because its shooting and turnovers overcome its lack of production on the boards and at the FT line. If the Huskers can minimize the number of mindless turnovers, they have a great chance in this one. Nebraska can potentially get away with playing 3 bigs a little easier in this one than in other games given that the NW frontcourt doesn't force many fouls. The rebounding game is very winnable against this NW team even just playing two bigs. Does either team have more juice here than the other? Northwestern has had an extra day of rest but Nebraska's bench runs deeper. Could decide what should be a close game. Prediction: Northwestern 82 - Nebraska 78 View full article Shawn Eichorst's Toupee 1 Quote
Huskerpapa Posted February 7 Report Posted February 7 Anybody hear a rumor regarding starting line up? Heard JLaw may not start??? Faux Mike Peltz 1 Quote
cornfed24-7 Posted February 7 Report Posted February 7 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Huskerpapa said: Anybody hear a rumor regarding starting line up? Heard JLaw may not start??? Who replaces him? CJ with Brice running point? Edited February 7 by cornfed24-7 Quote
hskr4life Posted February 7 Report Posted February 7 5 minutes ago, cornfed24-7 said: Who replaces him? CJ with Brice running point? Didn’t Fred say he liked the big lineup with all three of Gary, Jo, and Mast? Idk if the rumor is true, but maybe we try and go big and dominate the glass right away. cornfed24-7 1 Quote
throwback Posted February 7 Report Posted February 7 Wouldn't surprise me if Gary starts instead of Allick. I think he matches up better defensively on Barnhizer. We definitely didn't have an answer for him the first time around when Gary didn't play. Lawrence was so good on Buie early defensively in the first match, I'm not sure we'd want to make that swap for this game. Of course, Hoiberg & Williams took turns on Buie too, so who knows. thrasher31 1 Quote
thrasher31 Posted February 7 Report Posted February 7 18 minutes ago, throwback said: Wouldn't surprise me if Gary starts instead of Allick. I think he matches up better defensively on Barnhizer. We definitely didn't have an answer for him the first time around when Gary didn't play. Lawrence was so good on Buie early defensively in the first match, I'm not sure we'd want to make that swap for this game. Of course, Hoiberg & Williams took turns on Buie too, so who knows. NW doesn't play big really, as they rotate 2, maybe 3 bigs in with Brooks and 3 guards. It makes a lot more sense to start Gary to matchup with Brooks, since he was the one who killed us last time. Quote
hhcmatt Posted February 7 Author Report Posted February 7 45 minutes ago, Huskerpapa said: Anybody hear a rumor regarding starting line up? Heard JLaw may not start??? Seems like the pre-game show will be a must listen more than usual thrasher31 1 Quote
hhcmatt Posted February 7 Author Report Posted February 7 We've had 4 different starting lineups this season and all of them have been availability related. Keisei missed the first 2 games so CJ started. Mast, Allick, and Gary have all missed time so we've had 3 combinations there. Quote
hhcmatt Posted February 7 Author Report Posted February 7 45 minutes ago, cornfed24-7 said: Who replaces him? CJ with Brice running point? AND RUIN HIS CHANCES AT 6 MAN OF THE YEAR?!?!?!? cornfed24-7 1 Quote
Nebrasketball1979 Posted February 7 Report Posted February 7 2 hours ago, cornfed24-7 said: Who replaces him? CJ with Brice running point? Yeah, I personally do not think it makes sense to start both Keisei and Wilcher. CJ has found his role and would hate to mess that up at this point in the season. Plus, CJ and Keisei have similar strengths and weaknesses (on-ball defense or defense in general) so if this is true, let's go big and with a better defensive lineup. You can then stagger the big guy substitution patterns with Jlaw and Wilcher and Sam. It would also be interesting to start Gary and Sam in lieu of Allick and Jlaw. I don't think we see anything that radical though but it would make the substitutions easier to manage. cornfed24-7 1 Quote
hhcmatt Posted February 7 Author Report Posted February 7 FWIW To me rolling out Rice or Jacobsen on the road at the expense of Lawrences minutes seems unlikely. thrasher31 and Nebrasketball1979 2 Quote
Faux Mike Peltz Posted February 7 Report Posted February 7 I like the bigger lineup with Jo, Juwan. And Mast. Need Kieta to get healthy or Diop to play like Embid Quote
thrasher31 Posted February 7 Report Posted February 7 35 minutes ago, hhcmatt said: FWIW To me rolling out Rice or Jacobsen on the road at the expense of Lawrences minutes seems unlikely. Yeah I can't get behind playing Cale before Lawrence, even through his struggles. Cale has maybe a handful of minutes of meaningful in game pt, and rolling him out in rotation minutes in a road game that you almost must win seems like a disaster waiting to happen. I don't love the idea of the lineup change, but I'll concede if that's what they end up doing. Quote
Art Vandalay Posted February 8 Report Posted February 8 2 hours ago, thrasher31 said: Yeah I can't get behind playing Cale before Lawrence, even through his struggles. Cale has maybe a handful of minutes of meaningful in game pt, and rolling him out in rotation minutes in a road game that you almost must win seems like a disaster waiting to happen. I don't love the idea of the lineup change, but I'll concede if that's what they end up doing. I think Lawrence would have to be dinged up or hurt if Calevtakes any of his minutes. thrasher31 1 Quote
hhcmatt Posted February 8 Author Report Posted February 8 1 hour ago, Art Vandalay said: I think Lawrence would have to be dinged up or hurt if Calevtakes any of his minutes. I didn't retweet that because i didn't buy that aspect Quote
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