hhcmatt Posted February 29 Report Posted February 29 Nebraska Cornhuskers (20-8) at Ohio State Buckeyes (16-12) Date: Thursday Feb 29th, 2024 Time: 5:30 pm Arena: Value Center Arena Broadcast: FS1 Ohio State Info Head Coach: Chris Holtmann Interim Head Coach: Jake Diebler Location: Columbus, OH Conference: B1G Nickname: Buckeyes Mascot: Brutus Buckeye Last time out: Beat Michigan St Point Spread: Ohio St by 3.5 Typical Rotation Depth: 10+ KenPom rank: 58 Nota bene: Chris Holtmann has been fired by Ohio St. The Buckeyes are 2-1 under interim head coach Jake Diebler including an impressive win over Purdue Dieber has opened up the rotation. 2024 Bench minutes under Holtmann: 23.2%. Under Diebler: 32.1% Nebraska has won their last 3 games vs Ohio St. Prior to that, Nebraska was 2-16 vs the Buckeyes since joining the B1G. Nebraska is seven 3pt makes away from breaking the school record for made 3s in a season (270) Juwan Gary didn't play in the last game vs Ohio St. KenPom most used lineups PG SG SF PF C Pct 1 2 Bruce Thornton 6-2 215 So 1 Roddy Gayle 6-4 210 So 12 Evan Mahaffey 6-6 200 So 10 Jamison Battle 6-7 220 Sr 34 Felix Okpara 6-11 235 So 12.1 Player to watch: Bruce Thorton The sophomore PG leads the team in scoring, assists and steals and is a 3 level scorer as he is drawing 4.5 fouls per 40 minutes. Thorton has struggled from the field, especially from 3 as he's shooting 31.7% from deep Player to watch: Roddy Gayle The sophomore SG is a lot like Thorton where he's a lot better drawing contact in the lane than he is shooting from the outside. Watch for Gayle to be the player tasked with denying Keisei. Player to watch: Jamison Battle The Minnesota transfer is a well known commodity in the conference and is shooting a white-hot 44% from 3 this season. WIth Thorton, Gayle, and Battle leading the Buckeyes in scoring, we'll see if Nebraska will give Battle more attention on the outside than the other guys. Others to watch Penn St transfer Evan Mahaffey isn't a huge threat to score but he'll kill you on the boards and is a plus defender. The Buck's have a two man center rotation with different skillsets though both are dominant rebounders. Felix Okpara is a rim protector who can run the court. Senior 6'8" 250# Zed Key is more of a bruiser down low on both sides. Dale Bonner, a 6'2" Senior combo guard from Baylor, fills in for both guards but is struggling even more from them to score. 6'6" freshman wing Scotty Middleton is shooting 36.7% from 3. 6'6" Freshman forward Devin Royal had a game vs Michigan St, scoring 14 points in 18 minutes. Freshman PG Taison Chatman might get some run. Heck, walk-on Bowen Hardman, the guy that Holtmann ran out to shoot 3s in Lincoln, could even see playing time in this one. 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 Possible starters for Nebraska 4 Juwan Gary 6-6 221 lbs Junior 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 10 Jamarques Lawrence 6-3 183 lbs Sophomore 0 C.J. Wilcher 6-5 214 lbs Junior 1 Sam Hoiberg 6-0 183 lbs Sophomore 9 Jarron Coleman 6-5 213 lbs Senior 11 Eli Rice 6-8 213 lbs Freshman 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 Hoiberg Presser Shoutout from Fred to the impact Coleman and Ullis have had on the team The Skinny: Nebraska comes into this one as hot as anyone in the county over the last few weeks and defense has been the calling card. The Huskers rank #1 in Bartorvik's adjusted defense since Jan 30th. They'll need that defense on the road against an Ohio St team on a bit of a run after changing coaches. With wins over Purdue and at Michigan State, the Buckeyes represent a Quad 1 win opportunity for the Huskers. Ohio St tends to run people off the 3pt line though Nebraska countered that in Lincoln with Rienk Mast absolutely roasting the Buckeyes, going 6-8 from deep on his way to a career high 34 points. Offensively the Bucks do spread the ball around though they tend to focus inside as outside of Battle and Middleton they're quite bad from outside. If you look at Ohio St's performances throughout the year they've tended to yo-yo, following one bad performance with a a good. They're also a team that might think they're still in post-season contention. Who knows what you'll get tonight from the Buckeyes. Is this Nebraska team locked in? Can they hold a lead in Columbus if they get one? Prediction: Nebraska 75 - Ohio St 71 View full article royalfan and Shawn Eichorst's Toupee 2 Quote
hhcmatt Posted February 29 Author Report Posted February 29 Flipping my score with Bruce Thornton unlikely to play TourneyBound 1 Quote
hhcmatt Posted March 1 Author Report Posted March 1 2 hours ago, hhcmatt said: Flipping my score with Bruce Thornton unlikely to play I tend to know better than changing my score after posting it Shawn Eichorst's Toupee 1 Quote
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