hhcmatt Posted March 15, 2024 Report Posted March 15, 2024 Nebraska Cornhuskers (22-9) vs Indiana Hoosiers (19-13) **B1G Quarterfinals** Date: Friday, March 15th, 2024 Time: approximately 8:00 pm Arena: Target Center, Minneapolis Broadcast: BTN Indiana Info Head Coach: Mike Woodson (3rd year) Location: Bloomington, Indiana Conference: B1G Nickname: Hoosiers Line: Nebraska by 4.5 Typical Rotation Depth: 8 KenPom rank: 85 Nota bene: Starting SG Trey Galloway is expected to be out in this game having suffered a lower body injury With Xavier Johnson back in the lineup, Indiana has now won 5 straight Fred Hoiberg is 0-4 in the B1G tournament Fred Hoiberg vs Mike Woodson is a matchup of former NBA coaches Indiana Center Payton Sparks was a teammate of Boogie Coleman last season at Ball St. Indiana boasts one of the tallest lineups in D-1, clocking in at #3 in KenPom's average height metric. Nebraska's secret scrimmage foe Utah is #2. Mackenzie Mgbako attended Roselle Catholic HS last season, playing with Simeon Wilcher. This is the same HS attended by CJ WIlcher and Jamarques Lawrence. Nebraska went 2-0 during B1G play vs the Hoosiers including a 85-70 win at Assembly Hall where the Huskers righted the ship after a 2nd half swoon KenPom most used lineups 4 0 Xavier Johnson 6-3 200 Sr 3 Anthony Leal 6-5 200 Sr 21 Mackenzie Mgbako 6-8 217 Fr 5 Malik Reneau 6-9 233 So 1 Kel'el Ware 7-0 242 So 8.1 Player to watch: Malik Reneau While not as dominant as Trayce Jackson-Davis, F/C Reneau has taken over as Indiana's go-to scorer in the paint while also ranking 2nd on the team in assists. Does have 3pt range. Is consistently a threat to foul out. Player to watch: Mackenzie Mgbako The 5 star freshman has become the Hoosier's main 3pt threat, shooting 37.8% from 3 in conference play. Player to watch: Kel'el Ware Another former 5 star, Ware transferred from Oregon and has started at the 5 for Indiana where he's arguably been their best player. Ware looks like a lottery pick at times but sometimes his motor doesn't match. Player to watch: Xavier Johnson Johnson is a mixed bag. At his best you have a pesky defender who can hit outside shots and make flashy passes for easy baskets. At his worst he's jacking bad shots and making freshmen type turnovers. It's worth noting that Indiana has won 5 straight since he's returned to the lineup and is 13-6 this season when he's played. Others to watch Freshman guard Gabe Cupps is mostly just bringing the ball up the court and shoots at a Benny Parker like rate. 6'8" 215# Miami transfer Little used Anthony Leal has played his way into this limited rotation and makes good basketball plays. Anthony Walker is nice depth but he's yet another post player who doesn't take outside shots. Guards CJ Gunn provides some end of the bench shooting. 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 53 Josiah Allick 6-8 231 lbs Senior 30 Keisei Tominaga 6-2 179 lbs Senior 3 Brice Williams 6-7 213 lbs Junior 4 Juwan Gary 6-6 221 lbs Junior 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 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 finds themselves in the B1G tournament as a lock for the NCAA tourney for just the second time this century. Nebraska comes in looking to make the semi-finals for the first time and potentially increase their NCAA tourney seeding. The Huskers have been spreading out the minutes and seem to be getting stronger as the season progresses. Expect to see some live legs to start this game. For the most part, Indiana is a great matchup for the Huskers. Despite their height, Indiana is a remarkably poor rebounding team. The Hoosiers are careless with the ball and inevitably make poor basketball plays. By default, they're going to concede 3pt shots and Nebraska has certainly hit them against the Hoosiers this year. While Nebraska tends to defend without fouling, the Hoosiers tend to draw a lot of contact so it's something to keep tabs on. The Hoosiers have been one of the worst FT shooting teams in the country though. It's likely that both team will go on runs this game. The important thing here and going forward is that Nebraska doesn't let a team bury them with one. Between the rest and being overlooked for conference accolades, expect Nebraska to come out with an edge. Think the Huskers win comfortably here. Prediction: Nebraska 78 - Indiana 65 View full article TourneyBound, tcp and Shawn Eichorst's Toupee 1 1 1 Quote
HB Posted March 15, 2024 Report Posted March 15, 2024 Sure about that line? I've been seeing NU minus 3.5-4.5 hhcmatt and Ron Mexico 2 Quote
49r Posted March 15, 2024 Report Posted March 15, 2024 4 minutes ago, HB said: Sure about that line? I've been seeing NU minus 3.5-4.5 Dimes likes to c/p his essentials articles from earlier in the season is my theory; I have found things that he forgot to update before. That was likely the point spread when we played last month in Bloomington. Quote
hhcmatt Posted March 15, 2024 Author Report Posted March 15, 2024 6 minutes ago, 49r said: Dimes likes to c/p his essentials articles from earlier in the season is my theory; I have found things that he forgot to update before. That was likely the point spread when we played last month in Bloomington. That is exactly what happened though I did at one point correctly set it at 4.5. Quote
hhcmatt Posted March 15, 2024 Author Report Posted March 15, 2024 17 minutes ago, 49r said: Dimes likes to c/p his essentials articles from earlier in the season is my theory; I have found things that he forgot to update before. That was likely the point spread when we played last month in Bloomington. My working theory is sometimes he compiles these at night and in lieu of reading back through it, posts it here to see if someone flips up mistakes as opposed to doing his own editorial work. Cynically, I sometimes wonder if he purposely does this because he craves attention. Regardless, expect an upvote if you find one of these Easter eggs. Brick and 49r 1 1 Quote
Handy Johnson Posted March 15, 2024 Report Posted March 15, 2024 Now is when ALL that Hard Work Pays Off. No Need for any “Bulletin Board” material or Administrative distractions in Lincoln, Fred will have them Dialed In. Quote
HB Posted March 15, 2024 Report Posted March 15, 2024 14 minutes ago, hhcmatt said: That is exactly what happened though I did at one point correctly set it at 4.5. "Computers are weird" HB Quote
49r Posted March 15, 2024 Report Posted March 15, 2024 16 minutes ago, hhcmatt said: My working theory is sometimes he compiles these at night and in lieu of reading back through it, posts it here to see if someone flips up mistakes as opposed to doing his own editorial work. Cynically, I sometimes wonder if he purposely does this because he craves attention. Regardless, expect an upvote if you find one of these Easter eggs. Yeah I forgot to add that part, LOL. I may or may not have done the same thing myself, just to check and see if anyone is paying attention to what I post. Quote
AuroranHusker Posted March 15, 2024 Report Posted March 15, 2024 An "Easter egg" would be finding a Mickey.... not Joseph. Disnerds would understand which type of Mickey. Quote
hhcmatt Posted March 16, 2024 Author Report Posted March 16, 2024 22 hours ago, hhcmatt said: Think the Huskers win comfortably here. UNDERSTATEMENT hskr4life and CanadianHusker 1 1 Quote
AuroranHusker Posted March 16, 2024 Report Posted March 16, 2024 2 hours ago, hhcmatt said: UNDERSTATEMENT Underwhelming slate of predictions in the HHCC, as well. Oh well, the team performed well. GBR Always. Quote
hhcmatt Posted March 16, 2024 Author Report Posted March 16, 2024 6 hours ago, AuroranHusker said: Underwhelming slate of predictions in the HHCC, as well. Oh well, the team performed well. GBR Always. Kudos to anyone who thought Nebraska was going to win this game by the biggest margin in a tournament game in school history Quote
49r Posted March 16, 2024 Report Posted March 16, 2024 1 hour ago, hhcmatt said: Kudos to anyone who thought Nebraska was going to win this game by the biggest margin in a tournament game in school history At this point I think a lot of us in the HHCC are just picking games with the reverse jinx in mind. Quote
hhcmatt Posted March 16, 2024 Author Report Posted March 16, 2024 5 minutes ago, 49r said: At this point I think a lot of us in the HHCC are just picking games with the reverse jinx in mind. Feels like sometimes people get mad when people pick Nebraska to lose and we win. As someone always trying to win this competition, I don't share that sentiment. HuskerFever and 49r 1 1 Quote
HuskerFever Posted March 16, 2024 Report Posted March 16, 2024 29 minutes ago, hhcmatt said: Feels like sometimes people get mad when people pick Nebraska to lose and we win. As someone always trying to win this competition, I don't share that sentiment. As someone who's frequently picked us to win this year and we lose, and pick us to lose and we win... I'm just glad we're winning Also... I'll win it next year. There's always next year. Quote
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