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Posted (edited)

Wasn't planning on a Husker win today. But even if Purdue shoots the lights out, you don't have to get absolutely embarrassed like that. I watched Penn State handle Purdue (they were ahead by 28 in the 2nd half of that game, then Purdue climbed back and lost by 11). Good teams, or just mentally tough teams, value every possession and fight like hell regardless of the score. 

That all starts and ends with Brice and Juwan. They are supposed to be the leaders. Within the first few minutes they were both hanging their heads, just like in the Michigan State game. Brice passed up an open shot in the first possession and that lack of aggression was the theme of the game. His casual demeanor might be good in that opposing defenders can't speed him up. But your movements need to be more violent, crisp and clean against tough Big Ten defenses. He gets the ball stripped too often. Every possession matters.

Juwan again had 1 rebound. Zero defensive rebounds. Go back and rewatch any part of that game and you'll see Juwan not only not playing good on-ball defense, but also not helping and not rotating to close out and contest shots. 

Sam and Connor needed to play more than 22 minutes in a game like this. They provide energy that is desperately needed. They're the only two that box out every time a shot goes up. They're the only two that are constantly moving on both ends of the court. And right now they're both a threat to knock down an open shot (Sam is up to 40%3FG). The argument for Connor not playing more has been that he's a liability on defense and he's one dimensional offensively. He's playing pretty good defense right now and grabbed another 5 boards today. He's a good passer and in the last three games he's done a better job of creating for others than anyone outside of Brice. Had another 3 assists today. He was also 3 for 3 inside the arc in this game.

Think we should run more for Berke on offense, like we did against St. Mary's. He's playing pretty efficient offensively, just very low volume. 

We still run 2 or 3 sets a game to try to get the ball to Meah on the block with his back to the basket. Why? It's ALWAYS a wasted possession. Every possession matters. Reminds me of when Miles would try to force feed Tshimanga the first possession of every game. Don't think we ever scored off those sets. 

I still like this team and think we could have a good season, but our two 6th year seniors need to step up and be the leaders this team needs. 

 

Edit - full disclosure: it's a bourbon Sunday for me, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. 

Edited by millerhusker
Posted

Notes from UNL

 

*-Nebraska falls to 2-1 against ranked opponents with today’s loss.
*-Nebraska falls to 0-9 in West Lafayette since joining the Big Ten, the only place among the 13 Big Ten schools (heading into this season) where NU has not won on the road.
*-Purdue shot .622 from the field was the second Husker opponent in 33 games to over 50 percent against Nebraska (Michigan State, .518 on Dec. 7). Purdue’s .622 is an opponent high against Nebraska this season.
*-Connor Essegian’s 17-point effort was the 16th double-figure effort by a Husker reserve this season.
*-Purdue set an opponent record for 3-poitners in a game with 19, breaking the previous NU opponent mark of 18, set twice (at Minnesota, 3/8/20; vs. Wisconsin 1/21/20).
*-Berke Büyüktuncel had a career-high four steals, topping his previous best of three on two other occasions, most recently at Hawai’i on Dec. 23.
*-Sam Hoiberg finished with two steals, his six multi-steal game this season.
*-Brice Williams was held to nine points, matching his lowest output of the season. It is only the second time in 16 games he was held out of double figures.
*-Today marked just the second time this season that Nebraska was out-rebounded, as Purdue had a 33-20 advantage on the glass.

Posted

Early in the game, we struggle to get out on shooters, throughout the year. They get good looks, and usually make them.  Today was that times 10.  We also let that dictate our close outs the rest of the game, today.

 

We missed some 3's and were unable to get in the paint.  We became very reliant on poor 3 point shots.  A lot of hero ball occurred. 

 

All is not lost.  The last 2 years, we have played our best once we get into February. 

 

Prior to Feb 1st

2022 - 23

Home 7 - 3

Away 2 - 8

Neutral 1 - 2

 

2023 - 24

Home 13 - 1

Away 1 - 5

Neutral 1 - 0

 

After Feb 1st

2022 - 23

Home 4 - 1

Away 2 - 1

Neutral 0 - 1

 

2023 - 24

Home 5 - 0

Away 2 - 3

Neutral 1 - 2

 

 

Posted
3 minutes ago, brfrad said:

All is not lost.  The last 2 years, we have played our best once we get into February. 

 

It's a good thing we started out the season at one of our best in Nov/Dec. Gives us a bit of breathing room in conference play; even with no gimmies.

 

Win our home games and we should be okay. Steal a couple road wins and we'll be gravy.

Posted (edited)

Maybe it’s just me, but when Painter still had starters in rather late just continuing to murder us while showboating, I’m a little shocked a few of the Nebraska players didn’t start “getting more physical”. Of course when you are 8’ away from them on a close-out and they drill a three, there’s probably not a lot you can do. I like Painter a lot and didn’t think he did anything bush….at some point, Nebraska players have to have the pride to stop it. A few hard fouls to Loyer and Smith would have stopped that nonsense. 
 

Maybe I’m out of line for thinking that. Bad game, erase it, move on. 

Edited by Busch Light
Posted
30 minutes ago, HuskerFever said:

 

It's a good thing we started out the season at one of our best in Nov/Dec. Gives us a bit of breathing room in conference play; even with no gimmies.

 

Win our home games and we should be okay. Steal a couple road wins and we'll be gravy.

 

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