Essentials: Game #3 vs South Carolina St

SCST Info

Head Coach: Murray Garvin

Conference: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Roster | Schedule

Mascot: Bulldog

Last time out: Lost to Michigan 93-59

Current High Point of the year: Beating a NAIA team at home in OT

What not to wear: Anything with Blue, that ironic Red Dog shirt from Goodwill that no one finds ironic

Player to watch: Matthew Hezekiah

6-11 forward Hezekiah is the best player on the team, once again this season leading the team in scoring and rebounding. Hezekiah has more of a mid-range jumper game than a post game, which should be just fine for Pitchford. This is going to be a long day for the Bulldogs.

How much will the rotation change?

Rey Gallegos and Deverell Biggs will be making their season debuts and both should see significant minutes right away. Gallegos isn't going to average 37.5 mpg and Biggs will come off the bench, but we should minimally see 40+ minutes from the two.

There is enough depth on this team that Shields is the only player you can confidently put in your starting lineup every single game he's healthy. Leslie Smith could find himself starting over Pitchford. Petteway could find himself coming off the bench if Miles wants to start three guards. Biggs could find himself starting for Webster if Tai's shooting woes continue. Ray Gallegos barely came off the court last year and there is no guarantee he'll be starting any game this year except senior night.

Initially look for Gallegos to knock David Rivers out of the starting lineup and for Parker, Rivers, and Tai Webster to lose out on minutes and fan favorite Mike Peltz relegated to emergency use. Biggs is probably the biggest question mark as we've never seen him in anything but an exhibition. He's notorious for not taking defense too seriously but also for being the guy on the team most willing to take advantage of the new NCAA focus on calling fouls.

The Skinny

In a nutshell, SC St could be the worst team the Huskers face this year. The Bulldogs return four starters from a 6 win team that can't shoot, doesn't play defense, but is willing to play at a fast pace. Also, they're a horrible shooting free throw team which makes the new NCAA strategy of calling everything a foul yet another strike against them.

While you wish it might be against a better opponent, this is the last chance the Huskers have to answer a few questions about their rotations and inside defense before travelling to South Carolina for next week's tournament. With the Huskers starting with a pretty good UMass team and then drawing either New Mexico or UAB, hopefully this will suffice.

Prediction: Nebraska 84 - SCST 55 with a 100% chance of Runzas