Game Day Essentials: Game #3 vs Delaware St.

Delaware State

Head Coach: Keith Walker
Location: Dover, DE
Conference: MEAC
Nickname: Hornets
Last time out: Lost to Penn
Shirt not to wear: Blue, Larry Johnson Jersey
Defensive Style: zone

Projected Starters

Huskers
32 Benny Parker G 5-9 175 Sr.
0 Tai Webster G 6-4 196 Jr.
3 Andrew White III G 6-7 216 Jr.
31 Shavon Shields G/F 6-7 225 Sr.
24 Jake Hammond F 6-10 235 Soph

Hornets

11 Devin Morgan Jr. G 5-10 180 Fr.
35 Todd Hughes G 6-3 185 Soph.
10 Kavon Waller F 6-5 210 Soph.
20 Mrdjan Gasevic F/C 6-8 235 Jr.
12 Joseph Lewis F/C 6-9 225 Jr.

The Skinny

I guess Villanova at home is a bit better than a SWAC team on the road, eh? For a brief moment you had a glimpse of what the future might be for Nebrasketball as the Huskers went on a 12-4 run early to grab a 23-16 lead and quiet the crowd at the Pavillion. From there Nova went on a 22-0 run with the Huskers unable to handle the pressure from the Wildcats, mostly turning the ball over into easy transition baskets. 22 turnovers are tough to overcome against average teams; it gets you blown out by good ones.

Miles is sticking with his starting lineup for now and for the present that works. Glynn Watson has looked great at times but at other times he's been out of control and his scoring has been volume based. Ed Morrow is our best post player but he's 2 fouls three minutes into the game waiting to happen. Both of these guys will force their way into the starting lineup soon enough as pairing Tai and Benny really limits your scoring options and Hammond still doesn't look quite strong enough.

Rotation combinations will be the name of the game during this home-stretch. In the past Miles had a set rotation to the point where he'd forget about the other guys on the bench. This year he has options and questions marks; Fuller was in the rotation to start the game but after 3 minutes McVeigh had stepped in. Can McVeigh play guard? Does Watson pair better with Tai or Benny? What lineup can we use to zone? To press? Still a lot of unknown with this squad.

Delaware St. would have been a tough matchup last year for the Huskers with their 2-3 zone and veteran squad. This year the Hornets come into Lincoln playing a lot of underclassmen and dropping both of their home games in their 3,000 person arena. There is a chance that the Hornets slow this game down enough and befuddle the Huskers with their zone defenses and presses enough to make us sweat this game out. There is a better chance that the Huskers overwhelm the Hornets and turn this into a laugher.

Prediction: Nebraska 75 - Deleware St 53 with a 78% chance of Runzas