Incarnate Word Info
Head Coach: Ken Burmeister
Location: San Antonio, TX
Conference: Southland
Nickname: Cardinals
Last time out: Lost to UTEP
Typical Rotation Depth: 7 players
Tempo: Cheerleader dance music
Offensive Style: Attack
Defensive Style: Attack
Opening Line: None
Years in Div I: Two
Coaching Changes: Mike Riley was hired on Thursday
Shirt not to wear: St Louis Cardinals Gear, anything bird related
Other Previews
Huskers.com - http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=209801435
Possible Starters
Huskers
3 Benny Parker 5-9 172 Jr
5 Terran Petteway 6-6 215 Jr
31 Shavon Shields 6-7 221 Jr
2 David Rivers 6-7 200 Sr
35 Walter Pitchford 6-10 237 Jr
Cardinals
2 Mitchell Badillo 5-10 175 Jr
0 Jontrell Walker 6-1 188 Fr
11 Denzel Livingston 6-4 178 Sr
4 Kyle Hittle 6-5 210 Jr
5 Traylin Farris 6-8 225 Fr
Player to Watch
Jontrell Walker: The freshman shooting guard is currently the second leading freshman scorer in the country and put up 30 against UTEP on Monday. He's shooting from 3, taking it to the rim. In terms of style he's a mini-Petteway: A remorseless, high motor scoring machine.
The Skinny
Prepare to be entertained tonight. The Huskers haven't put together a complete game yet this year and Coach Miles is fairly unhappy with the lack of scoring punch behind Petteway and Shields. The struggles of Tai Webster and Walt Pitchford to knock down jump shots have Miles thinking lineup changes. We should start to see more Tarrin Smith and potentially some Nick Fuller. Moses Abraham might move into the starting lineup, though probably not this game because of the matchup. Until the Huskers can put it together, expect a continuous tinkering of lineups.
Enter the Incarnate Word Cardinals. The small private school turned Div 1 last year and is currently trying to become the largest private school in Texas. (They have half the students of Baylor). They're concentrating on basketball first and are scheduling any large names schools that will play them. While they're here to collect a paycheck, they're also here to make a name for themselves by beating a team that made the NCAA tourney last year.
The Cardinals are basically UNO 2.0. They're a small team that attacks the basket on offense and attacks the ball on defense. At times the aggression will force the Huskers into sloppy turnovers. Other times, it will give Nebraska the FT attempts so vital for their offense. The Cardinals beat Princeton on the road with 3 of their guys fouling out. Everyone on the court has a green light to shoot. There is no Vegas line on this game. Dogs and cats, living together! Mass hysteria! (Enough! I get the point!)
This should be a team that comes out swinging but after travelling from a hard fought UTEP game yesterday shouldn't play very sharp. Expect the Huskers to eventually handle but never put away an Incarnate Word team that scored four points in the last 11 seconds of a game there weren't winning. Expect to feel much better about the offense even though you shouldn't yet. Tim Miles built some of his reputation by shocking large schools with underdog squads. Let's hope he and the Huskers don't put Incarnate Word on the map tonight.
Prediction: Nebraska 82 - Incarnate Word 70 with a 98% chance of Runzas.
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