Game Day Essentials: Game #8 vs South Dakota

South Dakota Info

Head Coach: Craig Smith 
Location: Vermillion, SD
Conference: Summit
Nickname: Coyotes
Mascot: Charlie Coyote
Last time out: Lost to UMKC
Typical Rotation Depth: 10+
Line: Nebraska by 13
Tempo: Middle of the road
Style: Low assist/low 3pt attempts
4 Factors: Good ball control, will hunt for long rebounds, gets to the FT line
Not a good shooting team, they don't pressure much, you can get second chances

Tim Miles Presser

Scouting South Dakota

Players to watch: Tyler Flack 6'7" 230# Senior 

Flack is essentially their starting center as South Dakota rolls out a fairly small lineup.  There are different guys on this team to worry about but focusing on taking away Flack will make everything else easier.  Flack doesn't take the most shots but is a threat to score in the paint, draw a lot of contact as well as take and make shots from the 3 pt line. He's the guy you have to block out on both ends and has enough ups to block or alter shots.  Last but not least, the big man is actually the only starter shooting over 70% from the FT line, shooting 86.7% on the season.

The Skinny

This is a potentially dangerous game as Craig Smith's version of the Tim Miles system is set to pack in against our drives and draw a lot of contact on offense which can be kryptonite to a Nebraska team.  Along with the aforementioned Tyler Flack, Smith has assembled his own set of transfers in former Nebraska recruit Trey Dickerson (Iowa), Matt Mooney (Air Force), and Carlton Hurst (Colorado St.).  Mooney is the big 3pt threat to take and make them.  All of the starters regularly get to the line.

While it will be tempting to sit back and take 3s on this team that will give them to you, the Huskers need to make their money driving at the Coyotes though looking for wide open teammates camping outside the arc should eventually be a goal. You'd also like to see the Huskers draw some contact in this game as South Dakota isn't nearly as stingy as Clemson on D.  Defensively it's all about guarding without fouling.  If you can make this South Dakota team beat you by shooting, we're going to win this game. 

I think we'll try to attack faster in this game though I don't necessarily have a feel for what Smith will do. My gut tells me his experience of assisting Miles on various grind out upset wins will have him slow playing this entire game. On the other hand, this isn't a team built to play slow. How much is Nebraska going to experiment with lineups and how much is the team overlooking this squad with Creighton and Kansas coming up? Given their lack of post players and us not wanting to put them on the line expect some limited Jordy. Also given that we know pretty much what Evan Taylor brings to this team I hope we will find minutes for Roby, Horne, and Gill for the purpose of finding out if we could/should expand their roles. Can you experiment a ton and expect Smith's Coyotes to not steal one from you? A lot to consider here for what a lot of people will just consider to be just a cream puff.