MBB: Game #1 vs Southern

Southern Info

Mascot: Jaguars

Conference: SWAC

School Location: Baton Rouge, LA

Shirt not to wear: Blue, Gold, and/or that cat shirt everyone tolerates

Recruiting Motto: "Be a Jag"

Last game out: Lost to Iowa St. 82-59

Probable Starters:

Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-0)

3 - Benny Parker - 5-9 - Fr. - G

15 - Ray Gallegos - 6-2 - Jr. - G

24 - Dylan Talley - 6-5 - Sr. - G

13 - Brandon Ubel - 6-10 - Sr. - F

32 - Andre Almeida - 6-11 - Sr. - C

Southern Jaguars (0-1)

10 - Cameron Monroe - 6-2 - So. - G

32 - Derick Beltran - 6-4 - Sr. - G

5 - Jameel Grace - 6-0 - Sr. - G

44 - Javan Mitchell - 6-8 - Sr. - C

35 - Madut Bol - 6-9 - Sr. - C

Opposing player to watch: Derick Beltran

One of 4 seniors on the team, Beltran led the team in scoring against Iowa St and accounted for roughtly half of their made baskets, 3 pt makes, 3 pt attempts, assists, and tweets of his shoes. Guards make up the strength of this Southern team so don't be surprised if whomever has the hot hand between Beltran, Jameel Grace, or Cameron Monroe becomes the player jacking up shots.

Opposing player to watch: Malcolm Miller

While Southern starts a couple of senior big men, they're basically just tall dudes who fill space and occasionally happen on the ball when they aren't busy fouling the opposition. Vs. Iowa State it was freshman Malcolm Miller who came off the bench for 32 minutes to chip in 10 points against the Cyclones.

Welcome to the last first start of the Miles Era

If you made it to the exhibition game against Midland you saw a team that looks like it's learning how to play offense and has a handle on defense which you could claim is how the team has looked for the last three or so years. Southern represents a good opening opponent for the Huskers as the Senior laden team represents one of the better and more experienced teams of the worst conference in Div I, the SWAC.

Expect Southern to try and overwhelm the Huskers with their guard play and constantly changing defensive strategies including full court press, man to man, zone, and of course, junk. The Huskers should have the advantage down low so unless the plan for the rest of the year is to give up on scoring down low, look for a big game out of Ubel or Almeida. After the cold shooting night from the guards in the exhibition it will be interesting to see who can get on track.

While this is an experienced team who had an 11 point lead and a 41-39 score at half with Iowa State, this is the type of team that Nebraska should be able to handle if they expect to win double digit games this year. The Huskers haven't lost a home opener since 1980 and don't expect it in the last year of the Bob.

Game Prediction: NU 67 - SU 57 with a 56% chance of Runzas