DEFENSE: F
Nebraska was pathetic on the defensive end, allowing 84 points on 54% shooting.
And the worst part is, even if NU had somehow managed to be respectable on the boards (which they weren't), they still would have been God awful defensively.
Give Minnesota a TON of credit, because they literally made almost every single open shot they had. They were really, really good tonight. That can't be overlooked.
But give Nebraska credit, too, for looking as if they've never seen a pick and roll, back cut or the ability to stop drible penetration in their lives. Also, it was way too easy for Minnesota to pick apart the zone and get the ball into the interior. The Gophers literally picked their shot 9 out of 10 possessions.
Help defense was consistently late which helped Nebraska allow a staggering 11 dunks on the night. That's all you need to know.
REBOUNDING: F
Somehow, Nebraska's rebounding was even worse than its defense - and that's seriously quite the accomplishment.
I need to go back and re-watch, but I'm almost certain Nebraska didn't even HAVE A SINGLE REBOUND until about five minutes into the game. Literally. Not a single one. Because Minnesota either scored or turned it over early.
For the night, 36 to 19 on the boards (-17) for NU - even worse, 16 offensive boards allowed.
Now, Minnesota is probably the best in the league at rebounding, and they obviously have superior talent to NU, but still, a few of those boards were simply just not hustling.
Also, how many times did we allow offensive rebounds off of free throws? How about David Rivers having an easy one in the first two minutes of the game, fumbling it, and it leading to two MU points on ensuing free throws. Or how about Brandon Ubel not grabbing one in the second half, which led to three points on a Benny Parker foul.
To me, not getting rebounds off of a missed free throw is 90% of the time inexcusable.
BALL HANDLING: D+
Nebraska was good in the second half, only turning the ball over four times, but the nine in the first half, coupled with not being able to guard its own shadow and not being able to grab a ball with velcrow on it, was not a good combination. Minnesota got way too many easy points off of turnovers.
Parker's line was much better than it seemed - 6 assists to 2 turnovers. I thought that defensively and even offensively, this was one of the worst games of his young Big 10 career. The numbers would suggest otherwise.
COACHING: C+
I loved Miles giving Parker the stair down at the end of the half, as he had a defensive breakdown that led to a hoop. He was like, "Are you effing kidding me?"
Miles didn't seem to have the fire in this one that he's had in recent games. He took a timeout and ripped his team to shreds off of not grabbing two defensive rebounds against Northwestern. In this game, where his team was ten times worse in that regard, not a single similar situation.
Nebraska left the game with its full allotment of second half timeouts, which isn't a huge deal but was a bit peculiar.
Nice job massaging rotations to keep Ubel around as long as possible - maximizing him in the first half but taking him out at the under 4:00 timeout so he wouldn't get his third foul. During that time NU was competitive and kept the game within reach.
Would have liked to see a switch to zone earlier.
At the end of the day, what are you going to do? The better team won.
OVERALL GRADE: C-
I thought Nebraska played slightly below average, only because of Gallegos. Without him, it makes me shudder imagining what this would have been like.
The Huskers were great offensively or more in particular, shooting the basketball. Otherwise, its hard to find anywhere they were particularly good.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: RAY GALLEGOS
2012-2013 PLAYER OF THE GAME RESULTS:
RAY GALLEGOS - 9
DYLAN TALLEY - 5
BRANDON UBEL - 4
SHAVON SHIELDS - 3
DAVID RIVERS - 2
JORDAN TYRANCE - 1
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