HHC Report Card: 2012 Illinois Fighting Illini Home

Explaining The Grades:

Near Flawless	Poor
Good	Awful
Average

OFFENSE:

Nebraska shot 56% from the field, including an impressive 50% (10-20) from downtown. The Huskers scored 80 and had they wanted to, could have pushed the 86-88 range by leaving their key players in a bit longer.

Nebraska looked loose today offensively, which is something we haven't seen much this year. The ball zipped around the floor to open shooters who in turn, buried open shots. The Huskers did a GREAT job at getting baskets in transition and many times, found easy layups after Illini defenders fell asleep.

Bo Spencer was extremely efficient, going 9-11 (5-7 from downtown) for 27 points. He also made his "daily alley oop pass" to Caleb Walker for a dunk that SHOULD be on Sports Center's Top 10 Plays of the Day. Please tweet them and get Husker Hoops some love!

Only negative, how the freshman (namely Hilliard) finished this one, in a bit of a sloppy and selfish way.

DEFENSE:

About seven minutes in, after having their man to man defense shredded for open look after open look, the Huskers got into a zone and from that point forward, literally DECIMATED Illinois. The Illini shot just 40% from the field for the game, and the Huskers had a run of 36-4 at one point based on Illinois scoring only two baskets in about eleven minutes. That is stunningly good defense.

REBOUNDING:

Nebraska kept Illinois off of the offensive glass (only five second chance boards by Illinois). Really, only one offensive rebound was allowed that led to an easy basket, and that was in the first six minutes of the game (Illinois' 13th and 14th points, I believe, on a non-box out by Dylan Talley).

The Huskers out boarded Illinois overall by a margin of 33-27.

BALL HANDLING:

Only Bo Spencer had more than one turnover for the Huskers, and he had five.

Otherwise, for the game, Nebraska nearly doubled assists to turnovers (19 to 10) and did a terrific job of running the floor and making Illinois pay for its lack of transition defense.

COACHING:

Nebraska REALLY laid the wood shed to Illinois in the second half, but its the first half I want to talk about and give Doc props for.

First of all, as we mentioned above, he made a great defensive switch about eight minutes in when he went to the zone and curtailed the Illinois offense. To that point, it looked like it would be a long day for Nebraska.

Then, there were a couple of times out of timeouts, where Doc switched back into a man to man right after, so that the play Bruce Weber drew up would not work.

Also, what was most impressive to me in the first half was Doc's use of Brandon Ubel and Toney McCray.

McCray got two early fouls and Ubel had one, so you had that "oh crap" in the back of your head without Jorge Brian Diaz.

Well, Doc pulled out McCray for Fox around the 14:00 mark and finally, Ubel got his first rest at around the 10:00 mark and at first, you thought, "okay, he'll bring him back at the under 8:00 timeout." However, Fox and Niemann were on the floor during a nice run, and at the under 8:00 timeout, Doc smartly brought in Toney McCray for Mike Fox, who had played nearly seven straight minutes.

From the 8:00 to under 4:00, the Huskers played even better, so Ubel was able to stay out of the game until the under 4:00. And, McCray was able to avoid his third foul.

This is when I really applaud Doc. At the 3:35 mark, out of the under 4:00 timeout, he took out McCray for Fox, so McCray wouldn't pick up a cheap third foul. And, he went back to Ubel for the final few minutes, thus limiting his minutes and chances of a second foul while also resting him so he could go seventeen minutes in the second half if he needed to.

Smart, smart coaching, for a guy whose been blasted this year. Makes you wonder, if he made adjustments so quickly in this game defensively, why didn't he do so in a game in Evanston, Illinois, just two weeks ago, before halftime? Mind blowing.

My theory? He has no pressure on him now. He knows its over, so he's able to relax and be the same Doc we used to know and love.

I believe pressure and angst change people and make them forget who they were and what made them good. They panic and lose focus and demeanor.

And it seemed like NU played a lot more loose today, too, and perhaps that's why so many shots were pouring in. They seemed to just play in a "free spirited way," if that makes sense. A "what the hell, we have nothing to lose" mode.

OVERALL GRADE:

Who would have ever thunk that Nebraska would give Bruce Weber a 23 point loss (tying the worst during his tenure) AND get straight "A's" on this report card?

These kids deserve it and I'm happy for them.

PLAYER OF THE GAME:  Bo Spencer

SEASON TOTALS:

Bo Spencer - 7

Brandon Richardson- 6

Toney McCray - 5

Jorge Brian Diaz - 3

Dylan Talley - 2

Brandon Ubel - 1

Josiah Moore - 1