uneblinstu's postgame chatter: vol 14; ed 7 - vs. South Dakota

The real games start in December...

Nice spark from the bench that turned the game around.  Some hustle and hot shooting led to a halftime lead. 

Same old weaknesses were on display, poor defensive rebounding. Poor 3 pt defense and lack of ball and layer movement on offense.

With the above flaws the Huskers did get to 20 point lead and won the game comfortably.  We are a work in progress.

Oh and also this win drops us to #103 in the KenPom rankings.

Decent win. Saw a lot of our common bugaboos but crazy how making shots helps. 

Didn't watch or listen, but looked over the stats, and seems like the same'ol, same'ol.  Out rebounded, allowed 40+% on FG, almost 50% on 3's, destroyed on second chance points, FT% meh.  Just not a recipe for success in the B1G, on paper anyway.  The good though, bench points tonight wow.  Happy for Tominaga.  Glad to get the dub.

50 minutes ago, 49r said:

Full disclosure.  I didn't watch the game today.  Weather was just too nice and the temptation to go out on a nice hike this afternoon was too great.  I will watch the replay later on so for now you all will need to add your comments below.  Also, here is the 93.7 postgame show:

 

 

That's what I did for the football game yesterday.

Bench was huge for us today. When we went up USD got anxious and starting taking shots out of the flow of their offense. Bryce is definitely improving as well.

Issue is still rebounding. Teams with legit big men are going to be a very tough out for us. Auburn’s big man might eat our team alive. 

Easy to point out the issues, there are a few.  But a few very good performances today as well.  

The elephants on the court are easy to pick on, but the coaching staff must be seeing things I simply cannot see.  

This may be gibberish but that is because I left PBA with a scrambled head.

Post game from coach Hoiberg, something to the effect of the guys are starting to figure each other out, getting better.  Can we "figure each other out", and "get better" BEFORE we play creighton someday? 

52 minutes ago, 49r said:

Oh and also this win drops us to #103 in the KenPom rankings.

We were actually 103 coming into this game and at 102 since you posted. A lot of movement this time of year.

I was there, it’s easy to forget/overlook how GOOD Bryce is, after seeing that Purdue-UNO score I was reminded how we’re going to get pushed around once B1G play starts…

Verge only getting 16 minutes, and our bench going off?  Hmmmm

This game wasn't as close as the final score indicates. Nebraska built up a nice halftime lead despite South Dakota hitting everything from outside.

Then with 11 minutes to go and us up by 7, CJ hits a 3 and Keisei steals the inbound pass and we're up 12. Nebraska tacks on 10 straight after that and it's 75-53 with 6 minutes to go.

Keisei was a hell of a spark today.  His shooting got us back into the game and he helped key our run.  His first make of the game he has a guard closing out on him, takes a side dribble, and knocked it down.  He was on all day after that including some nice shots in the paint.  He's an offensive explosion waiting to happen.

Kobe had it today and Verge didn't, and the minutes reflected that. With Trey out it's vital that at least one of them is playing well every single game. Kobe actually missed a bunch of shots too today but you don't notice it as much because he's not dribbling as much.

Bryce makes at least a few plays a game where you can see why he's such a highly regarded NBA prospect.  This was his 3rd game with 10+ FT attempts; his athleticism has been racking up a lot of free points for us

Walker tied the Nebraska record for consecutive makes over multiple games with 15 today.  Ade Daugunduro set the record back in 2008.  After his first miss today, he proceeded to make his next 5.

We started out well again so today was the day that Keon stayed in after the first TV timeout.  South Dakota goes on a run and out he goes. A lot of empty minutes

Mayen looks completely lost out there. 

Breidenbach with active hands out there today, 5 steals.  He has his wtf moments but was a plus today.

Wilcher had a solid 20 minutes out there today. He's just really solid and Keisei playing so well probably limited his minutes.

Ed was a plus on the boards tonight.

58 minutes ago, Bugeaters1 said:

That's what I did for the football game yesterday.

 

I've been doing that all football season...last year and this.  

11 miles yesterday and 8 miles today.  Between that and the elliptical I will have put a bit over 50 miles under my feet over this Thanksgiving holiday.

31 minutes ago, Huskerone said:

Verge only getting 16 minutes, and our bench going off?  Hmmmm

Specifically Keisei went off which I don't think had anything to do with who else was on the court today.

We have the sort of depth where if any of the starters are playing poorly we absolutely should see what our bench has. Verge had it last game and didn't this game. 

Notes and quotes from UNL

Postgame Notes vs. South Dakota
*-Keisei Tominaga totaled a career-high 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting in 22 minutes off the bench. The sophomore has now been in double figures in three of the past four games. Tominaga’s five 3-pointers were a season-high for a Husker and the most since Kobe Webster had seven at Northwestern on March 7, 2021.

*-Tominaga is the fourth different Husker to post a 20-point game this season, and second from a reserve (Kobe Webster vs. Creighton)

*-Derrick Walker made his first field goal against USD, which tied the school record with 15 consecutive field goals dating back to Nov. 21. Walker, who missed his second field goal attempt, tied the mark of Ade Dagunduro in 2008. 
*-Walker has now been in double figures in four consecutive games, the longest stretch of his career. Prior to this season, he had just three career double-figure games.
*-Bryce McGowens posted his third 20-point game of the season with 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists. McGowens tied his season high in assists with four.
*-Wilhelm Breidenbach posted a career-high five steals, the most by any Husker in a game in 2021-22. The last Husker with at least five steals in a game was Teddy Allen, who had five against North Dakota State on Nov. 28, 2020.  As a team, Nebraska had 10 steals, its highest total since having 10 against Rutgers on March 1, 2021.

*-Nebraska finished with multiple 20-point scorers for the second time this season (also vs. Western Illinois).
*-As a team, Nebraska had 18 assists for the fourth straight game. 
*-Nebraska’s 83 points was a season-high (previous best 82 vs. Southern).
 

Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg

On Keisei Tominaga:

“He is just a guy that puts so much time and effort and work into it. I have not said much to him just because of how good of a shooter he is. Sometimes human nature as a shooter is to try to get a little closer to the rim and to guide it in. I think we have a couple guys that were doing that. Just really trying to get him back out and shoot with confidence and trust the stroke. It is a thing of beauty. It is what has gotten him to this point. It was just a matter of time before he took the lid off and it was the perfect timing for us. It was great to see him get going like he did.”

On having the lead for 31 minutes of play:

“I thought it was a very entertaining game. I thought our guys really went out and shared it. I think that is four games in a row with 18 assists. I talked to our guys after the game. We are getting better. We are growing as a basketball team. They are starting to figure each other out. Much better than we were the first couple of games, and we had our best stretch of basketball. There is no doubt about it. We still have areas we need to get better absolutely, but to build that cushion and to do it with different guys. That is what we talked about all along with this group. It is not going to be the same person every night. Keisei (Tominaga) got it going tonight. C.J. (Wilcher) was the guy the other night. Bryce (McGowens) has obviously been very steady. It is great to see him growing in all areas. So just a really good total team effort.”

Sophomore Guard Keisei Tominaga

On his overall performance

“I just keep shooting in practice and stuff. It felt good today.”

On his celebrations

“I don't really know. When I was young, I watched the NBA and I learned how to celebrate.”

On the adjustment to this level of basketball

“It’s a higher level. I have to get more physical tough and energetic. I just have to continue to get better.”

Freshman Guard Bryce McGowens

On shots falling and the team's confidence growing

“It all starts with playing as a team and believing in each other and knowing that your teammate has your back and believes in you. It just gives you a lot of confidence to knock down your shots and removes the pressure.”

On why they are extra excited for Keisei

“He’s a big-time player. He’s not from here so it’s different having someone outside of the U.S. bring that type of energy. He’s an amazing player.”

On being in more playmaking situations

“We have a lot of people that can score the ball on this team. I feel comfortable knowing that the next player is going to make a play out of the play that I make. I am feeling really comfortable in the role.”

South Dakota Head Coach Todd Lee

On how Nebraska changed the game in the second half

“We were down eight at the half, and we didn’t execute defensively at all. That was disappointing. We turned it over 18 times in the game and that stands out. That’s too many. We got it to seven, and then we were zero of four from the line. It could have been a three-point game at that point which is big. We didn’t make our free throws, and we turned it over too much. The three ball did keep us in it.”

On defending Nebraska at the three-point line

“We let Keisei Tominaga get away from us. We did a good job on everybody else, but he got away from us and that was a big part of why we lost.”

On what they are going to work on moving forward

“Our defensive execution has got to improve. We were bad. We gave up four backdoor layups and too many threes. We’ve got to do a better job of chasing shooters. A lot of it is execution defense. We ended up minus eight in turnovers and plus three on offensive boards so we were minus five but the biggest thing is the 18 turnovers and the lack of defensive execution.”

Enjoyed this game. A mild, windy walk to the north doors of PBA. I was nervous when South Dakota went up 21-16…Verge had some flashes but also made some Verge type of mistakes, and Fred wasn’t having it. 
Good effort by Walker today. I agree with Matt, Lat does indeed look lost out there. 
kobe is such a luxury to have off the bench. 
Tominaga was a difference maker. His off the ball movement stresses out opposing defenses and really is a reason why the defense is scrambled up.

glad to get this win 

22 minutes ago, Faux Mike Peltz said:

A mild, windy walk to the north doors of PBA.

You could probably make some good money if you start sharing the weather report from PBA to the parking lot around the 5:00 mark left in the game. Just saying.

Fun watching Tominaga catch fire a bit. Could do without the MJ shoulder shrug after them, though. Gonna look dumb when we’re getting smacked by Purdue and he does the 3 goggles. 

Bryce's efficiency is very impressive thus far - understanding it almost certainly will go down as the schedule toughens up, but he's averaging 1.59 points per FG attempt as a true frosh. 

Roby had 1.65 in 2017-2018 (on 278 total points), but his game was far different than Bryce's game. None of the other recent volume scorers have been close to that number:

• Allen 2020-21 1.24 (362 total pts)
• JPJ 2018-19 1.22 (708)
• JPJ 2017-18 1.39 (568)
• Shields 2015-16 1.31 (503)
• White 2015-16 1.39 (563)
• Petteway 2014-15 1.21 (564)
• Shields 2014-15 1.31 (478)
• Petteway 2013-14 1.36 (579)
• Shields 2013-14 1.38 (409)

And Walker's number is off the charts - 2.03 points per FG attempt. Won't stay that high, but I never would've expected that from him. For comparison, in Venson Hamilton's Big 12 POY season in 1998-1999, he was at 1.34 on 518 total points. Walker won't come close to that total points number, but he is off to an amazing start none the less.

Saw that- Hoiberg stopped verge on his way to sitting on the bench and pointed sharply three times. It was about as upset as I’ve seen him towards a player 

If we get this version of Verge, we're in big trouble.