uneblinstu's postgame chatter : vol 17; ed 21-Illinois

Man we needed that one.

This is how much we win by if we make our layups.

Got-R-Done

Man, that exhausted me.  We needed that, it took a lot of effort, but well done!

*  I was begging Rollie not to hoist any more perimeter shots...but I give him credit for his perseverance. 

*  Juwan didn't shoot a three.  But man he was balling out there.

Honestly, I thought every player that made it on the floor played pretty well.

We just got blasted on the boards.  Good lord, I believe they doubled us up.  I was stroking out with every second and third chance points we gave them.

Six turnovers was a huge advantage for us.

Good win...now I am off to see our games in Eugene and Seattle.

I spazzed out when Charles came out on the floor for the dunk contest.  I hope someone caught that fall on video.  Holy cow.

For those who didn't see it, he did a difficult but cool flip...but landed on his upper back and head.  Yikes.

Notes from UNL

• With the 80-74 overtime win over No. 18 Illinois, Nebraska improved to 3-2 against ranked opponents this season. NU has three ranked wins in a season for the first time since 2013-14.
• The win snapped a nine-game losing streak to Illinois dating back to 2018-18, as the Huskers tied the all-time series between the two programs in Lincoln (6-6).
• Nebraska improved to 1-1 in overtime games this season. The Huskers snapped a two-game overtime losing streak, posting their first overtime victory since an 80-72 win over No. 6 Wisconsin at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Feb. 1, 2024.
• The Huskers never trailed and led for a total of 39:30.
• Fred Hoiberg earned his 31st career victory over a ranked team.
• Nebraska committed only six turnovers in the game, including just one in the first half. The Huskers did not turn the ball over for the first 15:26 of the game.  The six turnovers tied for Nebraska’s fewest of the season, as the Huskers also had six turnovers against North Florida on Dec. 1.
• Nebraska forced 17 Illinois turnovers, which marked the second-most turnovers by the Illini this season.
• NU was plus-nine in the turnover department, its best mark in Big Ten play this season and its third-best margin of the season overall.
• The Huskers held a 44-28 advantage in points in the paint. Nebraska is just the second team this season to outscore Illinois by 15 or more points in the paint.
• Brice Williams scored a game-high 27 points, his ninth 20-point game of the season and the 25th of his career. Williams scored eight of his 10 points in overtime, as he personally outscored Illinois 8-4 in the extra period.
• Williams made 10 field goals in the game, tying his season high and marking the fourth time this season he has made 10 field goals.
• Along with his 27 points, Williams added eight rebounds and four assists. His eight rebounds were a season high, and his four assists were his third-highest total of the season.
• Juwan Gary had 13 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Gary reached double figures for the 12th time this season, and his two blocks tied his season high, and his three steals were his second-highest total of the season.
• Connor Essegian scored 14 points off the bench, the 11th time he has scored in double figures this season and the 10th time he’s reached double figures off the bench. Nebraska’s bench was outscored 34-21.
• Nebraska used its sixth different lineup of the season, as Rollie Worster returned to the starting lineup. It was Hoiberg’s second straight start for the Huskers and third in his career. 

-Always a pleasure to watch the best to ever do it. Nice work as always Jeffrey

-Brice and Juwan played like they have to if we want to have a chance in this league.

-Sam made a great play to slow up the fast break that allowed Juwan to block it at the end

-Not sure the numbers, but I’ve got to believe we have a pretty good record when Cale gets in the game 

-Most of Illinois made threes were when we had an on ball defender. I don’t think our system is the problem, we just need to be better guarding on the ball

-We have lost 3 or 4 games we should have won this year. Give us 2 or 3 games we shouldn’t win and we are right back in this thing

-GBR forever 

That was a great effort by Brice & Juwan to not allow NU to lose this one tonight. Elite effort by the two seniors. Same type of effort by Sam, too.

We have a lot of deficiencies but we need to give great effort every night to give us a chance going forward. Love to see that this was NU's 3rd ranked win, which ties for the most by the Huskers since 2013-14. This team has a lot left to give, and let's see how the chips fall in the final 10 B1G games. GBR!!!

Feels pretty good after the games with them last year.  This one kind of felt like those February games two seasons ago.  Hoping we have a big February run of wins.

Illinois about walked it off tonight.  It was nice to see a team miss some shots.  Hopefully the spark we need to get back to defending.

We again weren't making plays to win late.  Open shots have to fall.  Rebounds have to be secured.  In overtime we made them.  We looked like a completely different team at times in overtime.

Our schedule sets up pretty good after the Oregon game.  Oregon is struggling a bit now too.

Definitely not a pretty game - but as we have noted often this season our wins are not going to be pretty.

Illinois game plan reminded me of back to the days when we had Benny Parker and some teams just completely ignored him when we had the ball.   They just dared Worster to shoot the ball - did not even guard him at all on the perimeter.   Hard to play offense when a team does that and why he got very few minutes in the first half despite starting.   He did make some good plays on defense but his inability to make a jump shot continues to be a problem.

Brice and Juwan both struggled to get the ball into the hoop but they were warriors at times as well.   What they allow teams to do to Brice off the ball is criminal - would be chargeable as sexual assault if it happened in a bar.   Twice tonight the Illinois defender just grabbed the front of his jersey so he could not get away from them around a screen - once right in front of the ref who did nothing.   Really have to commend Brice for continuing to keep his cool despite what he has to put up with this year.

Rebounding was a huge problem tonight but at least part of that was because the refs allowed it to be an absolute free for all whenever a shot went up.  Several times we were in position to get the ball or even had our hands on it but just got shoved out of the way and the ball taken away.   Happened to Morgan more than once.   Seemed like the refs tonight just decided anything goes when you went after a rebound.   That said - once the game is being called that way we have to be tougher and stronger with the ball.   At the end we finally seemed to be playing that way as Gary and Morgan both grabbed some tough rebounds down the stretch.

As indicated I don't think these refs ever had any control of this game.   Calls were inconsistent when they did make them and seemed just haphazard at best.   To some extent both ways - but Illinois as the more physical team benefited from that more I think.  Of course I understand fan bias plays into that some.

I have always thought Illinois had bad basketball fans - but there were two guys a couple rows behind me tonight that were just completely obnoxious.    Seemed like lots of Illinois fans had lower bowl seats to this game.   Wish our fans would avoid selling good seats to the opposition but I understand they may not know who is buying them.   Overall our crowd kind of started out slowly but got into the game at the end - especially in overtime.  Much better than the last couple home games.

Always good to beat the Illini. GBR!!!

Great win. Wasn’t pretty but a win is a win. Still some hope. Hope this gains some confidence and swagger back 

Go .500 Down the Stretch & we’re IN the Dance…! 

17 minutes ago, Handy Johnson said:

Go .500 Down the Stretch & we’re IN the Dance…! 

I think if Fred gets them to 9-11, and get at least another dub in Indy, that may be enough to sneak into the NCAAs. And, to think, 13-5 wasn't enough for Miles & Co. Ughh, that one still burns me to my core. Sheesh.