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They aren’t building with a bunch of teams leftovers they don’t want.

Disagree with this take in today’s game… every team is like this. Every single one.

It’s a weird feeling because we hired a guy who won the transfer portal before there was one… and we can’t take an advantage. Unless we just aren’t competitive $$$ wise.

The other team gives us some uncontested 3's, we miss them.

I don’t know…. If I have ever…. Seen a softer basketball player than Brice Williams.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-7) vs #18 Wisconsin Badgers (15-4) Date: Sunday Jan. 26th, 2025 Time: 12:00 pm CST Arena: Kohl Center Broadcast: BTN Wisconsin Info Head Coach: Greg Gard Location: Madison, WI Conference: B1G Nickname: Badgers Mascot: Bucky Badger Line: Wisconsin by 7.5 Typical Rotation Depth: 8+ KenPom rank: 20 Nota bene: The last time Nebraska won at the Kohl Center was a 74-73 win over then #10 Wisconsin on the last regular season game of the 2021-22 season Both coaches have sons playing for them. Isaac Gard is a junior walk-on for the Badgers Player to watch: John Tonje After a lost season at Missouri, the Omaha Central product is the leading scorer for Wisconsin, leading the team in FT and 3pt makes. USC was able to hold Tonje scoreless, but lost by 15 in the effort. Player to watch: John Blackwell Blackwell's emergence as a scoring threat last season led to Connor Essegian sitting on the bench and eventually transferring to Nebraska. Now as Wisconsin's main shooting threat, the streaky Blackwell is only shooting 32.9% from 3 though on any given day is capable of going off Player to watch: Steven Crowl The 7ft senior center looks to be a difficult piece to guard for Nebraska given his capacity to pass out of the post. Is capable of popping a 3 from the top of the key Wisconsin's Roster Player # Class Pos Height Weight Summary John Tonje 9 SR G 6-5 222 17.5 Pts 4.8 Reb 1.9 Ast John Blackwell 25 SO G 6-4 194 16.4 Pts 4.7 Reb 2.4 Ast Steven Crowl 22 SR F 7-0 217 10.4 Pts 5.5 Reb 2.5 Ast Nolan Winter 31 SO F 6-11 220 10.4 Pts 5.8 Reb 1.0 Ast Max Klesmit 11 SR G 6-3 180 10.4 Pts 2.0 Reb 2.8 Ast Kamari McGee 4 SR G 6-0 180 7.1 Pts 2.6 Reb 2.1 Ast Xavier Amos 13 JR F 6-8 210 4.0 Pts 1.9 Reb 0.3 Ast Carter Gilmore 7 SR F 6-7 215 2.9 Pts 2.1 Reb 1.1 Ast Jack Janicki 33 FR G 6-5 190 1.6 Pts 1.3 Reb 0.8 Ast Markus Ilver 35 SR F 6-8 219 2.1 Pts 0.6 Reb 0.1 Ast Jack Robison 2 FR F 6-5 190 0.7 Pts 0.1 Reb 0.0 Ast Riccardo Greppi 18 FR F 6-10 255 1.0 Pts 1.8 Reb 0.3 Ast Isaac Gard 15 JR G 6-2 165 0.4 Pts 0.1 Reb 0.1 Ast Other Roster Starting forward Nolan Winter leads the Badgers in rebounding and can score inside and out. Max Klesmit leads the team in 3pt attempts but is making a dismal 29.2% from 3. Glue guy Carter Gilmore is the main backup at post. Northern Illinois transfer Xavier Amos is another backup post, more of a scoring threat. Backup guard Kamari McGee is shooting 54.8% from 3. UNL Game Notes Roster/infirmary report Possible starters for Nebraska 3 Guard Brice Williams 6-7 214 lbs Senior 0 Guard Connor Essegian 6-4 190 lbs Junior 4 Forward Juwan Gary 6-6 226 lbs Senior 2 Guard Ahron Ulis 6-3 190 lbs Senior 34 Center Braxton Meah 7-1 264 lbs Senior Bench 9 Forward Berke Büyüktuncel 6-10 244 lbs 24 Guard Rollie Worster 6-5 210 lbs Senior 1 Guard Sam Hoiberg 6-0 185 lbs Junior 23 Forward Andrew Morgan 6-10 242 lbs Senior 31 Guard Cale Jacobsen 6-4 195 lbs Sophomore 12 Guard Gavin Griffiths 6-7 193 lbs Sophomore 5 Forward Braden Frager 6-7 220 lbs Freshman 8 Guard Jeffrey Grace III 6-3 200 lbs Junior 20 Forward Justin Bolis 6-8 225 lbs Sophomore 25 Guard Nick Janowski 6-4 208 lbs Freshman 35 Forward Henry Burt 6-7 222 lbs Sophomore Out for year 51 Forward Rienk Mast 6-10 260 lbs Senior Fred Hoiberg Presser Fred hints that we might end up seeing more lineup changes going forward The Skinny: With the loss of Chucky Hepburn and AJ Starr to the NIL monster, many had Wisconsin picked to be towards the bottom of the conference. However, behind the addition of John Tonje and movement to the highest tempo offense of any Wisconsin team this century, the Badgers find themselves ranked and towards the top of the conference. The Badgers have been 3pt heavy, currently ranking 1st in B1G conference play for 3pt rate. Look for at least 30 attempts from deep against a Nebraska team that is likely to double team the posts. The Badgers seem streaky from deep like most any team, as they've made anywhere from 22.7% to 67.7% from deep in conference. Regardless, the Badger offense has been their strength this season and has only been held under a point per possession once. Defensively, this isn't a vintage Badger team but they do well enough. They don't force turnovers nor block shots...they simply force you to take tough shots. You can probably pin 3 of WIsconsin's 4 losses on their defense, games in which the Badgers were outscored. Perhaps Nebraska is looking for a fast start on offense by potentially moving to Morgan and Hoiberg in the starting lineup. The very odd thing about Morgan is that you'd assume the offense would function better with him on the court though numbers show that for whatever reason the opposite is true. Actually, the two players that really seem to help offensively relative to when they're off the court have been Gary and Essegian. It might be the case that Nebraska is looking for Morgan to match up with Crowl's speed and to start the game with a possible defensive matchup. Despite a 5 game losing streak, Nebraska has only fallen 9 places in KenPom because with the exception of Purdue, Nebraska has been a couple of plays away from winning. If Nebraska can figure out how to hang around in this one on the road, can they figure out how to make those winning plays? Prediction: Wisconsin 85 - Nebraska 79 View full article

This is the mistake we make. We have shooters...we gotta recruit makers.

The real disappointing thing about putting together this roster that demanded a different style of play is that we're mostly running the same stuff we did last year. Surround Mast and Berke with guys who can shoot

It feels like I should record the game and check the score before watching, no point in putting in the effort if they won't

They average 85 PPG. Ended with 83. Do they score more if it's close? Probably. It came down to missed lay-ups (6) and points off turnovers (17 - 3). We have to take care of the ball, make lay-ups and open 3's. That's the only way we get out of this funk.

Got too close, time for the officials to do their thing.

We are complaining about your late arrival...

another Sunday, another opportunity.

BoDeans from Milwaukee

The Sparty win looks good after they blew out Michigan in Ann Arbor today.

Connor Essegian is our best +/- player on the season. His offensive presence does more good for us than his defensive presence does bad, as shown by him being our leading +/- on the season 2/3 the way through the season. We can't act like we put some super tough, defensive stalwart lineup out there to start each half. Meah can't get back in transition and practically needs to be carried to the huddle after 5 consecutive minutes of playing. Berke is not in the best shape. Down 10-6 to USC at the first media timeout. Down 10-7 to Maryland at the first media timeout. Rutgers was a good start, up 11-6 (Juwan made threes...) Iowa, Purdue and UCLA were terrible starts with little to no defense and even worse offense. Maybe Essegian's presence on the floor would open up something for Brice and allow him to get to the rim early on.

I seen these guys in Omaha.

9-35 on threes is ultimately the difference in playing with a deficit as opposed to having a lead, that's the sad reality in hoops. The three-ball is a make-or-break thing for a team. We also have witnessed this phenomenon with the men's team, particularly the past few weeks.

7-13 from the line. Probably the difference in a close game.

Wouldn't Nebraska have to recruit him first? Tonje was signed with New Mexico until Chucky left and Wisconsin out bid them. At any point we could have signed Tonje and I don't think it would have been more money than we're paying most anyone on the roster.

Just have to give a quick shout out and special thanks to @hskr4life for giving us some early season Bracketology life early in the season. She left as fast as she came. Que sera sera.

Huskers had a good plan against the press and were able to get some looks in the first half. McGuff wisely took off the press and we struggled in half court offense. A stretch in the last 4 minutes of the 3rd quarter doomed us. Hake should get special mention for her defense on McMahon. We didn’t have an answer for Thierry. OSU was so much quicker that created numerous problems but we rebounded with them and had less turnovers. Our half court offense let us down and we had to shoot too many contested threes. I think Rimdal should have been in the game late as she was getting into the lane and getting assists.

I'm surprised to see that OSU isn't particularly basketball skilled. Have size and athleticism, but aren't good with the ball, and their defense is not great. If we get back to getting the ball in the lane we can make a game of it for sure. Stop the constant three. If you make then fine, other wise get more picky and aggressive to the basket. And, yes she was out of bounds on the last OSU shot of the 1st half. Don't know if Amy can call for a replay ???

We have some players who are good, but we are not a team. The problem existed a few years ago as well. So many little things are missing. It is a problem. Biiiggg problem.

Can't make shots. Can't defend shots. I foresee this being a problem in getting our first NCAA tournament win.

We can go all the way back to the intrasquad scrimmage when people were wondering if we sucked at shooting. Turns out, yes.

The problem will be, as always, we can get 1 or 2 players who are ready to rock but running out of eligibility and 1 or 2 who are potentially good but not going to hit their prime in time

Well, at least we can make a little money now by fading NU for the balance of the season (especially on the road).

Next month maybe.

I hate losing to Wisconsin by 4 touchdowns...especially in basketball

All portal players are not created equal. Also if the coaching staff can't integrate a large number of short-term players into a cohesive team, the transfer market is not a winning plan.

Just feels like a whole bunch of individuals doing their own thing rather than a team effort.

Execution is most of it. This year is the offense, offense, offense, offense.

I wonder if Nate Loenser sits over and thinks we just don't execute our defense properly, and that there's nothing schematically wrong at all.

This. It isn’t like teams just play lockdown D against us either, they make theirs, we don’t. Sounds eerily familiar to posts I made during Fred’s first few seasons.

FIFY

We get consistent officiating. I know we are consistently not getting a beneficial call that the other team gets.

Better with him off the floor

Idk what y'all are complaining about… it’s 6-2 since I’ve been watching.

All started because Morgan didn't go for the two in the first possession.

We are aware that that arc is not a free-throw line?

No one for Nebraska on the injury report

Sounds like Sam H and Andrew M could be getting the start vs Wisconsin….saw that info on the scarlet shoot around page on X

Not an NU opponent this season, but UNO is on its way to 7-0 in the Summit & is probably a slight favorite at this point to win the Summit tourney. Would be UNO's first NCAA tourney bid if they can pull it off.

Is Essegian's defense even that bad? It seems fine as long as he doesn't get caught down low. Our defense has been pretty well lost for 5 games now... Most big 10 teams are going to make wide open threes.

May try and make it down to Frisco.