jayschool

When you're Nebraska, everybody looks like Michigan State.

Cockburn is 20 years old and has been all of his freshman year. Sophomore Giorgi Bezhanishvili, turned 21 in November. When Cockburn was 17 (Ouedraogo's age), Cockburn was a sophomore in high school at Christ the King Regional High School, where he also played his junior year. He played his senior year at Oak Hill Academy. When Bezhanishvili was 17, he played in something called the Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga. At 18, he was playing in the Austrian Basketball League, a step up from the OBB. At 19, he played a season at the Patrick School in New Jersey before starting as a 20-year-old freshman at Illinois. Here's to Yvan and Kevin, 19, holding their own against these two mature and skilled players tonight.

Both Cross and Thor can add value at 10-15 minutes a game. We can trade Easley to MSU for Steven Izzo, and then start Steven in East Lansing, then take him out of the game until that point where we're up by 20 so we can get him some garbage points so his grandparents can be cool with it.

Yep. Forgive me if I'm not choked up about the Hoiberg reunion. It felt good if you wear green or your last name is Hoiberg, of course, but not if your team is on a record losing streak.

At least it was a feel-good game because of Jack! I mean, how often do the sons of millionaires get to feel good? And basketball players at Michigan State almost never see any success. Good for those guys to get a happy ending. Now where's ours?

Blue ones.

So that's it? Scoring, athleticism, team player, intelligence, court savvy? Anything else? I guess I'd take him.

Think of Mayen as a roster replacement for Kavas. Mayen is taller 6-9 vs. 6-7, and because of that length, likely has a broader wingspan as well Mayen has shot 35 percent (TCU) and 38 percent (JUCO) from deep. Can he shoot better than Kavas did for us (34 percent)? Mayen has shot 78 percent (TCU) and 83 percent (JUCO) from FT line. Can he shoot better than Kavas did for us (68 percent)? Mayen is averaging 8.5 rebounds per game (JUCO) and he averaged 9.0 rebounds per 100 possessions at TCU. Can he rebound at a higher rate than Kavas did for us (4.5 rebounds per 100 possessions)? Can he guard better? Is he quicker? Can he guard 3 through 5? He's certainly taller? I would think that Mayen should bring more to the table than Kavas did this year. So even if he settles into a Matej-like role (10-15 minutes a game), I feel they'll be more productive than this year. He should be part of the rotation at 4-5, along with Stevenson, Walker, Cross, Ouedraogo and possibly Arop.

Purdue is now at No. 33 in the NET, so that makes them a Quad 2 win. Iowa is still a Quad 1 win, and Purdue could be again by year's end. After we beat MSU on Thursday, that'll be another one.

Bottom line: Nebraska has more Quadrant 1 victories this year (2) than we had two years ago (1), unless Purdue is now a Q2 win, then we have just as many.

Did he get out in time to get to the CHI Center to watch his Bluebirds play?

@Norm Peterson knew what might happen.

So who was the genius? None of us predicted this much losing.

How much of this is our lack of size and experience inside? If you're smaller than the other team and your players are anywhere from three to seven years younger than the players they're trying to go over to make layups, layups are anything but easy. Mack too often is trying to finish against 6-11 centers. Burke is skinny, and both appear to have been weakened by the flu this past week. That's a recipe for missing more than half of your "bunnies." As for Yvan, well, he's just 17. He's just 17. He's just 17.

Do you need to talk to someone? There are people who can help you. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Wisconsin 177-of-552 in its 23 games against teams not named "Nebraska." That's 32 percent. Wisconsin 33-of-65 in its 2 games against Nebraska. That's 51 percent.

Nebraska 14-of-29 from close. Wisconsin 14-of-30 from deep.

Who has better basketball fans than Nebraska? Seriously. I watched the Penn State game earlier, and they had a nine-year run of zero sellouts. That ended this year because they're good. Kansas? Duke? Kentucky? Psssh. Real tough being a fan of those teams. Our time will come, but until then, we show up and hope against hope. Here's to at least one more win this year to reward the players and the country's best fans.

Wisconsin now 28-of-55 from deep in 3.5 halves of basketball against Nebraska. They shoot 33 percent as a whole, so that means probably closer to 30 percent against everybody but us.

How many assists would Mack have with Andre Smith or Dave Hoppen or Rich King or Kimani Ffriend or Carl McPipe or Aleks Maric or Venson Hamilton or Chuck Jura or Mikki Moore or even Brandon Ubel at the end of his post-entry passes? To myself: "He's just 17. He's just 17. He's just 17. He's just 17. He's just 17. He's just 17."

Here's to Cam slicing and dicing Brad Davison.

Minnesota is the epitome of mediocrity, and yet because of all these formulas, they're a solid 8 seed right now. Whereas two years ago, we ... never mind. It's too painful to think about.