hhcdave

And the sad thing is, that's a fairly "Down to earth" outlook in comparison to the majority of Creighton fans I've known. My favorite two parts of that: "They are an elite team" (yeah okay) And "If they pull out a miracle and beat Baylor." Okay, sure. It would take a miracle to beat the #7 team in the Big 12. Okay.

First of all, I am firmly in the camp of disliking the Creighton Blue Jays (Yes, spelled "Bluejays" wrong intentionally). From 1999-2000, when Terrell Taylor was a hot dog and talking trash more than any opposing player I had seen (and this was backed by former players I was friends with at this time - I was in college). Add in Rodney Buford and you had quite the special duo come through that program, along with guys who couldn't even read (literally). From 2003-2004, when we ended their season, on their home floor, in the NIT, and we were told "Well, that game doesn't matter. Only the regular season matters. NIT is for losers." From 2005, when something like 12 of 16 schools on our schedule would work with us (HHC) in doing interviews, sending out media guides, etc. The Creighton SID (Rob something) was completely rude to me, lectured me on my grammar (which is pretty spot on the majority of the time) and informed me they wouldn't be doing anything or sending out a guide. This is back before media guides were standard on-line and 10 of 12 Big 12 schools sent them without a problem, as well as allowing access. Little dick syndrome even back then. From DBAG Perrault, the biggest fraud of a media personality in the country, and a career bush league radio guy with no future (BTW, Mike Welch, you DO have a future. I need to reach out to you soon). From the last 15 years, when there's NO DOUBT they have had more basketball success. Nobody here is arguing that. But they seemed to revel in calling us "Little brother" (which makes zero sense), have fans like LincolnJay who would end every post with "BE LOUD!!! BE PROUD!!!" and multitudes of others who would do ANYTHING to belittle Nebraska, a program with an all-time winning record head to head and a program who saw basketball as its (for the majority of that time) 5th best athletic program. You see, basketball is Creighton's marquee sport. Pretty much always has been. Basketball has NEVER been Nebraska's marquee sport. And never close. Is some of that incompetence from AD's, coaches, players, etc? Of course. But a lot is that there was NEVER an emphasis placed on basketball in a serious manner until recently. Flash forward to tonight. I head over to the Creighton site for the second time this year (First since back before and after we played them) and I see constant mocking of Nebraska, how Baylor is a lock, they don't even CONSIDER US a possible opponent. Are you joking? A 3.5 point underdog? The 4th ranked Big 10 team versus the 7th ranked Big 12 team? Two conferences that are VERY comparable RPI wise? There's two possibilities for this reaction - both very much possible (and probable). 1. They're clueless basketball fans and seriously think we couldn't defeat a Baylor team no better than Ohio State, who we split with in the regular season and no logical person would say we didn't "have defeated" last Friday. They don't understand a team +3.5 has a better than 2:1 chance of winning, meaning odds are pretty good, and they don't understand we've already defeated teams better, such as the aforementioned Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan State (on the road). 2. They're scared shitless. They know that their All-American player, Dougie M, is gone, and that Daddy wasn't ever able to cut it at BCS level leagues in the past and will never be able to recruit that caliber of athlete again. Luckily for Daddy, the Big East is only 25% better than the Valley in its peak years, so he has a fighting chance of competing in the middle of that league and avoiding the "pathetic" NIT in half of the years. They know that their 26 year old point guard will soon have to get a real job, unless he gets into UFC Fighting, which I would advise or even better, cock fighting (hey, it fits, doesn't it?). They also know this "team of a lifetime" and "dream season" couldn't even finish 1st place in a watered down, slightly above mid major status league during the regular season, and choked away a conference championship in the tournament against a team that (GASP!!!) has the same seed as "little brother" Nebraska in the NCAA's (11 seed - thanks to Creighton's incompetence in getting them that high). What's even funnier is that they wouldn't even have won the Valley this year, clearly a non Top 8 league, and they've only gone one round further than Nebraska in the NCAA. So why are they scared? Well, with all of the above in mind, they see that right down the road, for the first time in program history, FINALLY Nebraska is dedicated to fielding a basketball team. No more forcing a coach out after the school's first NCAA appearance in 1986. No more forcing a coach out in the 90's who put the program to a new level. No more old facilities. No more stupid administrative mishaps. They see "little brother" finally putting its money where the fans' mouths have been. In Creighton's defense, a lot of us HAVE been claiming things are getting better, with little evidence (other than hope) to back that for years. However, nowadays, it would take a mental midget to not clearly SEE the differences in: 1. A top 5 practice facility in America. 2. A top 5 basketball arena in America. 3. A top level basketball coach that has won over almost every heart he's crossed that has a beat. 4. A first team All Big 10 performer with two years left; a former huge recruit to Florida who is going to become a second team All Big 10 performer by his senior season in two years; a sophomore All-Honorable Mention B1G as a sophomore; a big time point guard prospect who is a freshman; and a Top 25 caliber recruiting class brewing for 2015. 5. A much better basketball conference (and ten times the network than the conference formerly called the Big East). 6. A completely sold out season ticket fan base. 7. Fans who get into the game (unlike the old days). 8. National attention (gobs of it). And last but not least: 9. A program that SHOULD be TWO YEARS AWAY from the NCAA Tournament. Yet here we are, in year two. I don't blame them for being scared shitless. Times are changing. They always will. What's funny though is that looking back, I see we were going to lose to MSU. Then at Indiana. Then to WISC. And miss the tourney. I'm reminded that we were never going to make the NIT and if we do, its a loser tournament. And now "little brother" is TWO YEARS ahead of schedule, with more momentum than Rodney Buford had going through security with his marijuana inside his tin foil at the airport, and you know what, Creighton can't stand this. This is THEIR year. Their "Final 4 run" (which is still posted on their site even today and talked about like its normal - you should read it, its quite adorable). And here we are, one win away from playing them, and they can't STAND to think of it. "Little Brother" taking the headlines and becoming even with them in their DREAM SEASON. TWO YEARS before we are supposed to do anything. They can't stand getting beat by "little brother', let alone being in the same tournament and same bracket. UNL is a bunch of peasants who are not near as good at basketball as the almighty Creighton, don't you know?!? The same Creighton whose power sport has never seen a Sweet 16 in modern times; the same Creighton whose power sport, in its best season ever, can't win its regular or conference tournament; the same Creighton that is so superior to "little brother." So in short... Nebraska may very well lose to Baylor. I read posts on this site and I see NOBODY mocking Baylor... taking them lightly... saying it'll be easy... Are we ribbing Creighton and hoping to play them? Of course - that's normal. But these morons take it to a new level, and its very fun to watch happen. Its like watching Jose Valverde try to close out a baseball game during the 2013 season. You see, NU very well MAY lose before Creighton, even TO Creighton. But if it happens, you know what??? This is your best year in program history. Daddy loses his shiniest toy, his 26 year old whack ass frat boy PG and "little brother" down the street, TWO YEARS EARLY, has all the momentum building in the world. And that makes "little brother" awfully difficult to deal with.

I went down last April and stayed in a hotel three blocks from the riverwalk, EASY walk, REALLY NICE and brand new/remodeled. Red Roof Inn. Highly recommend it. I think it ran me $95 a night.

OFFENSE: C+ This is a really tough game to grade offensively because while NU shot just 37% from the field, it did connect on 85% from the free throw line (17-20) and score a point total that should have won the game (67). However, for a good portion of the game, it seemed as if NU couldn't get anything going against Ohio State, who forced a couple of shot clock violations, took NU out of its game early with defensive overloads and of course, the officials let Aaron Craft play football with ball handlers, too. I don't want to put this game on the refs - they did NOT lose it. Nebraska pissed this game down its own leg. However, the officiating certainly didn't help, from Craft being allowed to bump & grind on NU players like it was a posh club on a Friday night, to travels being missed on one end and not on the other, etc. Our Player of the Game is Walter Pitchford, who was just a hair better than Terran Petteway today though honestly, both could have easily won it. Pitch finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist and 0 turnovers in 32 minutes, although his show boating on the alley oop ended up being another reason NU lost, as it led to a HUGE four point swing and continued shift in momentum. Petteway finished with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 turnovers. DEFENSE: C Nebraska's defense wasn't bad - I would call it "average" in this game. It was the REBOUNDING (which we'll discuss later) portion of the "D" that was BAD. In the first half, NU held OSU to 28 points on 50% shooting because they forced 8 turnovers and kept the Buckeyes off of the foul line (3-5). In the second, NU allowed 43 points on 46% shooting and allowed the Buckeyes to shoot TWENTY THREE free throws. Luckily, OSU missed nine of them and converted on just 61% for the game. It's hard to fathom how the Huskers allowed OSU to score 43 points in the second half, especially considering the Buckeyes had TWO in the first five minutes (or 25%) of the half. Simply depressing that this one got away. REBOUNDING: F +9 for OSU on the boards (43 to 34) including FOURTEEN offensive rebounds. I'm sorry, that simply can't happen, ESPECIALLY when you are the rested team who DID NOT play the day before. LaQuinton Ross essentially beat NU on his own, scoring 26 points and grabbing THIRTEEN rebounds, though Ross was also helped by Nebraska and the officiating in putting this one in the Buckeye "W" column. BALL HANDLING: F 11 turnovers, 9 assists don't tell the whole story. Nebraska was ONCE AGAIN embarrassingly AWFUL against the Mickey Mouse press OSU featured. I have no clue how game after game, all season long: A. Nebraska can't handle a basic press at end of games and B. Why more teams don't press against the Big Red more often. We'll talk more about this under coaching. COACHING: D The lack of in bounding the basketball in this game - in the Wisconsin game - in the Minnesota game - and many others - is on Coach Miles. I don't need anyone telling me we're overachieving and having a dream season - I'm aware of this. I'm Miles' biggest cheerleader. But remember, this is a report card for THIS GAME. And when taking in account the pattern that has evolved over many games, its not acceptable that this team isn't coached to in bound the freaking basketball without: A. Using a timeout. B. Taking a five second. C. Throwing it away. D. Catching it and getting trapped in the corner. Miles has had plenty of time to work on this. Today, for example, we had a guy TWICE who could have run the base line after a make NOT DO IT. Once was out of a timeout. Also, no creativity. Why not pass the ball to another Husker every once in awhile who then throws it back to the other one. That would work a minimum of one time and give them a different look. Do something different. We didn't until we had turned it over three times and used a timeout. That's simply not acceptable. This is what made the game snowball, because it made OSU believe they could win. That got them going, changed momentum and made our guys fold like a cheap card table. The offensive rebounds we allowed off of the turnover misses were also backbreakers. OVERALL GRADE: D I'm sorry but I can't grade this game positive when we were up 18 with 13:40 left and LOST the game. That means we were outscored by TWENTY TWO POINTS in 13:40. Had we lost this game in a toe to toe, see saw battle, this grade would undoubtedly be higher. But I think we're to a point where we can expect this team, which isn't THAT young anymore (we're at the end of the season) to finish off a near 20 point game with the contest nearly 70% over. Conversely, the GOOD NEWS is that I think we will learn a LOT from this game. It could become invaluable going forward. You have to learn how to win and how to respond to different situations and a lot of that is based on experience. I think next time we're in a tough neutral site game (next week), we'll come out on top. Better to lose like this today than next week. PLAYER OF THE GAME: WALTER PITCHFORD 2013-2014 PLAYER OF THE GAME RESULTS: TERRAN PETTEWAY - 13 SHAVON SHIELDS - 8 WALTER PITCHFORD - 5 TAI WEBSTER - 2 LESLEE SMITH - 2 DEVERELL BIGGS - 1 Click here to view the article

Can we please get the twerking line and his call of the end of the wi game on there?

Agree. Let's not do a single thing to cause any ill feelings. We are going to want this guy for a long, long time and the only way we're going to keep him is if we treat him the way he deserves. I'm quite confident Marc and company agree, know this and will do the right thing. Also, Marc... can we PLEASE get Tim Miles bobbleheads next year? And perhaps start a "Hall of Fame series" with one per year for the next several years, both men and women?

Kent is one of the last of a generation of extremely talented radio broadcasters who can make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up from "the call" of the game. I consider Kent and Bob Davis to be the best two college radio play by play guys in the country - and I am a full-time radio guy who also listens to between 75-100 D-1 basketball PBP guys per year, so I think I'm qualified to say that. It's been several years since we spoke Kent but I am so thankful you are doing well, that you stopped by and that you continue to be one of the premiere PBP guys in the country for OUR program. I hope we have you 15 more years and I hope even more that you will be announcing our first (of many) NCAA Tournament wins in about 11-12 days.

Acting as if the local media doesn't travel or watch other basketball is what made it DBAG. Not the statement of the crowd didn't affect them.

I'm doubting DBAG Ryan ever has been in an atmosphere where 99% of the fans STOOD the entire 40 minutes. But okay Bo, whatever. We only get local TV here, no cable. We never travel or watch other NCAA hoops.

OFFENSE: A Nebraska shot the ball in fantastic fashion in all facets: -An overall 52% from the field. -55% from downtown. -76% from the line. This led to an impressive 77 points (with 70 before the "foul-a-thon" ensued) and kept Nebraska in this game when Wisconsin couldn't miss for the first 25 minutes. This was an old fashioned "toe to toe" ten round fight and after coming to a draw for the first eight rounds, NU completely dominated Wisconsin in the last two and a good portion of that was the Huskers attacking the rim and getting good shots. Shavon Shields is our Player of the Game thanks to 26 points on 10-17 shooting, including 6-7 from the line. Had the referees decided to give NU at least one or two calls out of the five times they went to the rim and were bodied in the first half, Shields would have no doubt hit 30 tonight. Terran Petteway didn't have his best game but also matched Shields with 26 - that's how good he is, where we can now say he had kind of an "off night" and still had a career night for the majority of the players in the Big 10. The Huskers didn't need much offense besides that, but Walter Pitchford hit some HUGE three pointers en route to scoring 15 and Ray Gallegos hit perhaps the biggest shot of the game (unless you consider Shields' shot that we'll discuss later bigger) in nailing a three that took NU from down 2 to up 1. Without looking, I don't think Nebraska ever trailed again after that shot. DEFENSE: B+ I really thought Nebraska was "good" even in the first half, when I'd give them a "B-." I'd go "A" for the second half, which equals out to a "B+." Early on, NU raided Badger big men and that led to some big time three pointers from Wisconsin, which started 4-5 and 7-9 from downtown. Even though a few of those were wide open, the Badgers couldn't miss, and that's not typical. Also, several contested shots were hit in the first half, and NU still held the Madison visitors to a respectable 35 first half points (with some help from the zebras from the foul line, too). In the second, NU played more straight up and once again, was inspired by its recent leader, Benny Parker. I thought the jump ball where he completely ripped the ball out of the hands of Traveon Jackson was awesome!!! I also want to commend Tai Webster for his defense tonight - he only played 9 minutes, but I thought he looked good on that side of the court (as he has continued to improve recently). Nebraska held Wisconsin to 36% shooting from the field in the second half. REBOUNDING: C- Wisconsin is bigger than NU and on top of that, the Huskers didn't have their best night on the glass, finishing -4 while getting killed with offensive boards (11 to 3). Huge night for Petteway, who finished with 10 rebounds and honestly, should get "Co Player of the Game" with Shields. However, since we haven't done that all year, I'm going to stick with Shields, who seemed to get his points at more crucial times, including the "and one" to cut a 7 point early second half lead down to 4. This game perhaps gets away without that. BALL HANDLING: A+ Only five turnovers to go along with nine assists - GREAT. Also, NU only had four before Petteway just dropped the ball out of bounds during garbage time. That's 38 minutes of four turnover basketball - damn impressive. COACHING: A+ This team loves playing for Coach Miles - that is shown more and more every single day. We keep hearing and witnessing how charismatic and funny coach is. We keep hearing and witnessing how he builds programs. We keep hearing and witnessing how he recruits. But let's not forget one thing that nobody ever talks about - MILES IS A HELL OF A FLOOR COACH. He makes adjustments with the best of them. And he allows his players to do so, too. He gets personnel equipped to perform, teaches them, puts them in the best position to succeed but isn't afraid to let them "take over" as based on his post game comments about Shields helping to decide defenses (another reason he's "Player of the Game.") I also tonight, for the first time, noticed some "NBA" in NU. This is a good thing. It seemed as though Shields and Petteway kind of began switching off shots in the second half - each "getting theirs" and taking their turns, kind of like in the NBA. They did this within the flow of the offense and with including their teammates. However, unlike the NBA, they still busted their asses on defense, played hard for 40 minutes and put the team first overall. I can't emphasize enough how lucky we are to have Craig Smith, either. He doesn't get the glory of the two big recruiters in Harriman and Hunter, but I think he's to Tim Miles what Gary Bargen was to Danny Nee. Miles has had him at every stop. We are going to solely miss him following next year when he gets his first head coaching job. OVERALL GRADE: A+ NU has won 8 of 9 -10 of 12. They have their best conference finish since 1997-1998. They have their best home mark since 1982-1983. I have poured my heart and soul into this program since the late 90's. This is the best night I've ever had with the program. And the best atmosphere. Sitting in Section 111, Row 14, here's my favorite takeaway from the night. No, not the amazing job the NU event staff did putting on the pre-game (A+). No, not the amazing job the PBA event staff did putting on the entire game (A+-). No, not seeing the seniors "off" or Mike Peltz's secret wedding proposal that only his roommate Walter Pitchford knew about (A+). And no, not seeing NU punch its ticket to the Big Dance. No, the best part of the night for me was the fact that NOBODY left early AND that it was so freaking ruckus, loud and wild that even sitting 14 rows up, in the second half, I COULD NOT HEAR THE WHISTLE ON FOULS OR OUT OF BOUNDS PLAYS!!! Even right in front of us, on our end. First time in my life. I had no idea when the whistle was blown. It was crazy. It was just like a Nebraska football game, except 1,000 times better because it was Nebrasketball. We. Are. Back. And it feels so ####ing good (pardon my French). SPECIAL AWARD - DOUCHEBAG QUOTE OF THE YEAR - BO RYAN On the crowd's influence : “We were at Virginia when they had maybe 18 thousand, and we've played at Ohio State. These guys have all played in pretty big places. This is the Big Ten. Have you ever been to the other places? Or do they just keep you here? Do you get to travel? Some people do local TV and don't go to the other Big Ten games." On the new environment : “It's not new to us. You'd have to live the lives these guys live, going into the places we go into." PLAYER OF THE GAME: SHAVON SHIELDS 2013-2014 PLAYER OF THE GAME RESULTS: TERRAN PETTEWAY - 13 SHAVON SHIELDS - 8 WALTER PITCHFORD - 4 TAI WEBSTER - 2 LESLEE SMITH - 2 DEVERELL BIGGS - 1 This post has been promoted to an article

Wait what am I missing about Johnny Carson?

Patience, young Jedi. It will happen!

Nope. That's an eliminiation game.

How are students not camped out right now? Like the above poster, I was a student from 99-03 and we camped out FOUR different times, OUTSIDE of the Devaney (not even underneath) when it was about 10 degrees outside and we were awful. Come on students!!!

My gut.

Green Bay is completely out according to Jerry Palm. He says Arkansas must beat either KY or FL or they're also out.

Forget about Dickerson. We are done feeling sorry for ourselves. We are a legit program on the major upswing and its not like the old days anymore, where we were "in" on one or two big recruits and had nothing to fall back on. I have a feeling by this time next year, we're going to be getting visits from kids we couldn't have even imagined a few years ago on OFFICIALS, not the unofficails we've seen in recent summers.

Tarin Smith wants to be here, is a high character kid and comes from a program with tremendous pedigree. He seems to be a team guy and a very neat young man. I'm looking at this as a blessing - to quote former Blue Jays GM JP Whatever his name was, when the Blue Jays lost out to the Royals on signing Gil Meche. "We really dodged a bullet on this one." I'll take Tarin and hope Trey enjoys backing up Mike G and getting his tailed kicked by Nebraska the next few years.

Penn State is going to win at Minnesota, so it won't be them!

Agree

We have to remember somebody like Wichita could choke in the conference tournament and all of a sudden we are out. We need to beat Wisconsin Sunday so on selection Sunday, the only wonder we have is what sees we have and when we play , not if we will make it.

We won 82-72? Where is yahoo getting its scores from?

A guy whose been on Husker basketball message boards for as long as I can remember, who was posting here earlier this season. Hope he is okay and elated - he's been through a lot with this team like all of the rest of us. Are you out there???