throwback

Boilers 70 Nebraska 63

Am I missing something here? Above this thread it says Kenpom has us at 77? Our RPI and KenPom rankings are waaaaay apart so far this season.

Husker video highlights with more of post game celebration and with Kent's calls included ... if I can link it correctly.

NU 81 Mich 77 8 3s

Just 6 turnovers in East Lansing is incredible But when you figure true freshmen played 94 minutes and had just 2 turnovers ... got to be some sort of NCAA record. Those would be great numbers for true freshmen in a game in Lincoln against Wayne State. But against #11 MSU in East Lansing? Just wow. Watson's ability to play as well as he has offensively without turning the ball over is one of the most pleasant surprises of the entire season for me. And I think his defense has picked up the past few games. He was completely lost vs NW, but he seems to be figuring it out on that end now too.

Valentine's prayer banked-in 3 with 5 seconds left was #1 on SportsCenter Top Ten "Valentine gets the highlight, but Nebraska gets the W." I'll take that trade off

Great pt - no Shields, no White. Coach could've panicked and put White back in, risking that 3rd foul. Shields left with around 4 1/2 to go before halftime, and we're down one, 28-27. Then Benny had the turnover for a MSU layup and it's 30-27. We looked to be in huge trouble there. Instead, the group on the floor kept us in it, getting it to a halftime tie. I think we held MSU scoreless the last 2 1/2 minutes of the half. Webster had a couple of drives and scores on floaters in the lane in that section if I remember right. We needed him to step up & he did. Another key spot was at the 10-min mark of 2nd half. Shavon needed a blow, White had 4 fouls, game was tied, so we were in the same position. Tai had another key hoop that broke the tie, a 17-footer, followed by a Tai pass from the lane to the corner for the McVeigh 3. Then Benny gives up his body to break up the pass in the lane, Shields replaces an injured Benny, gets a 3-pt play and all of a sudden we're up 8 at the under-8 timeout. Those two stretches won the game for us in my mind. We needed to survive without Shields & White on the floor and we did even more than that.

Great points - the freshmen playing the way they did in East Lansing would be almost impossible to believe - or it would be if we hadn't seen all of them getting better and better in a hurry the past couple of weeks. Especially Jacobson - great defense down low. Rebounded very well vs a lot of size and a lot of fresh bodies. 2 big FTs late. And I really thought he hit that 3 late in the game that would've all but sealed it, halfway down and then nearly got the big bounce to fall though too. I think he also caused the steal at 66-62 when it felt like it was getting away from us, and Tai took it coast to coast to push the lead back to 6. Huge game by Jacobson tonight.

How does that rank in terms of individual performances in NU history? Has to be one of the best I can remember, when you consider the circumstances: --Defeated #11 team on the road, a team that was #1 just a few weeks ago --28 points scored on 12-20 FG shooting (12-17 on 2-pt shots, most of which were really tough) --Hit huge shot in the final 30 seconds --Spent most of night guarding a national POY candidate ... and outscored him --Played most of the game with 2-3 true freshmen on floor with him ... in East Lansing of all places, where freshmen typically disappear --Sat out just 1 minute in 2nd half I believe --His high-scoring running mate in White in foul trouble all night, limited to 7 pts in 19 min, meaning Shields was the focus of the MSU defense --Bangs his hip late in 1st half, wasn't sure he'd return, let alone play nearly entire 2nd half It's not just 28 pts and hitting big shot after big shot. It's what was going on around him that makes this one of the best individual performances in NU history in my mind. NU needed big contributions across the board, but Shields' performance was simply amazing.

"Nebraska survives last shit..." Mr. Forde apparently saw the 5th foul call on White. Feels good to be ahead of both MSU and Wisky in B1G standings nearly halfway through conference season.

Thought I remembered during NU-Minny broadcast Kugler mentioning Jacobson leads all freshmen in the B1G in FT%.

Last time NU had a player finish a season at 6.3 boards per game (White's current number) or more was in 2012-13 with Ubel at 6.7 rpg. And if White can finish the season at 6.3, he'd have the second highest rebounding number since Maric's 10.2 in 2007-08. Pretty impressive. He's also in the Top 10 in the B1G in scoring and rebounding right now, 5th in scoring and 9th (tie) in rebounding. Only other players also in Top 10 in both are Valentine, who's 3rd & 6th, and Hayes, who's 8th & 9th (tie). In conference games only, he's 4th (tie) in scoring (18.5 ppg) and 2nd in rebounding (8.0 rpg). Certainly a small sample size at 6 gms, but wow.

I think he was waiting to see if he got any better offers, don't quote me on that, but I think I remember seeing that somewhere. If that was the case he benefited with the delay, as he's gaining the offers/interest now. Thanks - makes sense - it seems like big kids often are in huge demand for the late signing period. Plus big kids sometimes may suddenly show improvement in their senior year. So it makes sense for some of them to wait and see, rather than signing in November. Should anyone try to join the party late, I just hope he remembers who has been recruiting him a long time.

Anyone know why he didn't sign anywhere in November early signing period? Would love to see him take that last scholarship we have!

Have been thoroughly impressed with his game to this point - he is performing at the top end of where I thought/hoped he could be, and he has stepped up his game even more since B1G play began. So something Matt Davison said on the pre-game show Saturday caught me off guard. Paraphrasing - he said many fans who talk to him about White are fixated on the shortcomings in his game, rather than his strengths, almost as if they're disappointed in what NU is seeing from him. (To clarify, Matt wasn't saying he was negative about White's game; rather, fans who speak with him about White seem to want to talk about the negatives.) Are NU fans really unhappy with White's contributions? That has to be a small sample size, right? Obviously his 3-pt shooting has lived up to the billing. His rebounding especially has surprised me, and he seems to be gaining more confidence in that area. I really liked Saturday how he was struggling with the 3 early on - in part because Illinois was focused on him - but he did a good job getting to the rim a few times late in the half, which ended up in FTs. Then he was outstanding in the 2nd half. Sure he has a few holes in his game, nearly every player at this level does. He struggles with turnovers at times, and he doesn't have a lot of assists. But what he has brought to NU this season has been tremendous. We certainly wouldn't be anywhere near 11-8/3-3 without him, I don't believe. Plus he seems to be a natural leader by example, appears to do everything the right way. Just wondering if anyone else heard that on the pregame and whether I had misinterpreted what was said. White's Stats: 17.5 ppg (1st on team) 52.3% FG 44.1% 3FG 78.6% FT 6.3 rebounds pg (1st on team)

Bruce Chubick had a few things to say about Chang on 93.7 Friday. http://www.theticketfm.com/podcasts/gaskinsstephens/2016_01_15_2_Chubick.mp3 Fast forward to 12:40 - only lasts about 30 seconds. Said he has seen Chang play a lot and he has a big upside. Would be a great pickup for NU if Chang can reach his potential and if NU can get him.

Omaha South asst coach & former Husker Bruce Chubick had some comments on Arop on 93.7 Friday. If I linked this correctly, fast forward to 10:30 mark. http://www.theticketfm.com/podcasts/gaskinsstephens/2016_01_15_2_Chubick.mp3 Said Arop is "energizer bunny" - never stops working, never stops moving on offense. Very coachable, always takes comments from coaches and tries to implement them. Thinks he'll be a guy at D-1 level who can guard a variety of different players, quick enough to guard players smaller than he is, but is going to have enough explosive jumping ability and length to rebound vs taller players. Said he'll definitely need to get stronger to play B1G basketball.

Interesting comparison - Chubick was actually on 93.7 Friday and they asked him that question. If I remember right, he thought he was more like Morrow as a freshman than Jacobson, after Chubick had taken his redshirt year of course. Chubick said he needed the redshirt, but Morrow is far more ready coming in physically. http://www.theticketfm.com/podcasts/gaskinsstephens/2016_01_15_2_Chubick.mp3 (Hope I linked that podcast right) And Jacobson definitely looks like someone who could be in the 9-12 ppg and 5-8 rpg numbers by the time he's a senior. It'll also depend on what the NU roster looks like in 3 years of course. But I like the trajectory he's on, as well as all of the other freshmen.

MSU 84 Neb 77

I probably should know this but I can't seem to find anything. Outside of the press guide, is there any site on the net that keeps track of history of Basketball programs? I guess specifically, is there anywhere on the net that you can find out a teams record against other schools and what the scores were? This is the first year out of the past 30 that I have yet to pick up a press guide. This site does some basic stuff as far as records vs other teams, no collection of scores though. http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/nebraska/head-to-head.html

Good to hear! He'll look great in red. So he has 2 offers now, right? And both teams are playing at home on the same night. Instead of taking an unofficial to watch one of his offered teams play a nationally ranked team - and lose on another buzzer shot - he chooses to take an unofficial to PBA to watch NU crush Minnesota. I'll take that as a good sign.

Nebraska 84 Illinois 80

Our guards really passed the ball well last night - Glynn had the highlight pass, but I thought they all were pretty good. I was especially pleased with Webster's play - when he missed that first layup, I was concerned he would get down on himself and kind of disappear. Instead, a possession or two later he stepped up and hit the 3 from the corner, so it was good to see him put that first mistake out of his thoughts and remain confident. He had some really nice passes on drives, which was great too. And Minny's outside shooting was awful, but some of that was our defense. We were really dialed in last night, which is good to see with a young team. Sometimes youngsters get a taste of success like at RU and they relax against a team they should beat. NU obviously didn't do that last night. The freshmen seem to be getting more comfortable and more confident. Morrow has strung together 3 very good games in a row. Now, we'll see whether they can continue to stay confident as the competition ratchets back up in the next few weeks, but they're getting better. Yes, the Gophers & RU are terrible right now. But NU played to its level, rather than playing to their level. Very encouraging. 25+ point wins against conference teams are always impressive in my book. And honestly, the final score of both games doesn't really show how much NU dominated the play. Both games could've been much more lopsided.

Found this game on TIme Warner Sports' web site - but I'm not sure if it works, as you have to be a TWC subscriber to view it. Looks like it's the entire game and it looks like you could log in with a Lincoln TWC account, so hopefully it'll work for someone - Horne had 17 pts to lead all scorers for Barstow. Dec. 19 Barstow 61, Eudora 40 https://www.twcsportschannel.com/videos/2015/12/19/mo-eudora-vs--barstow

Lots of good pts - regarding Hammond & Webster, I noticed something yesterday. Hammond fumbled that pass in the 1st half, and then followed it up with 3 more quick errors. It looked like he was trying so hard to make up for the 1st mistake that he made 3 more immediately. You could just see it in his body language when he was standing on the FT lane right after that. He's lacking confidence. Almost the same thing with Tai - he had a few missed layups, passed up some open shots. He then made a couple layups late, but you could see it in his body language too that he was thinking about the misses, being too tough on himself, playing tight. When Miles took Tai out for the last time with the game in hand, I think Benny and maybe Jacobson came out at the same time, and Miles greeted them as they came to the bench. The first two guys slapped hands with Coach and kept walking down the bench. Tai came over with his head down, didn't have his hand out for Miles, and Miles had to stop him and say something to him, just as the camera cut away. He just looked like a player lacking confidence, being too tough on himself. NU needs both guys going forward and needs them to be confident and productive, so hopefully the coaches can keep working with them to focus on the positives more and let the mistakes go. It just looks to me like both of them are trying way too hard and compounding an initial mistake as a result.