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Back to the mred predictor and leaving all the favorites as is for non-NU games. Rest of the way: 3-0: #7 seed vs Indiana 2-1: (Loss vs Ill) #8 seed vs Iowa (Loss vs Minn) #8 seed vs Mich (Loss vs Mich) #8 seed vs Iowa 1-2: (Win vs Ill) #9 seed vs Iowa (Win vs Minn) #10 seed vs Mich (Win vs Mich) #10 seed vs Illinois 0-3: #12 seed vs OSU / winner to play MSU Still pretty much in the same boat as before Thursday's loss - win one more game and avoid play-in day. Win Sunday, and we look pretty solid to be no lower than #9 seed. So if home court holds in our next two games, by defeating Michigan in the final game we could get the reward of ... playing Michigan again in the opening round. Yay. Of course, there will be upsets in other games, so these seeds aren't locked in. Playing around with it, if everything breaks right, the highest I could get us is to #6 - tough to go much higher with losing tiebreakers to MSU & NW.

I think I'd rather just eat the goat anus and roadkill skunk alone, rather than whatever else they mix it with before it goes in the cat food can. Probably safer.

Yes. Lee B doesn't write things like this without knowing what's being floated behind the scenes. He's too well-connected. Ha - sorry, I see HB beat me to the answer and was much more succinct.

Well said. I don't mind an AD who prefers to wait till end of season to make comments on coaches, otherwise you could be asked for comments after every tough loss, and it looks like a clown show. But if that's your policy, stick to it. Don't break it for "your" hires or it starts to look like ... well, a clown show. Mr. Eichorst has plenty of problems outside of hoops. He had probably better focus on the bellwether cow first that lost four of its last six games, three by blowout scores. And I'd like to hear how NU is going to spend this windfall of B1G TV money, once we start receiving a full share in July. He's been very quiet on this subject ... along with many others. That's a windfall of $30M to $45M, which would increase the AD budget by roughly 30% to 40%. That's a HUGE percentage and deserves to have a detailed plan behind it. Maybe he has one. And maybe it's a smart plan. So I'd like to hear it. I know a lot of people don't like Lee B's attitude sometimes, but he is -- without question -- the most well-connected sports journalist in the state. And it's not even close. So when he writes something like this, there's tons of substance behind it ... i.e., there's a reason.

Webster was so important in the 1st half when we had absolutely nothing going, he just wouldn't let the game get away from us, took over offensively. Also agree with what was written earlier on Fuller, not only forcing the held ball to set up the winning possession, but he kept the possession alive with about 1:40 to go by getting a hand in on Tate on a rebound, and I believe that was the possession that ended up with McVeigh getting the runner in the lane to make it a 2-pt game. I'll have to go back and watch again, but it felt like we were +10 pts or so during the stretches of game when we played 1-3-1. That was a key decision. And I also liked how we went man final possession of the 1st half, when OSU took the timeout with around 12 sec left, as I'm sure OSU drew something up with the zone in mind. Good defensive switch up there. Still have to wrap my head around how we won a game on the road where we never had a chance to even shoot a 1 and 1 the entire night. You get outscored by 10 at the FT line on the road, you usually lose by double digits.

NU 60 MSU 51

Just going off the excellent mred predictor and leaving all the favorites as is for non-NU games. Rest of the way: 4-0: #5 seed vs OSU/Ill winner 3-1: (Loss vs MSU) #6 seed vs Rutg/PSU winner (Loss vs Ill) #6 seed vs Rutg/Ill winner (Loss vs Minn) #6 seed vs Rutg/PSU winner (Loss vs Mich) #7 seed vs Iowa 2-2: (Way too many combinations to type here) Most likely seed: #8 (Most likely scenario, losses to MSU & Minn) #8 seed vs Indiana 1-3: (Win vs MSU) #10 seed vs MSU (Win vs Ill) #9 seed vs Indiana (Win vs Minn) #10 seed vs Mich (Win vs Mich) #10 seed vs Mich 0-4: #12 seed vs OSU / winner to play MSU Of course, these seeds almost certainly will not be accurate as there will be multiple upsets in non-NU games, affecting the records/seeds of the teams around NU. But that's quite a range of options remaining, anywhere from #5 to #12. It looks pretty solid that as long as we don't go 0-4, we'll avoid the play-in day. RPI Forecast has us going 1-3 rest of the way with win vs Illinois; RealTime RPI says 2-2 rest of the way, losing the 2 road games - both of those scenarios will put us the 8/9 game vs Indiana according to the predictor. Would just be a matter of who wears white jerseys and who wears red jerseys. That's the 11 am game on Thursday ... just in case you want to start practicing your sick day routine for that day. 11 am is a good time for a long lunch too.

I think you leave the choice up to your senior(s).

I know Morrow didn't have his best game with the turnovers, but I love the way he seals shot-blockers on the inside when our guards are driving. He did that on back to back plays after he came in the first time last night, first on a Webster drive on the baseline and then on a Roby drive on the baseline off a pass from Tai. Gives the guards an uncontested layup. Very savvy. Our post players gave us 18 pts and 11 boards in 33 min. I'll take that 10 games out of 10. Been a while since we could get that kind of production out of the 5 spot. And still room to improve as they combined for 7 turnovers - short-term future is very bright as Jordy continues to improve and Morrow gets back into game flow. Going to be an interesting stretch run with us finally being back to full strength. Should be a lot fun.

NU 75 OSU 65

I guess that's one of the advantages of the NCAA owning the NIT now, they can use it as a guinea pig. Then again, I remember the days when the NIT experimented with the red, white and blue ball. Stan Cloudy's jumper never looked better than with that RWB ball.

Agree. And it also changes the game for teams that foul a lot. Hanson mentioned liking the fact that if you commit a slew of fouls early in the game, it'd be nice to have that reset going into the 2nd quarter. And he thought it'd lead to fewer FTs and better game flow. I'd guess it'll lead teams to be more aggressive defensively early in games, seeing what the refs will let them get away with. If they commit 8 or 9 fouls in the first quarter, it isn't as penalizing as it is now, because the fouls reset to 0 for the 2nd quarter, and at that point they can adjust to how game is being called. So I'd think it's worth the gamble for aggressive defensive teams to really push the envelope early in a quarters game vs in a halves game. I personally really like the rules as they are now, including 20-minute halves. There's just something cool about it. And it makes the college game clearly different from the NBA. But I don't think the coaches agree with me. Wouldn't be the first time. Didn't the NBA have a 3 to make 2 FT rule at one time a few decades ago? I guess this is better than that.

Was in the car quite a bit today, listening to a bunch of local sports talk radio, and this debate was on nearly every show today. None of the hosts that I heard thought he was in danger of being fired this year, but they sure spent a lot of time on something they don't think is happening. Then again, that's kind of the point of talk radio a lot of the time.

Yeah I think this change is coming to the men's game, sooner rather than later. Happened to catch UNO Coach Hansen on 590 today, and he said he expects it to occur at some point, just from the rumblings he's hearing from rules committee.

NU 82 PSU 78 5 players

I believe Maryland wore all red at home Saturday vs Purdue, so the B1G does allow home team to wear dark colors on occasion. NU wearing all black at home on Tai's sr night would be pretty cool. Seems like NU used to wear its road uniforms at home once a year several seasons ago, maybe during one game at Ameritas Classic? Or maybe it was during an exhibition game?

I don't understand why our shoes don't fit. I know it looked silly and this sounds silly, but that was a big play. We had just cut it to 1 pt, but Jack can't play defense with one shoe, and Iowa ends up getting a 3 on that possession against him. If we get a stop there instead, now we have a chance to take the lead, which would've been a huge emotional lift in a 2nd half where we were always fighting from behind. Not saying a lost shoe cost us the game, but it was a key play. In hindsight, coach should have had taken a time out there, but he probably was thinking like me that Jack would've been able to get the shoe back on by the time we set up on defense. Apparently it doesn't go back on as easily as it pops off. Sigh.

This is where I'm at. I know some will say this is excuse making, but it's also reality. Margin for error in college hoops and the Big Ten is extremely thin this year - these types of injuries will tilt the balance. Especially the Morrow one, as it really came at a time when the team was filled with confidence. It's so thin that if we just come up with 1 defensive rebound vs both Rutg and OSU, we're 6-5 in the B1G and still very much in the NIT discussion. Two plays that if Ed is healthy, maybe we make. Yes there are problems. But there also have been enough glimpses this season of what this team can be -- even with all of these injuries -- that I think next year can be a really good one. Guys are going to have to work/improve in the off season, and we're going to need guys like Gill & Morrow to get healthy, so there are no guarantees. But I really like the roster the coaches have put together for 2017-18. We'll see if it pays off. And I'd feel even more confident if we can find some shoes that fit for next season. Just sayin'.

NU 64 Wisky 60

And I don't want to make it seem like NU was just helpless vs MSU's 3 pt shooting onslaught. 8 wide open 3s are way, way too many. You're going to give up a few, everyone does, but when they get 8 and none of them were in transition, we're doing something wrong.

Agree that he's a bit hesitant in those situations, so I'd imagine this is the scenario coaches are talking about when they want guys to have two hands up as the catch is being made, so he can play off a step to protect against the drive, but have hands up so the offensive player hesitates about rising up for a 3 off the catch. (And I'm sure it's not just McVeigh who they're talking about having 2 hands up, it's a common problem, just using him as an example.)

Went back and watched all of MSU's 3s again (yes, I hate myself right now). Thought I would see a pattern, but there wasn't an easy one to see. It wasn't one guy making a mistake for us. It wasn't one guy getting all of the shots or assists for MSU. It wasn't off any one particular offensive action. MSU didn't even hit every wide open 3 they had. And I think MSU was like 3-of-7 on 15-ft-plus 2-pt shots, at least 5 of which were wide open. So maybe there was some dumb luck in their excellent 3-pt shooting If I had to draw any conclusions, there would be three of them: 1 - That maybe we were trying to help a bit too much inside and playing a bit too far off the men away from the ball. MSU did make several cross-court passes to find open guys for 3s, which I believe is kind of what we'll let them have in this defensive scheme, hoping to get a tip and steal on the long pass, so that's to their credit. Maybe we're over helping inside because Morrow isn't in there, and we feel like MJ & Jordy need more help in the post because of their foul issues (as mentioned in LJS article above). 2 - Not having hands up when defending on catch and shoot. I believe coaches would like our guys to have both hands up as the guy is catching the ball, so even if we're a step late, they're looking at two hands. That didn't happen often. We closed out with a hand high on all of the 3s, but didn't have two hands up as the catch is being made (at least on the 3s that MSU shot). 3 - MSU just made 3s, - tough ones, open ones, it didn't matter. That doesn't happen for every college team. And they did a great job of finding the open guy with pin-point passing so the catch and shoots were in rhythm, which, for my money, is a very under-rated skill in the game. Accuracy of passing is tough to measure, but it's so important in getting wide open shots in rhythm. Although I was hoping to find some pattern on NU's end, honestly, MSU just deserves a lot of credit for playing really well offensively. Some of the numbers: Only 1 MSU 3-pt attempt came out of transition (a make) From my judgment, MSU made 6 of 8 on 3s where the guy was wide open (ie, had time to gather and shoot) Consequently, where we had pretty tight D or it was a tough shot off dribble, they made 3 of 3 MSU was 2 of 3 on 3s vs the 1-3-1 Only one of MSU's 3s came really late in shot clock (a make) - they did have one other 3 that was waived off on a shot clock violation late in the game (a miss) It's impossible to know if one of NU's defenders was covering for someone else's mistake, etc, so this count may not tell us much, but the NU defenders closing out late were: MJ 2, Horne 4, McVeigh 3, Webster 3, Taylor 2, Watson 1, Roby 1 (only 16 because I missed one somewhere in the second half). For example, even though Horne had the most, it's tough to blame him on at least 2 of them, one in transition and one where he was in no man's land, trying to guard two guys in the 1-3-1 after good ball movement by MSU. So I don't know how much these numbers actually say. Here's each of them, if you want to read it (well, 16 of the 17. I missed one in the 2nd half somewhere, but MSU actually missed that shot. (I am NOT going back and watching it again to find the missing one. I don't hate myself that much.) (** made 3) (% vs 1-3-1) 1st HALF **16:55 – #22 top of key, after holding the ball for a few seconds, rose up for 3 (MJ had tight defense with hand up) **13:02 - #3 in transition, left wing off assist, catch and shoot, open for 3 (Horne late getting out to him, but it was in transition, so tough to blame him, have to guard the paint first) **9:12 - #1 right wing off assist, catch and shoot for 3 (Horne was in OK position, maybe a step slow in closing, needs hands up on the catch) 5:17 - #22 left wing off pass, catch and shoot, missed 3 (McVeigh was in OK position defense, maybe a step slow in closing, needs hands up on the catch) % 3:31 - #5 left wing off pass, catch and shoot, open, missed 3 (Horne late to get out, but had to cover 2 guys on that side of floor in 1-3-1) 1:01 - #20 right baseline off pass, pump fake and dribble, wide open, missed 3 (Webster way too far off initially, went flying past him on pump fake) 2nd HALF **18:14 - #1 left baseline off assist, catch and shoot for 3, wide open (Taylor trying to help in post, way too far off) **16:48 - #22 top of key off dribble and screen, wide open (McVeigh went under screen, Jordy did not help on shooter – maybe a moving screen? OK no maybe about it. An offensive lineman would’ve been proud of the block on McVeigh) (this one was especially bad, we had just closed to 37-35, crowd on feet, never got back to within 2 again) 15:29 - #22 top of key off assist on screen and pop, double clutched, open, missed 3 (McVeigh was late closing out after trying to help on the dribbler) **14:29 - #3 left baseline off assist, catch and shoot, wide open (MSU had penetration in the lane, we collapsed, leaving 2 guys open at 3-pt line, Webster was way off his man, trying to box out for anticipated rebound after pump fake in the lane, actually closed fast with hand up pretty well, all things considered) **13:53 - #5 off screen and roll, dribbled to top of key, rose up for 3 (MJ helped on screen, followed him to top of key then bailed, Watson followed screener on roll but was just a step slow in closing) **12:45 - #5 off dribble from left wing, used jab step and rose up for 3 (MJ had switched onto him, had good defense) (only :02 left on shot clock, kind of a desperation move) **10:34 - #3 off assist from left wing, catch and shoot, wide open (Webster closed late with hand up but tried to help on driver after coming off his original man as NU rotated, this was just great ball movement by MSU, started when we doubled down on the post and 3 passes later they had a wide open 3) ** % 6:00 - #11 off assist on left wing, catch and shoot, wide open (Horne closed late, he was trying to help after the ball got into the lane, but MSU had 2 guys vs one defender on that side of the floor vs 1-3-1 ** % 4:19 - #1 off assist on left wing, catch and shoot, wide open (Taylor closed late, he was helping down in the lane too far off in 1-3-1) 3:42 - #22 on left wing off pass, catch and shoot, he was part of a double screen & roll, then popped out to 3 pt line, wide open (Roby closed late, but he went with roller initially, Jordy followed dribbler, Glynn got caught in the wash, just a really good play call out of a timeout, something MSU hadn’t shown yet) Missed one somewhere in the 2nd half for #14 that he did not make Two other game flow things: Geez we had some bad luck in the 1st half. Twice we had shots in close rim away on our end followed by a missed tip in in traffic. Then MSU went immediately back both times in transition and missed shots in close but tipped both back in while in heavy traffic [and I’m not sure we didn’t tip one of those in]. Then late in half vs 1-3-1 we block a shot at the rim, falls right into hands of another MSU player who lays it in, gets fouled, and makes FT – that’s like a 7 to 11 pt swing. (I’m sure MSU had some bad luck too, but I don’t care.) And 2nd biggest play of the 2nd half -- outside of the 3 MSU hit at the 16:48 mark -- may have been at 15:22, Webster drove for lay-up, would’ve been an and-1 to make it a 2-pt game, officials call foul out on the floor, wave off basket, horrible call, not even close as McQuaid didn't even start guarding Webster till he was in the lane and rising up for the shot. We subsequently miss a shot and MSU scores to go up 7.

LJS had a nice breakdown on this and what Coach Miles had to say on it after the game http://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/life-in-the-red/driving-for-a-deep-dive-into-nebrasketball-s-three-point/article_9c273b9f-e399-5d0d-8747-f57c586d8a4f.html

NU 81 Iowa 75

Agreed - the flashes Roby shows are things we haven't seen out of true freshmen very often around here. His instincts in passing and shot blocking are things that you don't teach. I'm sure he like everyone else wishes it was going faster, but he'll get there & be a great one. We've seen huge jumps in consistency from Watson and Morrow in year 2, and I'd expect Roby to follow suit. Working hard in that first off-season, getting stronger and understanding what improvements need to be made, will allow him to take that big step forward.