Nebraska Huskers Basketball

Husker basketball has been the marquee program for Big 12 mediocrity for as long as I can remember.  Even under Danny Nee Nebraska suffered the fate of a team overshadowed by a competing program that had a lot of success.

Much like Oklahoma in the ninties and Texas though the stronger program has suffered in recent years.  Nebraska's football team has droped off of the national map giving new head Coach Doc Sadler an opportunity to try to resurrect a seemingly dead program.

That resurrection has seemed to have plateaued in recent years, and doesn't look much like it is going to improve anymore this season, but it can.

Why?

Because this may be the most talented young group Nebraska has put on the court in recent years.  Sek Henry and Ryan Anderson lead the way with new comers Lance Jeter and redshirt freshman Jorge Bryan Diaz.  The loss of Tony McCray hurts, but Nebraska seems to have found a clutch three point shooter in Ray Gallegos and in Eshaunte "bear" Jones.

But it seems that this team, young as it is, is struggling during specific times this season. 

Their two losses have come on the road, both hampered by defensive breakdowns and turnover-happy play.

Obviously with the weight of the Big 12 this season that sort of road game won't get Nebraska where Doc or the team want to be, but it's the home game that needs to improve to get anywhere in the Big 12. 

Against Kansas and Texas if you turn the ball over twenty times you can expect around a thirty point loss, especially with the talent disparity.  Much like the football team against Texas in the Big 12 championship, this team needs to play near flawless games to win most of them.

At home Nebraska is 4-0, on the road: 1-2.  The average margin of victory at home is 22.5 points, the average margin of a loss on the road: Ten. 

Young teams go through growing moments, and each game on the road is another chance for this young, talented, but undisciplined team to learn and improve in their road game.

Why?  If they are so good at home?

Simple.

Right now Nebraska is 5-2 this regular season and they have fourteen more home games.

If Nebraska only drops their game to Kansas, then wins the rest of their home games, that's twelve more wins, bringing the total to seventeen wins on the season.

It is imperative that Nebraska protects home court this season. 

Nebraska is projected as the tenth best team in the conference, right now they look like the 12th.

The addition of Christian Standhardinger will help with the scoring and soften the blow of losing McCray for the season.

Doc is a good coach, and his teams always seem to get better throughout the season.  That growth needs to become exponential this season if Nebraska wants to make any sort of waves in the Big 12.

The key to Big 12 waves is a team that defends their home court.  This team needs to attack in the Devaney center, they need to act like their lives are on the line in every home game, scratching, fighting, biting and clawing for every point and ever turnover.  They need to remain focused, turnover free and unselfish because that's how lesser teams win games.

Nebraska's key to the rest of the season is to protect their house, if they can get those twelve wins at home and scratch just a few out on the road we could see a twenty win season and a chance to get into the Tourney a year early.

But it all starts at home, because young teams just aren't that great on the road.

So come on Huskers, show them what you got.  It's time to actually make home court an advantage, because right now our road presence is shaky at best.

Remember a few years back, Husker fans?  A few years ago when Nebraska fans thought their football team was on the rise and USC came to town?

No, this isn't an article about football.  This is a plea for a big win early in the season from a Husker basketball fan.  Nebraska looks like they pulled a little something together in games against TCU and UMKC.

Who?

Exactly.

This Sunday, Nebraska is going to play a real team from a real conference.  The question Husker fans are asking themselves is: Is this going to be the Husker team that got trounced by St. Louis, or the team that ran away from TCU?

The good thing about this game isn't that the players get to spend a weekend in California, but that it comes against a team that has been to the big dance the past two seasons. 

Sure, this may be a down year for the Trojans, but a win by this Husker squad could propel this young team into decency.

I say decency, because no matter what happens on Sunday there are still too many unknowns.  Can this team win on the road?  We'll find out Sunday.  But beyond that, it's hard to tell.

Is Sek Henry the team leader?  Or is it Brandon Richardson or Brian Diaz?  Could it be Lance Jeter or Ryan Anderson?  No one knows, but this team soon needs to find out.

Henry has stepped up as of late, and seems to want that leadership role.  I say to Doc, let him have it.

USC isn't the team they have been the last few years.  A baffling loss to Loyola Marymount is proof enough of that, but they are still the Trojans and they are still from a big-time conference.

If Nebraska wants to earn any sort of credibility, it starts with Sunday evening.

Because they sure won't get any from beating teams like Texas-Pan American or Chicago State.

Sunday it's more than a game, it's respect, it's relevance and it's revenge for the two times the Trojans hammered Nebraska in football a few years ago.  A win here, and this team may just start to believe in itself.

And with young players this talented, that's a scary thought for the Big 12.

Since Danny Nee left the program in 2000, Nebraska has had to rebuild itself from mediocrity to respectability. But it isn't done yet. Not even close.

For the past two or three years, Nebraska fans have been led to believe that the next year would be the year that the Huskers would make that leap into the top-six of the Big 12.

The highest finish in that time: seventh.

That season, Nebraska went 7-9 in the Big 12, but 13-3 against non-Big 12 opponents, making it to the second round of the NIT. Unfortunately, Nebraska lost Alex Maric to graduation and was left with a veteran but small group for the following season.

Last season though, Nebraska exceeding some people's expectations going 18-13 including a second straight invite to the NIT.

Again, Husker fans were left thinking that next season would be the season.

It's hard in the Big 12. Especially in a year as loaded as this one. Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M all have promising rosters this season. Not to mention that Baylor still feels it can rise to the occasion and teams like Iowa State and Texas Tech hope to make a significant jump.

Nebraska has young talent. Again. 

It seems each year this team loses someone that could provide senior leadership.  Players like Ade Dagundaro and Cookie Miller, one lost to graduation another to a transfer.

If a game against Saint Louis is any indication, this team is far from gelling. Brian Diaz is tall, but soft in the middle. Ubel is tentative at best in tough situations. Lance Jeter shows promise, but seems to still be getting a hang of the offense and Brandon Richardson shows flashes but ultimately is still to inexperienced to know exactly what he offers.

What the Huskers gained in height this season they lost in experience and toughness.  Players like Paul Velander, Steve Harley, and Ade Dagundaro provided some much needed swagger and toughness in years past.

That aspect is ultimately gone and remains only in remnants of Ryan Anderson and Sek Henry.

Once again this was supposed to be the year. But it seems that with players like Lance Jeter, Tony McCray, and Brian Diaz, next season is the one to look forward to. 

But maybe, just maybe, this team can get itself together before Big 12 play with the addition of Christian Standhardinger to the roster. Standhardinger is a long defensive player with scoring skills that would add to the size in the starting five and on the bench.

Right now Nebraska doesn't have a clear-cut rotation of starters. They haven't molded the starting five that we can count on night in and night out. Instead they will be mix-matching the line-ups to find the best combination of players. That doesn't bode well with teams like TCU and USC coming up soon.

If Nebraska wants to compete in the Big 12 this season, it needs to be successful out of conference. Beating up on South Carolina Upstate is one thing, but losing to Saint Louis is another.

This weekend Doc Sadler needs to find a rotation that will work and that he sticks to.  With the length on the floor their defense should be stifling. It was last year without the height, it should be better this year with some height. 

With 12 games left on the OOC schedule, Nebraska needs to find a combination that works on the floor and in the paint. 

Nebraska wants to get to 8-8 in conference play again, and would like to add a cool 12 wins, it will need to win 11 of the next 12 games to have a shot at the goals set before them.

Doc needs to coach like he's never coached before with this young group to do anything note worthy in conference play, but it starts with out of conference gelling and losses to teams like Saint Louis won't help.

The bad news gets even worse for the Huskers, because Kansas comes to town the second Big 12 conference game of the season. At that point, the gelling better have been done, or Nebraska fans may be in for a long season without a postseason bid.

The Pit, known throughout college basketball as one of the most difficult arenas to play in and the site of several historic games (1983 championship anyone?), can add another piece of basketball lore to it’s already storied past:  the end of another basketball season for the University of Nebraska. 

Okay, so this one won’t rank up there with NC State beating Phi Slamma Jamma for the title, but it has some significance for those of us who are desperately seeking any kind of success for Husker basketball.

The 83-71 loss to New Mexico in the first round of the NIT was a microcosm of an extremely difficult, but also rewarding season for the Huskers under third year coach Doc Sadler.

The game of basketball is one of runs usually contained within the game itself.  You know, a four-minute run here, a five-minute scoring drought there.  Not only did the Huskers experience many of those during games, but the same can be said of their season as well.

There were bad runs (non-conference losses to Maryland-Baltimore County and Oregon State), painful runs (an overtime loss to Oklahoma State, a last-second loss to Texas A&M, a 6-point loss to Kansas) and good runs (wins over Missouri, Kansas State and Texas).

Fielding the shortest team in Division I basketball this year, Nebraska finished the season at 18-13 and 8-8 in the Big 12 conference.  Considering the lack of height (no contributor taller than 6’5”) and the lack of depth (usually no more than an eight-man rotation), those numbers are impressive by themselves. 

Heck, into mid-February, Nebraska was being mentioned as a potential NCAA tournament qualifier!

Those aspirations were relatively short-lived.  The lack of depth and Nebraska’s demanding style of play took it’s toll as the season headed toward March and the Huskers just ran out of gas.

Success can be defined in different ways.  Post-season play of any kind was a victory for Nebraska, not to mention a .500 conference record for the first time in a decade (in the 4th most difficult conference in the nation according to kenpom.com).

The numbers, though, don’t get close to telling the whole story.  More important than the wins and losses, this program is starting to get it.  I mean, really get it.  And anyone who watched them play this year saw it happening.

When Doc Sadler arrived at Nebraska in August, 2006, he was handed the keys to a program in shambles.

Nebraska has never been consistently successful in college basketball and apathy had set in, both from the university administration and the fans.  Coach Sadler faced a monumental challenge, the depth of which may have been beyond even his own appreciation.

There was no culture, no expectation…no nothing.  A successful program starts there:  with a culture and a standard of performance that must be lived up to every single day.  Coach Sadler had to instill his own:  all-out effort every play, every day. 

Three years later (likely longer than Sadler first anticipated), the Nebraska Cornhuskers of 2008-09 finally got it. 

The Huskers were undersized against all 31 teams they played.  They weren’t as talented as a vast majority of them.  But they had “bought in” to Coach Sadler’s expectations and worked harder than anyone else, regardless of outcome.

Success this year cannot be measured with numbers.  It must be measured with heart and effort.  In that respect, this group was undefeated.

The foundation for Nebraska basketball to be a top-tier Big 12 team has been laid.  It’s now time for the next step and all signs indicate a drastic upgrade in size and talent in 2009-10 (the university is on-board as well, recently committing to build a state-of-the-art practice facility in 2010).

The apathy has been replaced by a culture of hard work and dedication—two traits very familiar to Nebraskans.  Hats off to Doc Sadler and the 2008-09 Nebraska Cornhuskers.  Your contributions to the task of building Nebraska basketball have not gone unnoticed.

No. 8 Nebraska (18-11, 8-8) vs. No. 9 Baylor (17-13, 5-11)

Wed. Mar. 11 at 12:30 p.m. EST

Spread: Nebraska -1.0

Backcourt Advantage: Baylor

Senior guard Curtis Jerrells (16.2 PPG) leads a deep and experienced backcourt, which includes senior Henry Dugat (10.4 PPG), junior Tweety Carter (11.4 PPG), and sophomore LaceDarius Dunn (15.1 PPG).

Led by seniors Ade Dagunduro (12.7 PPG) and Steve Harley (10.1 PPG), Nebraska is a guard-heavy team that likes to play at a slow, methodical pace. They did just that on Saturday, slowing the Bears down and holding them to just 62 points, which was 16 points under their season average of 77.9 points per game.

Freshman Toney McCray (5.9 PPG) came off the bench to lead the Huskers with 18 points in their win on Saturday.

The Bears, who are averaging just over eight three-pointers made per game, knocked down 8-of-24 on Saturday. The Huskers weren't hesitant to hoist up the long-range bombs either, making 7-of-21 attempts. Expect it to be raining threes again in this one.

If Baylor can pick up the pace and get up and down the court, they will be able to win this game. Nebraska is 0-5 when giving up 70 points or more.

Frontcourt Advantage: Baylor

Senior forward Kevin Rogers (12.1 PPG, 7.4 RPG) should be able to dominate inside for the Bears. The 6'9" forward will have a size advantage inside against a Nebraska team that is usually playing with five guards, the tallest being 6'5" Ade Dagunduro, who leads the Huskers in rebounds, averaging only 4.3 per game.

Rogers scored 10 points and brought down six rebounds in Baylor's loss on Saturday, while the Bears outrebounded the Huskers 31-25.

Momentum: Even

Nebraska just defeated Baylor 66-62 in Waco, TX, on Saturday. Now just three days later, they must do it again to advance into the second round of the Big 12 tournament and keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive.

Both teams are experienced, while the Bears have a more well-balanced attack. Look for Baylor to find a way to win this one.

Shaun's Pick: Baylor +1.0

Nebraska (17-11, 7-8) at Baylor (17-12, 5-10)

Sat. Mar. 7 at 4:00 PM EST

Spread: Baylor -6.0

Backcourt Advantage: Baylor

Senior guards Curtis Jerrells (16.3 PPG) and Henry Dugat (10.6 PPG) had high hopes this year of making the NCAA tournament, especially after getting off to such a great start (15-3, 3-1). Now the seniors are just hoping to get a win in their final home game.

Jerrells leads a deep and experienced backcourt, which includes junior Tweety Carter (11.5 PPG) and sophomore LaceDarius Dunn (15.0 PPG). The Bears are knocking down just over eight threes per game, so expect the long-range bombs to be flying in this one.

Nebraska is a guard-heavy team that likes to play at a slow, methodical pace. But typically the home team is better able to dictate tempo. The Huskers could find themselves playing out of their comfort zone in this one if Baylor is pushing the ball up and down the court.

Nebraska is 0-5 when giving up 70 points or more. Baylor is averaging 77.9 points per game this season and certainly won't be looking to slow things down in its home finale.

Frontcourt Advantage: Baylor

Senior forward Kevin Rogers (12.1 PPG, 7.4 RPG) should be able to dominate inside for the Bears on senior night. The 6'9" forward will have a size advantage inside against a Nebraska team that is usually playing with five guards, the tallest being 6'5" Ade Dagunduro, who leads the Huskers in rebounds, averaging only 4.4 per game.

Momentum: Even

Nebraska comes in fresh of a 16-point win in its final home game over lowly Iowa State. The Huskers are 3-7 on the road this season, but have lost their last three by an average of 15 points per contest.

Baylor will be pumped for its final home game and will be looking to get back to mid-season form. The Bears could be a dangerous team in the Big 12 tournament with their well-balanced attack of Jerrells and company outside and Kevin Rogers inside.

Look for the Bears to win this game and gain the momentum they need for next week's conference tournament.

Shaun's Pick: Baylor -6.0

I never really cared about college basketball much. As far as I was concerned, the season started in March. At Nebraska, basketball is often an afterthought to our storied football team. The Nebraska team is the smallest in Division One basketball, but they are a gritty bunch.

With their hard nosed defense they had been giving some Big 12 rivals a run for their money this season. For me, I got into Husker basketball when I attended the upset over No. 17 Texas which caused a storming of the court from our fans.

Hopes were high following that game. It was believed that victories over Creighton, Missouri, and Texas gave us a decent tournament resume. We needed to win out at home and add a road victory either at Missouri, K State, Kansas, or Baylor.

Even after losses to Kansas and Mizzou we still stood a chance, or so we believed. Winning by 18 against Texas A & M looked like it was going to be a solid victory against a team in the Top 50 RPI.

But we were doomed from the second ESPN announcer Doug Gottlieb declared victory with 15 minutes remaining in the game. As soon as he called it a Huskers victory I knew it was anything but that.

Whenever you hear an announcer declare victory isn't that when the little warning lights in your head start to go off? If Gottlieb thought it, that means the Huskers thought it too, and so did Doc Sadler.

It showed in the way they tried to run down the clock and did not get one good look at the basket for ten straight minutes. By the time they realized they were in trouble it was too late. A & M was within 5 and the Huskers were floundering.

Two questionable calls gave A & M the ball with less than 5 seconds to play, down by one. The Huskers inability to foul on the final in bounds pass allowed a three pointer to end their March Madness hopes.

If only I had not gone to that Texas game, maybe I would not have been so crushed by that defeat.

Texas A&M (19-8, 5-7) at Nebraska (16-9, 6-6)

Tue. Feb. 24 at 9:30 P.M. EST

Spread: Nebraska -3.5

Backcourt Advantage: Even

These teams match up very well in the backcourt with experienced players. Texas A&M's offense is led by senior Josh Carter (13.5 PPG) and junior Donald Sloan (11.4 PPG). They have provided the Aggies with very consistent scoring this season.

Nebraska's backcourt isn't quite as talented, but is much deeper. They are led by seniors Ade Dagunduro (12.1 PPG) and Steve Harley (10.7 PPG), but they will also get healthy contributions from Cookie Miller, Sek Henry and Paul Velander.

Frontcourt Advantage: Texas A&M

The Aggies will have a distinct advantage inside against the smaller Huskers. Chinemelu Elonu (10.4 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 1.7 BPG) and Bryan Davis (10.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.3 BPG) have been dominant on the defensive end and will make it very difficult for the Huskers to find any easy buckets inside.

Look for Texas A&M to clean up on the glass and get a lot of second-chance points.

Momentum: Texas A&M

The Huskers sit one game ahead of The Aggies in the Big 12 standings, but the Aggies are coming off back-to-back wins against in-state rivals Texas and Texas Tech.  They are making a strong case for an NCAA tournament bid and right now have a better resume than Nebraska.

On paper, Texas A&M is the stronger, more balanced team, but a road win in Lincoln will be a tough task. Although, the road team has won five of the last seven meetings between these two schools.

Shaun's Pick: Texas A&M +3.5

Husker News and Notes:

Future Husker Brandon Kinnie has joined his Junior College Basketball team. No truth to the rumor Shawn Watson’s blood pressure is rising.

Cook said Kinnie joined the team only after Fort Scott football coach Jeff Sims talked with the Nebraska staff.

"He had asked to play about two weeks before," Cook said. "At first I said, ‘No, you already have your future. We don’t want you to get hurt or have anything bad happen to you.’"

Kinnie played basketball last season, averaging 13 points and four rebounds a game. But that was after redshirting in football his first season at Fort Scott.

Zach Potter looks to improve draft status at the NFL Combine this weekend.

The former Nebraska defensive end believes that his testing results at the NFL Combine will stack up favorably. Potter and five of his former Nebraska teammates will be going before NFL personnel for testing, examinations and interviews as the annual combine starts today in Indianapolis.

With Nebraska government enact legislation dealing with agents, the AP says don’t expect change.

An agent jeopardizes an athlete’s eligibility and puts the athlete’s school at risk of NCAA sanctions when the agent offers inducements to secure that athlete as a client.

The problem, some say, is that coaches often don’t want to turn in agents because that suggests they had knowledge of something amiss. And student-athletes don’t want to turn in agents because that could signal that they were complicit in something nefarious.

Remembering Bill "Thunder" Thorton.

During his first six and two thirds seasons with the Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-10, 1-5); one of Pat Knight’s duties was to hold back his father Bob Knight when he was infuriated with the referees. However, in Tech’s 82-69 loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-7, 3-4) it seems that none of Pat Knight’s assistants has picked up that role.

With 9:49 left in the second half and the Red Raiders trailing 56-44, Alan Voskuil took a hard hit from a Cornhusker, knocking him to the floor. Nevertheless, Voskuil was called for the foul.

After a replay was shown and before the ball was inbounding, Pat Knight charged on to the court and went straight to the referee, yelling at him. The referee called Knight for a technical foul. Knight kept yelling leading to another technical, and was ejected from the game.

However, that did not stop Pat Knight as he continued yelling prompting assistant coach Stew Robinson to come out and hold Knight back after he was tossed. Knight kept yelling at the referee before exiting the court with the crowd applauding in support of their coach.

Assistant coach Bubba Jennings was talking with the referee, and Knight turned around and came back on the court and yelled some more before leaving for good.

Assistant coach Chris Beard and the other assistants coached the rest of the game.

Paul Velander shot four technical foul free throws, making two to give the Cornhuskers a 58-44 lead. The Cornhuskers would expand their lead to 17 with two Tech turnovers and two fouls by John Roberson.

For a while Knight’s fire at the refs rubbed off on the Red Raiders. Trailing 66-49 with 7:55 left, The Red Raiders went on a 16-4 run. Roberson hit two three-pointers, Singletary scored four points, Voskuil, Michael Prince and Rogdrick Craig contributed points.

The Cornhuskers would not allow the Red Raiders to get any closer as they ended the game on a 12-4 run with most of their points coming from Tech intentionally fouling to stop the clock.

The Cornhuskers snapped a three game losing streak and won their third straight against the Red Raiders.

Ade Dagunduro led the Cornhuskers in scoring with 20 points, and Cookie Miller scored 19 off the bench. Dagunduro and Balham led the team in rebounds with six each. Miller led the team in assist with five and in steals with five.

The Red Raiders lost their third straight game and five of their last six. The loss was also Tech’s third loss at home in their last four games. Knight falls to 5-12 in conference games.

Roberson led the team in scoring with 19 and Craig added 14 points coming off the bench. Craig’s point total was a career high beating his previous high of 11 in Tech’s 167-115 victory over East Central Oklahoma.

Robert Lewandowski led the team in rebounds with eight, Roberson led the team in assists with six and Prince led the team in steals with two.

The Cornhuskers started the first half strong, as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead and the Red Raiders didn’t score until Roberson hit a three-pointer with 15:44 left in the half.

The Red Raiders started the game shooting two-for-14 and falling behind 23-6 with 8:43 left in the half. Knight called a time out and chewed out his team wondering what was wrong with them.

Tech would go on a 20-6 run over the next minutes cutting Nebraska’s lead to 29-26 with 2:12 left in the first half. The Cornhuskers led 34-27 at halftime.

Nebraska will travel to Colorado and play the Buffaloes (9-11, 1-5) on Wednesday. The Red Raiders will travel to Stillwater and play the Oklahoma State Cowboys (13-7, 2-4) on Wednesday.