Nebraska basketball game preview: Oklahoma
After three non-conference tune-up wins against low-majors West Georgia and Maryland-Eastern Shore, and mid-major Florida International, the competition level is about to get real for Fred Hoiberg’s Nebraska Cornhuskers.
In its first regular-season measuring stick game, Nebraska (3-0) heads to Sioux Falls on Saturday to play Porter Moser’s Oklahoma Sooners (2-1). The game will also mark the first game away from Pinnacle Bank Arena for the Huskers.
Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. inside the Sanford Pentagon. The game will be televised by BTN with Chris Vosters and Shon Morris on the call.
Oklahoma will enter the game with wins over Saint Francis (102-66) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (95-69) while the lone loss on the season was to No. 21 Gonzaga (83-68) in Spokane, Washington.
All about the guards
Hoiberg, who spoke with reporters Thursday, had one word when describing what stood out about Oklahoma: “Talent.”
Hoiberg said Oklahoma’s two starting guards — Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack — are what makes the engine run.
“It starts with their guards,” Hoiberg said. “I think those guys are terrific.”
The 6-2, 182-pound Brown is a transfer from Saint Joseph’s, where he was first-team All-Atlantic 10 last season. Brown is averaging 18.7 points, 3.3 assists and 2.7 steals per game through three games. In the Sooner’ loss to Gonzaga, Brown scored 21 points while going 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
Pack is a 5-10, 188-pound veteran of college basketball. He’s in his sixth season — he played two at Kansas State and three at Miami before coming to Norman — and is averaging 16.3 points and 2.3 assists. Pack lets it fly — he’s shooting 44% on 8.3 3-point attempts per game.
In Oklahoma’s win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Pack scored 15 points and went 5-of-7 from 3. Hoiberg said his players can’t get discouraged if Brown or Pack make high-difficulty shots, because it’s what they do.
“Pack was unconscious in their last game,” Hoiberg said. “He makes five out of seven threes, and tough shots. You can’t get deflated. You have to do a good job of finding him and locating him at all times, and just try to make him take his toughest shot, contested shot as he can, knowing that he’s going to make some of them.”
A big, physical front court
While Brown and Pack are the Sooners’ top two scorers, Oklahoma has big, strong and lengthy front-court players in the 6-9, 215-pound Notre Dame transfer Tae Davis, the 6-8, 226-pound Alabama transfer Derrion Reid and the 6-10, 225-pound Mohamed Wague.
Davis had a double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds — 11 of which were offensive — against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Through three games, he’s averaging a double-double of 11.7 points, 10.3 rebounds.
“When that shot goes up, the athleticism that this team (has) will crash,” Hoiberg said. “The physicality that they will play with — it’s unbelievably well coached with Porter Moser. And they run really good actions.”
Former Husker recruiting target Dayton Forsythe getting minutes for Sooners
One of the rotation players who comes off the bench for Oklahoma is sophomore guard Dayton Forsythe. Nebraska once recruited Forsythe and had him attend a game on an unofficial visit.
Forsythe, a native Oklahoman who prepped at Dale High School, is averaging 19.7 minutes this season to go along with 9.0 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. He’s also gone 5-of-10 from 3.
Three keys to a Nebraska win
Make your 3s: If Nebraska is going to have a chance against Oklahoma, it needs its 3s to fall. Nebraska shot just 18% from 3 against UMES (6-of-32). The game before that, it lit up FIU by shooting 50% (17-of-34). If the 3s aren’t falling, the Huskers need to find ways to generate points inside the arc and at the free-throw line, where the the team is shooting 70% (36-of-51).
Let Rienk cook: After becoming the third Husker in program history to record a triple-double against FIU, Rienk Mast played just 18 minutes in the next game against UMES. He scored six points on 2-of-8 shooting (1-of-3 from 3) while grabbing two rebounds with one assist. With a long season ahead, it was smart to play Mast under 20 minutes in a game Nebraska was never in any danger of losing. But against Oklahoma, the Huskers need their point center to run the show at the top of the arc and the elbows in the half court, when the Sooners set their defense. The gravity Mast commands will help clear the paint of those big, lengthy front court players of Oklahoma, making it easier for cutters to find paths to the hoop.
Rebound the ball: Limiting Oklahoma to one shot and getting into transition offense should be a key focus for Nebraska. It will be a challenge for the Huskers to keep the Sooners off the glass, so rebounding will need to be a team-wide effort, with guards getting involved while bigs like Mast and Berke Buyuktuncel have their hands full with Davis, Reid and Wague. Pryce Sandfort hasn’t had a game yet where he’s hauled down more than five boards — the 6-7 wing needs to make an impact in that area Saturday and help his team get out in transition, where opportunities for open 3s exist. Sam Hoiberg and Braden Frager are two more guards who need to crash the paint and grab missed shots.
Projected starting lineups
| Nebraska (3-0) | Points per game | Rebounds per game | Assists per game | 3-point shooting % | Free-throw shooting % |
| Jamarques Lawrence (6-3, 185 lbs) | 7.0 | 2.3 | 3.3 | 45.5% | 50% |
| Sam Hoiberg (6-0, 180 lbs) | 7.7 | 6.3 | 4.3 | 50% | 100% |
| Pryce Sandfort (6-7, 210 lbs) | 14.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 40.9% | 100% |
| Berke Büyüktuncel (6-10, 244 lbs) | 7.7 | 5.3 | 2.3 | 14.3% | 66.7% |
| Rienk Mast (6-10, 250 lbs) | 11.3 | 8.3 | 4.0 | 37.5% | 62.5% |
| Oklahoma (2-1) | Points per game | Rebounds per game | Assists per game | 3-point shooting % | Free-throw shooting % |
| Xzayvier Brown (6-2, 182 lbs) | 18.7 | 2.0 | 3.3 | 33.3% | 92.3% |
| Nijel Pack (5-10, 188 lbs) | 16.3 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 44% | 100% |
| Derrion Reid (6-8, 226 lbs) | 10.0 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 14.3% | 91.7% |
| Tae Davis (6-9, 215 lbs) | 11.7 | 10.3 | 2.7 | 0% | 71.4% |
| Mohamed Wague (6-10, 225 lbs) | 8.0 | 7.7 | 1.3 | 0% | 66.7% |