Hoiberg talks ball control, Buie, and Nebraska's resiliency heading into road clash at Northwestern
Of all the signature victories Nebraska has racked up at Pinnacle Bank Arena this season, one of the more underrated wins came in a 75-69 defeat of Northwestern.
Five players scored in double figures while the Huskers shot a season-high 55.3 percent, including nearly 70% in the first half. They also held the Wildcats to just 38.1% shooting, capped by a 1-for-12 finish over the final 6:31 of play.
The one area that nearly cost NU the game, however, was ball security.
Nebraska matched its Big Ten high with 18 giveaways against the Wildcats, two short of its highest total of the season. Rienk Mast (5) and Jamarques Lawrence (4) combined for nine of those 18, and the Wildcats turned those into a 17-3 advantage in points off turnovers.
Even more, 13 came off Northwestern steals, marking the most by a Husker opponent this season.
Looking back on the first meeting, head coach Fred Hoiberg said NU often allowed the Wildcats to create turnovers through pressure. In particular, he noted Northwestern caused problems with its aggressive double teams and traps in the post.
Nebraska took much better care of the ball last time out in its overtime loss at Illinois, only giving it away nine times over 45 minutes. For the Huskers to finally snag their first Big Ten road win of the season, turnovers will be paramount in tomorrow night’s rematch in Evanston.
“It’s going to be important to take better care of the ball,” Hoiberg said. “At home, we were able to overcome it. On the road, we probably won’t.”
The Huskers hope to keep Buie in check again
One of the best point guards in college basketball, Boo Buie is the head of the snake for Northwestern.
The Wildcats go as far as the Preseason All-American takes them, as he ranks fifth in the Big Ten in scoring (18.9 ppg) on 44.1% shooting and is third with 5.5 apg.
A significant reason Nebraska pulled out the win in Lincoln was that it contained Buie as well as any team has this season. His nine points on 2-of-15 shooting (13.3%) matched his second-lowest scoring output of the year.
It would be ideal for NU to replicate that effort tonight, but that’ll be much easier said than done.
Buie has been incredible at Welsh-Ryan Arena, averaging 20.2 ppg while shooting 48% with 6.4 apg. Hoiberg said the Huskers couldn’t afford to let the standout senior take over the game.
“You just have to try to make him take tough shots,” Hoiberg said. “He’s going to make some of them, and those can’t get you deflated… You can’t hang your head when he’s out there making tough shots.
“You just can’t give him everything – you can’t give him the rim, and you can’t give him uncontested threes. Just try to make him take those tough, contested mid-range shots.”
The Big Ten grind is real for Nebraska
Since its run of 18 straight Big Ten games started on Jan. 3, Nebraska has had no more than four days of rest between its past 10 league contests.
In fact, the Huskers are the only team in the conference still without either of its two scheduled weeks off. While NU will get a six-day break following Saturday’s home game vs. Michigan, it’s feeling the grind of a brutal scheduling stretch.
Wednesday night’s trip to Northwestern will mark Nebraska’s fifth road game in 26 days and its third over the past 12 days. That’s not even mentioning it’s coming off back-to-back emotional overtime games.
The Huskers returned from Illinois at around 10:30 p.m. CT on Sunday. They held a mental day on Monday with a film session that lasted over an hour. Hoiberg said the staff was mindful of player recovery, especially after throwing out workload limitations all last week.
“Guys are doing OK,” Hoiberg said, “It’s a resilient group, and they’ve bounced back.”
Eli Rice is still recovering from an ankle injury
After a promising start to his debut season in Lincoln, Eli Rice has missed the past two games due to injury.
The true freshman guard suffered a high ankle sprain early last week in practice. Hoiberg said Rice was still about a week away from returning to action.
“He’s getting better,” Hoiberg said. “He’s still not doing anything live. Those high ankle sprains take a long time to recover from. He’s basically doing anything he can right now, but not a lot of on-court movement. Making good progress, and hopefully get him back on the court next week.”
