Nebraska takes first steps in bouncing back from Sunday's ugly defeat
Less than 24 hours after Sunday’s debacle against Creighton, Fred Hoiberg was focused on his team’s response after the fact.
Still reeling from a 29-point home defeat in their first significant test, the Huskers returned to work on Monday morning. It was just one practice and film session, but Hoiberg called it an important first step in putting the loss in the review mirror.
“Every game is an opportunity to learn and grow no matter the outcome, whether you win or whether you lose,” Hoiberg said during his show on the Huskers Radio Network. “If you keep taking steps in the right direction – especially after a setback, if you get back on track and get back to the things I think made us a pretty successful team in the early portion of the season – if we get back to that, we’re going to be fine.
“If we let this one bother us, if we have a hangover going into Wednesday, then you’ve got issues. But again, with the experience that this group has and the togetherness that they’ve shown, I think we’re going to bounce back in a big way.”
The lopsided final margin was only one of Hoiberg’s concerns on Sunday. How poorly Nebraska handled its first taste of real in-game adversity was equally disappointing. The Huskers got away from many of their core principles once Creighton threw the first punches.
“As the adversity got bigger for us, we did not respond to the moment,” Hoiberg said. “We have to find a way to do that because it’s going to hit us every night as we continue on.”
As frustrated as he was following the loss, Hoiberg received a text that provided some perspective. Someone asked if he knew Nebraska would be 7-1 at this point, would he take it?
He admitted it was difficult to view the situation that way at the moment. But the reality was that NU couldn’t let one loss define its season.
Hoiberg said Monday was critical in getting the Huskers back on track. Starting with Wednesday night’s Big Ten opener and first true road game at Minnesota, Nebraska’s veteran leaders must step up.
“That’s one of the things with this team is we’re old,” Hoiberg said. “We’re the oldest team in the Big Ten, and that does help when you have moments like this.”
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Hoiberg gives updates on Lloyd, Keita
Nebraska didn’t list Ramel Lloyd Jr. on its pre-game availability report vs. Creighton. But the redshirt freshman guard was nowhere to be seen at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday.
Hoiberg clarified the situation, saying Lloyd was dealing with an illness. Based on how Lloyd felt on Monday, Hoiberg said he likely would not travel to Minneapolis.
“Ramel is healthy; he’s actually sick right now,” Hoiberg said. “So he missed last night’s game, and he most likely will not be on the trip tomorrow. He’s just got a virus that’s going through quite a bit of campus, from what I understand right now. But we’re going to play it safe, and hopefully, he gets better here soon.”
Hoiberg also gave another update on Blaise Keita’s lengthy recovery from offseason ankle surgery.
The 6-foot-11 forward is still only doing individual work. But Hoiberg sounded optimistic that Keita was getting closer by the day to returning to the lineup.
“He’s really on the uptick right now,” Hoiberg said. “Not to say he’ll be back in the next week or two. But he’s making significant progress from where he was a month ago, where we basically had to shut him down because of the pain he was still having in the ankle.
“But he’s getting there. Hopefully, he can just keep taking steps in the right direction and get him back on the floor.”
