Jan 3, 2023; East Lansing, Michigan, USA; Michigan State Spartans forward Joey Hauser (10) drives past Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Juwan Gary (4) in the first half at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Dale Young-USA TODAY Sports
Nebraska basketball was blown out on the road by Michigan State and here are three takeaways for the Huskers.
If Nebraska basketball is going to find a way to make a postseason tournament, whether it’s the NIT or the NCAA tournament, it’s going to have to find a way to win on the road in the Big Ten.
The Huskers have shown they can beat good teams away from Pinnacle Bank Arena but things didn’t go well on Tuesday night as the Spartans rolled to a 74-56 win at the Breslin Center. Michigan State improved to 10-4, while Nebraska basketball dropped to 8-7 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten.
Things were competitive early. It was 7-6 MSU after the first TV timeout and after a Sam Griesel bucket with 11:37 left in the first half, Michigan State led just 16-13. However, the Spartans closed the half on a 21-4 run and the game was over at that point.
Here are three takeaways.
Poor shooting doomed Nebraska
This was one of those nights when it didn’t seem like the team could hit the broadside of a barn as the saying goes. Derrick Walker scored 15 points and was 7-of-13 from the field but made 1-of-8 free throw attempts.
As a team, the Huskers shot 42 percent but that number was below 30 in the first half and they made just 13 percent of their 3-pointers (2). Michigan State scored 24 points from the 3-point line and Nebraska had six. They also made just 40 percent of their free throws (8-of-20).
Nebraska played right into the hands of MSU
Michigan State wants to get out in transition and shoot 3-pointers and the Huskers played right into their hands by allowing them to grab 29 defensive rebounds. MSU finished with eight triples and only forced 10 turnovers but dominated on the boards and used that to their advantage on the offensive end.
The Spartans assisted on 24 of 31 baskets, which tells you how well they moved the ball and part of it was being able to keep the Nebraska defense off balance by running in transition. Nebraska needed to win the rebound battle and grabbed just seven offensive boards compared to 11 for MSU, which had 40 total compared to 27 rebounds for Nebraska.
One thing that’s not complicated: If you lose the 3-point battle by 18 points and are out-rebounded by 13, you aren’t going to win a game at Michigan State against Tom Izzo.
The Huskers are better than that and they needed to be to have a chance on Tuesday.
Nebraska basketball has a lot to prove
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the schedule is brutal. Nebraska is going to need to finish at least 9-11 to finish over .500 which is required for the NIT and other postseason tournaments. I know Nebraska fans want the team to push for an NCAA tournament berth, but that’s a long way away.
Nebraska would probably need to win 20 games total which would mean 12 regular-season Big Ten wins and at least one in the tournament. That would probably be enough but it’s much easier said than done (there isn’t a single guaranteed win left on the schedule).
Nebraska is going to have to win a couple of games on the road and from here on out, it has to win basically every home game. There are eight home games and eight road games. I’d say Nebraska will need to go 11-5 against that schedule to make the big dance and that seems like a really tall order for this team.
Tuesday was a wake-up call and another reminder that if you don’t show up in the Big Ten, you will get run out of the gym.
Nebraska football QB Jeff Sims still isn’t 100 percent, plus more Nebraska Cornhuskers news.
One thing we know for sure about the Nebraska football quarterback situation is that we won’t know anything until kickoff on Saturday against Louisiana Tech.
Matt Rhule said that he won’t be making any announcements prior to the game, similar to last week, about the starting quarterback. Marcus Satterfield told reporters on Tuesday that Sims took “50-55 percent of the snaps” so he’s improving, but according to Rhule, he’s still not 100 percent.
Matt Rhule said on Huskers Radio Network that QB Jeff Sims is not yet at 100 percent with QB draws, running the option or scrambling after his ankle injury.
He thought Heinrich Haarberg did a "great" job managing the game vs. NIU, including running the huddle, subs, reads etc.
Rhule indicated that Sims is throwing the ball well. The Nebraska Cornhuskers just want to see some more movement skills out of their starting quarterback. One of the starting quarterbacks I should say since Sims and Heinrich Haarberg were listed as co-starters this week on the depth chart.
Nebraska Cornhuskers aiming to flip Michigan State 4-star
Andrew Dennis is a 6-foot-5, 275-pound offensive lineman rated as a four-star prospect by the 247 Sports composite rankings. He’s out of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, and has been committed to Michigan State since April but Nebraska football is one of many programs to throw out a recent offer.
We don’t know if Dennis has any plans to visit Nebraska football. He’s been offered by Auburn, Stanford, Penn State, and Purdue just since Monday. I wouldn’t get too serious worrying about Dennis until he takes a visit to Nebraska, but if that happens, watch out.
It’s at least a name to keep on the radar and a decommitment definitely seems possible with the situation going on at Michigan State with Mel Tucker getting fired.
Nebraska Cornhuskers Big Ten basketball schedule released
We knew which teams Nebraska basketball would play in the 2023-24 Big Ten season but got the official schedule on Tuesday. The Huskers released it on their official Twitter account.
Nebraska basketball will open Big Ten on December 6th against Minnesota on the road. Fred Hoiberg’s first conference home game will be against Michigan State on December 10th.
The schedule is fairly balanced in terms of the home and road games. The Huskers have consecutive home games twice on the conference schedule. Nebraska has also back-to-back road games twice.
My first impressions though, are that Nebraska basketball is capable of a winning season in Big Ten play, which would definitely keep Fred Hoiberg in place and likely, would give the Huskers a realistic shot at making their first NCAA tournament since the 2014 season.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers opened fall camp on Monday and Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule runs a tight ship, plus a Caleb Benning update, and more.
You got the idea that Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule was going to take an old-school approach when he announced the Nebraska Cornhuskers would be spending the first two weeks of camp in the dorms.
But on Monday, the old-school approach continued.
Over the weekend, there were tons of rumors circulating among Nebraska football fans on Twitter about Myles Farmer and his status for the 2023 season. As it turns out, he was suspended by coach Rhule.
Rhule didn’t say why, just that Farmer didn’t live up to the standard. Rhule did say it was up to Farmer and his actions in regard to returning to the Nebraska Cornhuskers this season. Farmer started 11 games last season for Nebraska fotoball and was one of the team’s leading tacklers.
Another starting defensive back, Marques Buford is also missing the start of camp due to injury rehab. Omar Brown and Corey Collier will have to step up, but the progress of Farmer will be something to watch.
Nebraska football making an impression on Caleb Benning
It’s clear that Nebraska football is trending up in the recruitment of in-state athlete Caleb Benning. The 5-foot-11, 183-pound defensive back/wide receiver, visited the Huskers again on Monday to take in practice.
All told it was the third unofficial visit of the past week for Benning. He visited early last week when the dead period ended and was also part of the “Cookout” on Sunday when more than 30 Nebraska football recruits were on campus.
In an interview with Steve Marik, Benning has even talked about a potential update to his timeline. He’s been saying that he will announce a commitment in December, but if he decides to commit sooner, I think that would be a great sign for Nebraska football.
Our @Steve_Marik caught up with Omaha Westside 2024 ATH Caleb Benning today. See his thoughts on his latest trip to Lincoln plus a potential updated timeline @NebraskaRivals 👀👀
I know the Huskers could land Amare Sanders and I hope they do. However, that shouldn’t impact Benning. Nebraska football is showing that he’s a priority and my prediction is that he’s N before it’s all said and done.
More Nebraska Cornhuskers news
The Nebraska basketball team made its debut on the trip to Spain and won its first game in overtime. Nebraska only had six scholarship players available, so you can only take away so much, but Brice Williams was spectacular with 28 points, five rebounds, and four assists in the 89-84 win over the Madrid All-Stars. CJ Wilcher had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Jamarques Lawrence pitched in with 14. Rienk Mast was playing with the Netherlands in international play and also had a stellar showing, scoring 26 points and making 6-of-10 3-pointers. So far, so good for the Nebraska Cornhuskers in terms of the portal.
While plenty of highlights and photos surfaced from day one of Nebraska football camp, maybe the highlight that stood out the most was Tristan Alvano’s 50-yard field goal in practice. The freshman is battling for the starting kicking job and my money is on him to win it.
Fred Hoiberg landed another player for the 2023 Nebraska basketball roster on Sunday with the commitment of Matar Diop and here are three thoughts for the Huskers.
It was fair to wonder if Nebraska basketball was going to add another scholarship player for the 2023-24 season, but we got the answer on Sunday with the commitment of Matar Diop.
Diop is a 6-foot-9 power forward. He’s not ranked according to the 247 Sports composite rankings and doesn’t even have a 247 Sports profile that I could find.
Diop is eligible to play in 2023 for Nebraska baskeball which was the first question most Husker fans had. However, I wouldn’t expect to see Diop on the floor a ton this season if at all.
Blaise Keita is going to have a role off the bench as a 4/5 man. If he gets injured or if there is another injury in the frontcourt, Diop could see some minutes.
Yet, this feels a lot like the Eli Rice commitment except Diop will spend his extra year as a redshirt. Rice took an extra year and went to the IMG Academy.
Some recruiting sites had Diop listed as a 2024 recruit, so he could have had that plan too. But Seton Hall, Ole Miss, Arizona State, Saint Joseph’s, and Charlotte all offered. Those are some high-major offers and this is a really good get this late in the recruiting cycle.
You can see from Diop’s highlights that he’s an exceptional athlete. He also looks like a plus defender but he gets above the rim with ease and will be one of the most athletic players on the Nebraska basketball roster.
Diop is also really raw. I doubt he’s quite ready for Big Ten basketball. Yet, after a redshirt season, he could be ready to be a rotational piece in 2024-25.
Nebraska basketball is a great place for Diop to develop
Ernie Ziegler, a current Nebraska basketball assistant spent time as a coach with NBA Africa Program via Husker Online, which could be why the Huskers knew about Diop.
But that’s another good reason why the program will be a good fit. Diop has raw talent and the Huskers will know how to develop him. Even though most of Diop’s points happen around the basket, he does show the ability to make 3-pointers.
Diop’s shot will need work and few will be better to aid him than Fred Hoiberg. The former NBA player and head coach will help develop the fundamentals needed to have a future in pro basketball.
All the raw tools are there — it’s just going to take time which Nebraska has especially if Diop redshirts.
What about the final roster spot?
I’m wondering if Nebraska basketball will leave it open (Huskers have one scholarship available). I wouldn’t hate if Fred Hoiberg gave it to his son because he earned based on his play last season.
At the same time, Nebraska could hold it in case another transfer comes available. Hoiberg probably doesn’t need the scholarship to pay for college. It would be a sign of respect more than anything.
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