3 thoughts on Nebraska basketball win over Fairleigh Dickinson

Nebraska basketball needed a fast start after struggling against Bethune-Cookman and that’s exactly what the Huskers did on Wednesday night against Fairleigh Dickinson.

It wasn’t a pretty start. Nebraska scored seven of its first 11 points at the free throw line. Nebraska basketball didn’t make a jump shot until the 11:49 mark of the first half when Juwan Gary knocked one down, but the Huskers cleaned up some errors and played a more complete game than their first two outings in an 86-60 win.

Good teams win but great teams cover the spread and Nebraska (finally) did that. Gary led the way with 19 points, five assists, and two boards. Berke Büyüktuncel pitched in with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Brice Williams managed 10.

Terrence Brown led FDU with 23 points (9-of-18 shooting). He hit twice from deep but nobody else scored more than 10. Here are three thoughts on the Huskers win to improve to 3-0.

3-point shooting still lacking

Nebraska basketball didn’t get outscored at the 3-point line on Wednesday night, which was a positive step in the right direction, but the Huskers made just 7-of-28 attempts.

Connor Essegian, Gavin Griffiths, and Juwan Gary all made two triples each, but nobody else made more than one and it really feels like this is going to be a theme all season long.

At some point, Andrew Morgan or Berke will need to replace some of the production from Rienk Mast, but this team just won’t be as productive from deep which isn’t surprising after losing Keisei Tominaga, Mast for the season, and CJ Wilcher.

A better job taking care of the ball

Nebraska had 18 turnovers on Saturday and just gave the ball away too much during the first two games. It was kind of surprising.

You do have to remember that Nebraska has a bunch of new players and pieces. It’s going to take time for it all to come together. It started on Wednesday. The Huskers cut way back on the turnovers. They only had eight and that’s a big reason why this turned into a blowout.

Nebraska basketball cleans up the glass

Offensive rebounds were another issue for Nebraska in the first two games as they didn’t outrebound either opponent on the offensive glass. This team should be able to rebound the ball well and it did on Wednesday, albeit against one of the worst teams in college basketball.

Still, the Huskers can only control what they can control and their effort on the glass was stellar on Wednesday with 41 total rebounds compared to 28. They also had 13 offensive rebounds compared to six.

Nebraska was the most physical team and attempted 28 free throws. The Huskers have attempted at least 25 in all three games, and even though the 3-pointers aren’t falling as much, Nebraska is doing a better job of getting to the free-throw line.

For More Nebraska content, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook Page, and Subscribe to the Husker Big Red YouTube Channel. You can also find our podcast on Apple or Spotify.