3 keys and a prediction for Nebraska basketball against Washington

The first-place (in the Big Ten) Nebraska basketball team will be back in action on Wednesday night, in an effort to improve to 19-0 on the season. Fred Hoiberg’s team is seeking its 23rd consecutive win.

Standing in the way of that will be the Washington Huskies, who are 10-8 overall and 2-5 in the Big Ten. Washington has been a competitive team. However, it just lost one of its best players, Desmond Claude, for the rest of the season.

Zoom Diallo and Hannes Steinbach are the names to know. Diallo is a sophomore guard (6-4) who scores 15.1 points per game, dishes out 3.6 assists, and shoots 32 percent from 3-point range. He’s taken at least 12 shots in four of the last five games.

The other Washington player to know is German freshman Hannes Steinbach. He is the leading scorer for UW with 17.8 points per game. He leads the Big Ten in rebounds per game (11.1), and shoots 55 percent from the field, although he ‘s just a 28-percent 3-point shooter.

Wesley Yates is another dynamic scorer, but he’s just coming back from injury and has been limited to under 20 minutes in each of his past three games. The Huskies have lost four of five. Their defense has been struggling, allowing teams to shoot 47 percent during Big Ten play (13th of 18) and 34.7 percent from 3-point range, which is 14th. Washington doesn’t allow many 3-point attempts, just 21.4 per game, but that’s difficult to do against a Nebraska team with shooters everywhere.

The Huskers are an 11.5-point favorite. Tip-off time is set for 8 PM CST (BTN), and here are three keys, plus a prediction for Nebraska vs. Washington.

Keep shooting

Fred Hoiberg’s teams always shoot the ball well. Last season, there was a dip. Hoiberg was determined to fix that this offseason, and boy, did he.

Through seven games, Nebraska leads the Big Ten in 3-point makes (12.3), 3-point attempts (31.1), and 3-point percentage (39.1). The fact that Washington ranks 14th in the Big Ten in 3-point percentage defense is a match made in heaven for the Huskers.

Washington only allows 21 per game. That was a thing for Northwestern, too, and the Huskers attempted over 30. Nebraska is going to shoot them, and Washington better find a way to guard the 3-point shot better than they have, or they will have a tough time covering the spread.

Clean up the glass

Nebraska averages 9.2 offensive rebounds per game, but allows 10.2 on the season. That number is smaller in the Big Ten. The rebound deficit for Nebraska is just -0.4 on the offensive glass during Big Ten games. About neutral. Washington averages 12.2 offensive rebounds per game. They haven’t been as successful in conference games, and Nebraska is sixth in the Big Ten with 22.6 defensive rebounds per game, but still, if Washington is going to pull an upset, they need to win on the glass.

It has to be a focal point for Nebraska. One of the reasons the defense has been so effective is limiting second-chance opportunities, thanks to Sam Hoiberg, who leads the Huskers in defensive rebounds per game (4.2).

Be gritty as always

Nebraska basketball needs to attack the defense at the rim. Washington is 10th in the Big Ten in 2-point defense. They are ranked fifth in the Big Ten in blocked shots, but the Huskers have stellar at the rim all season, which is why they are shooting 59.9 percent on 2-point attempts (19th nationally).

Nebraska has the fifth-fewest turnovers in college basketball and the seventh-fewest turnovers. If they keep that up, it’s hard to see Washington leaving the Vault with a win.

Defense, rebounding, shooting, and fundamental basketball. That’s been the story of the season. It will be once again on Wednesday night.

Prediction: Nebraska 81, Washington 66 

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