Nebraska Basketball: Takeaways from win over Penn State

Nebraska basketball was able to defeat Penn State by a 68-49 margin. With the victory, Nebraska remained unbeaten at home in Big Ten play. They also improved the 18-8 on the season, and patted their resume for the NCAA tournament.

This was a game that saw the Nebraska basketball offense firing on all cylinders. Well-rounded play on both ends of the floor proved to be enough for a Nebraska basketball team that struggled a bit early on. This was the first Nebraska basketball game in a week, and Nebraska needed to find their sea legs in the first half. The second half was a bit more polished as the Big Red forced 14 turnovers, and scored 15 points off of them. It was a strong defensive effort for a team that has struggled with that aspect of the game at times.

Nebraska basketball secured its 18 when in the process, their most  to this point in the season since 2018-19.

We take a look at three takeaways from Saturday’s big win.

Jamarques Lawrence is heating up

Jamarques Lawrence showed up big for Nebraska basketball on Saturday. He’s had struggles throughout the course of the season, but he made his presence felt.

Lawrence recorded 8 points, one rebound, and two assists in 21 minutes of play. More importantly, he looked like himself in the way he played. He was slashing to the basket, and was able to drive into the lane with ease. When he is at his best, he gets to the lane with ease, using his speed to create offensive mismatches. He’s had a couple of games now where he looked like the Lawrence that emerged onto the scene for Nebraska last year.

It will be interesting to see if he can keep up this level of play. His explosiveness, as well as his ability to take smart shots, have been on full display. Lawrence is playing his best basketball of the season right now, at a time when it is desperately needed. He contributed in a big way on Saturday, and he needs to show up and play this high level if Nebraska basketball wants to go far into the postseason.

The defense was at its best on Saturday

The Huskers played outstanding defense on Saturday, in multiple areas. Rebounding was a key area in which they succeeded on Saturday. This is an area that has been a struggle all season. However, they made sure to rebound and defend at a high level.

All told, Nebraska basketball grabbed 42 rebounds to Penn State’s 31. They also held an 11-8 advantage on the offensive glass. The offensive glass is an area that the huskers have really been stagnant with this season. However, they were active there on Saturday.

Also worth noting was the defense of Keisei Tominaga. He was very active and stayed glued to his man the entire game. Defense has not been one of his strong suits over the course of the season. Saturday saw him give a very strong effort.  This was a big step into him becoming a more complete player.

All in all, this was perhaps Nebraska’s strongest defensive game of the season. They looked completely locked in and shut down a pesky Penn State team.

The offense is extremely dangerous when clicking

It’s not just the Tominaga show on offense for Nebraska basketball. Every single player has the ability to contribute and Nebraska basketball is extremely dangerous when that happens. They had one of those games on Saturday. This certainly bodes well heading into what should be a wild March.

The depth and the balance of this roster were on full display in the win. Nebraska shot 44.3% from the floor. Reink Mast had 12 points. Juwan Gary had 13 points. Tominaga added 17 of his own. The Nittany Lions did not have enough defensive answers for Nebraska basketball on Saturday. Offense hasn’t really been a problem for this program, and that was evident on Saturday. They were firing on all cylinders.

This type of balanced effort was encouraging to see. When the Huskers put it all together, they are difficult to stop. It’s also becoming very clear that Fred Hoiberg finally has a team that fits what he wants to do in the Big Ten. This is undoubtedly the most complete roster he has had as coach of the program.