Hoops Gameday: No. 11 Nebraska vs. No. 14 Rutgers
Who, What, Where, When
No. 11 Nebraska Cornhuskers (14-17, 6-12) vs No. 14 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (7-24, 1-17)
Wednesday, March 9, 2016 - 6:00 p.m.
Bankers Life Fieldhouse
TV: BTN
Radio: Husker Sports Network
Internet: BTN2Go
| NAME | HT/WT | YEAR | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Benny Parker |
5-9/175 |
Sr. |
Had 7 points, 3 assists and 3 steals vs. Northwestern |
|
Tai Webster |
6-4/199 |
Jr. |
Scored 13 points with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks vs. Northwestern |
|
Andrew White |
6-7/216 |
Jr. |
Averaged 24.5 points in Nebraska's two wins over Rutgers this season |
|
Shavon Shields |
6-7/225 |
Sr. |
Had 11 points on just 2-of-12 shooting from the field vs. Northwestern |
|
Michael Jacobson |
6-8/225 |
Fr. |
Has scored just 15 total points in last five games |
| NAME | HT/WT | YEAR | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Mike Williams |
6-2/190 |
So. |
Scored 29 points in win over Minnesota |
|
Corey Sanders |
6-2/175 |
Fr. |
Had 28 points in loss at Nebraska on Feb. 6 |
|
Jonathan Laurent |
6-6/210 |
Fr. |
Averaging 8.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game |
|
D.J. Foreman |
6-8/240 |
So. |
Averaging 8.0 points and team-high 6.1 rebounds per game |
|
Greg Lewis |
6-9/240 |
Sr. |
Scoring 3.9 points with 5.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game |
Three keys to victory
1. Start fast
Nebraska hasn't done itself any favors whatsoever the past few games by getting off to painfully slow starts and falling behind by big deficits in the first half. Yes, the Huskers have managed to chip away and make games close in the second half, but it's always been too little, too late in what is now currently a five-game losing streak. The offense needs to come out firing from the opening tip, just like it did in the two previous meetings with Rutgers in the regular season. Just as importantly, Nebraska needs to match that intensity on defense and not allow the Scarlet Knights to get into any sort of groove.
2. Shut down Sanders
There is no secret over which Rutgers players wants the ball in his hands at all times, as freshman Corey Sanders went from coming off the bench to the Scarlet Knights' top volume shooter. Averaging a team-high 16.2 points per game, Sanders has a tendency to force the issue a bit when it comes to getting up his shots. He racked up 28 points on 20 field goal attempts in the last meeting with Nebraska, so the Huskers need to be ready for Sanders to fire away whenever he touches the basketball.
3. The run starts now
Tonight marks the first step in Nebraska's final chance at a path to the NIT or NCAA Tournament, as the Huskers will have to make a deep run in the Big Tournament to earn an NIT berth and must win it all to punch a ticket to the Big Dance. Losing nine of the past 11 games dropped NU all the way down to the No. 11 seed, meaning it lost the advantage of a first-round bye and now must win five games in five days to achieve its first league title in 66 years. The good news is that the first opponent up is a Rutgers team that only just this past Saturday snapped a 32-game Big Ten losing streak against a Minnesota team featuring just eight available players, only five of which were on scholarship. The bad news is that Rutgers has now still managed to taste victory more recently than the Huskers.
Quotable
"We feel bad for our fans. We feel bad for not being more successful. I want to have great success. I want a program that everybody is just ignited about and just fired up about… I believe we have great days ahead of us. I believe that we are building it the right way, that we have a very strong foundation. And that goes deeper than just the freshmen players. I mean, we’re healthy academically. Our guys are good guys. Knock on wood, the behavior has been excellent. As you go forward, you feel like all we have to worry about is how we improve the team and how we develop our players further. Now, that’s hard, but if you don’t have 10 problems to solve - sometimes you’ve got academic issues, you’ve got behavior issues, and you feel like you have to fix everything. But we don’t. We just have to get less empty minutes on the floor, and I believe that we’re going to add more players next year, and we’re not done recruiting yet. So we can still make a leap forward, and we need to. I’m tired of losing.”
-Head coach Tim Miles on the state of the program
Prediction
Nebraska 65, Rutgers 54
Robin's season record: 23-8