• Nebraska offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf
• Randy Gregory to enter draft
• What a crazy year for Nebraska Football
• Nebraska and Miami battle it out in Lincoln
• Nebraska rolls past Florida Atlantic
• Three Nebraska Football night games announced
• Statement from athletic director and my quick thoughts
• UCLA embarrasses Nebraska 41-21
• Nebraska survives 37-34 against Wyoming
• I’m ready for some football!
• Thoughts heading into the 2013 season
• It’s Nebraska vs Wisconsin in the Big 10 Championship
• Thoughts on the Huskers season so far
• Big10 releases schedules for 2015 and 2016
• Aaron Green set to transfer from Nebraska

The Nebraska basketball team beat Saint Louis today by a score of 71 to 54.  NU was lead by junior Sek Henry who scored 19 points on combination of 3 point shooting and drives to the hoop including 2 of 3 from 3 and 5 of 5 from 2; in addition he was 3 of 3 from the free throw line.  Also pacing the Huskers were Seniors Steve Harley with 12 and Ade Dagunduro with 14 respectively.

The game started fairly slowly with Saint Louis playing a style similar to what we saw under Barry Collier.  They worked the shot clock on offense and played tight man to man on defense.  The Huskers were able to take advantage of the tight defensive pressure put on by Saint Louis and create multiple mismatches and drives to the hoop.  The Huskers did not shoot as many 3 point shots as they have been only attempting 14 while making 5.  NU was very good from the free throw line tonight other than Paul Velander missing the front end of a one and one in the first half.  He made up for that missed free throw by drawing two charges in the first half and a third in the second half. For the game NU was 14 of 16 from the charity stripe, by far the best it has been all season.

Rebounding wise NU did OK, but Conklin was definitely giving them problems on the defensive boards he ended the game with six total rebounds, five of them came on the offensive end.  Conklin also gave the Huskers trouble when they were able to work the ball inside to him as he was the high scorer for Saint Louis with 18.  Saint Louis is not a great scoring team and they showed it tonight.  57 is probably an average number of points for them to score, but what I was impressed with is Nebraska’s ability to get points off of penetration.  NU broke out of the habit that it has had so far this season of taking the three instead of attempting to work the ball inside.  Tonight the three was not hitting to start the game off and it seemed like Doc really wanted to get some points in the paint.

Thoughts going forward:

Tonight Doc did not play Alonzo Edwards or Bear Jones and Chris Balham only played 8 minutes.  We saw a nine man rotation tonight that may be similar to what Doc goes with once conference season rolls around.  Toney McCray was ice cold today from the field, but continued to play solid defense which was good to see from a young player.  His ability to alter shots is going to help the Huskers when they do not have a true post in the game.  Sek Henry, Ade Dagunduro and Toney McCray all have the ability to block shots with their length.  The way that NU plays a swarming defense once the ball gets in the post these players are able to help and make inside shots much tougher.  NU has yet to face an Alecs Maric type big man this year that will body up against defenders and be able to take on the double team and still score.  Alecs would probably score 40 against this team right now.

So far the Huskers have been able to minimize the damage done by other teams post players by forcing teams into uncomfortable situations.  They use the press to do a couple of things: first it helps the team create turnovers to get transition baskets, but even if there is no turnover caused it forces the other team to use a considerable amount of time to get the ball into their half court offense.  This prevents other teams from being able to just post up their big man and let him bang against our smaller players.  Also Doc has his players double teaming in the post all the time when the ball gets there and even some of the time before it does.  While in one on one coverage down low they have been mainly fronting the post and trying to deny with their hands.  With the pressure they have been applying to opposing guards it has made it difficult for teams to work the ball inside.

The majority of points that Conklin got tonight were on offensive rebounds and put backs.  These are going to be very difficult to stop, but the Husker team is tenacious at rebounding giving everything they have.  The next game against Creighton is going to be very interesting.  They should be able to get the calls at home if they continue to be aggressive and keep driving to the hoop.  I think NU wins in a close hard fought game.

Go Big Red! - Corey

One Response to “Nebraska comes away with 71-54 victory over St. Louis”

1. Nebrasketball Says:
   November 26th, 2008 at 2:06 pm

   Good write-up!

   It’s nice to have Sek, Ade, and Harley clicking heading into the Creighton game.