Nebraska Basketball: View from the Cheap Seats

Another game, another loss for the Nebraska basketball team. Tim Miles’ bunch traveled to snowy Iowa City to battle the Hawkeyes in the Big 10 road opener for NU. Sadly, the Huskers dropped their second consecutive game by the score of 70-59.

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I said in the keys to the game that the Huskers had to keep the game in the sixties for them to have a chance. It’s no coincidence that Iowa got 70 and NU failed to hit the 60 mark for the fifth time this season.

The Huskers struggled with foul trouble, especially in the first half which contributed to a free throw disparity of 38-21 in Iowa’s favor. Iowa hit 31 of their attempts while conversely Nebraska hit just 13. It’s not a stretch to say that the charity stripe helped decide the game in a major way.
Knowing that fouls were an issue, how else did the game look from the cheap seats?

– Bench production continues to be an issue for Nebraska basketball. Take a look at the stats: Tarin Smith and Nick Fuller combined for eight points in 28 total minutes. Conversely Iowa’s bench totaled 27 points including 18 from reserve big man Gabriel Olaseni. Nebraska doesn’t have the luxury of being able to roll out bigs who can contribute from the bench at this time due to injury and honestly, between Abraham and Smith, neither of them will provide much of an offensive spark when they do return.

Dec 13, 2014; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Walter Pitchford (35) and Cincinnati Bearcats guard Troy Caupain (10) fight for the rebound in the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska won 56-55. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

– Speaking of big men off the bench, Tim Miles gave freshman Jake Hammond three minutes of game action and in that three minutes he committed three fouls and had one block. No points were scored. I know the young man is a freshman, but if you’re going to give him game time you’d expect at least a little production.

– I don’t want to belabor the point, but the officiating was questionable at best in this game. I can’t say Nebraska hasn’t been guilty of lazy defending, but there were many calls that I would consider pretty bad.

Dec 31, 2014; Lincoln, NE, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Tim Miles signals against the Indiana Hoosiers at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

– The lack of assists and ball movement in general continues to astound me. The Huskers had five total assists and no player had more than one assist. On the other hand, Iowa had 11 assists including six from point guard Mike Gessell. Nebraska’s starting point guard, Benny Parker, had zero.

– It’s hard to watch this team from beyond the three point line. Only one player seems to shoot with any confidence (Petteway) and even then he’s a streaky shooter. Against UI the team shot two for 14 from three point land, one each of Petteway and Pitchford. It goes without saying, but for this team to have success they need to hit open shots. They have gotten plenty of opportunity, but when will they start falling?

Huskers back in action Thursday night. Tumble & Rumble (gymnasts & wrestlers) Friday night. GO BIG RED!!

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Nebraska Basketball: View from the Cheap Seats – Iowa Edition

By Andrew Bienka | Jan 6, 2015