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Nebraska Basketball: Yvan Ouedraogo is showing improvement

By Danny Jaillet

PISCATAWAY, NJ - JANUARY 25: Yvan Ouedraogo #24 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in action against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during a college basketball game at Rutgers Athletic Center on January 25, 2020 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PISCATAWAY, NJ - JANUARY 25: Yvan Ouedraogo #24 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers in action against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights during a college basketball game at Rutgers Athletic Center on January 25, 2020 in Piscataway, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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Ouedraogo is showing improvement for Nebraska Basketball.

Nebraska basketball lost another tough game at the hands of Wisconsin by an 81-64 margin. However, there were some bright spots to take away from this game. It’s important to reflect on what goes right over the course of this rebuild. Saturday, the play of Yvan Ouedraogo was definitely noticeable.

He looked extremely comfortable in this game, and he was attacking the basket. In 19 minutes of play, he recorded 10 rebounds and eight points. Although those are not astronomical numbers, he definitely attacked the basket more on Saturday. He looked comfortable within the offense, and asserted himself against defenders on rebounds.

That was perhaps the most noticeable thing from his performance on Saturday. He looked comfortable and he began to use his size to his advantage. Other times this season, he has seemed a little timid and tentative. That’s not entirely his fault, as this is a new environment and new offensive and defensive system. However, he didn’t look like he wanted to be the aggressor when it came to protecting the paint. Saturday, it certainly was a different story.

In multiple instances, I saw him keep rebounds and possessions alive from just simply tipping the basketball out to the player on the point. That was encouraging to see, as he never gave up on a play.  it was different from earlier in the year when he would stand around waiting for a play to happen. To me, that signified growth and development on his part. Particularly in a rebuild, growth from a 17-year-old freshman is crucial for the team moving forward. Especially when Ouedraogo is probably going to be the main big man for the program, it’s important that he uses his freshman season to get acclimated and feel things out.

Even in a loss, I would say encouraged by what I saw from Ouedraogo. It may not have amounted to much in terms of the end result, but it did show me that he is starting to figure out his game and how it fits into this system. In the long run, he should be held to be a very productive player. Right now, it’s all about working out the kinks of his game.

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