Nebraska Basketball battling two opponents in schedule and fatigue

Nebraska basketball certainly has their hands full.

Tuesday night’s game against Maryland was a tough one. It wasn’t like the Nebraska basketball team did not play hard, because they certainly did. However, you can see fatigue starting to really become a problem for the program.

It’s certainly understandable. They have played a total of three games in the past four days and are set to play another one on Wednesday night. This is not an easy schedule, but yet they continue to play and play hard. I certainly commend them for that. All things considered, there has been a noticeable improvement in how they have played, and they look like they want to be out on the court.

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On Tuesday, Nebraska at one point cut the lead to two points with just under six minutes to go. Heading into the five-minute mark, the two-point deficit was still there. However, Nebraska basketball just could not capitalize on it. Again, they fought hard and they played hard, but it just seemed like they ran out of gas.

I’m usually not one to make excuses, but the fatigue is certainly getting to them. I saw it even earlier in the first half. Short free throws, missed layups, and errant passes at times played a big role in the game. One thing I did notice that was a positive was their rotations defensively. I thought that, for the most part, they did a good job of rotating defensively and closing in on the Maryland shooters.

They did their best work in the post. They have done a much better job of contesting shots at the rim and making opposing big men work. They are getting their hands up and challenging shots in the paint. That is certainly great to see. In particular, I thought Eduardo Andre did a great job with that.

Nevertheless, they just could not finish the job. Fatigue is definitely becoming a major factor in how Nebraska basketball is playing. I’ll be interested to see if this is another problem on Wednesday night, the second night of a back-to-back set of games. It’s unfortunate, because it is going to be a theme throughout the rest of the season. With this condensed schedule, there will not be a ton of breaks.

This probably won’t be the last time we see fatigue. For the remainder of the Nebraska basketball schedule, it’s almost going to be like the Huskers are going to be playing against two opponents. Unfortunately, the one they can’t see is very hard to battle.