Rienk Mast had a great game in his second contest as a member of the Nebraska Cornhuskers and is now in very interesting company.
In fact, that the Bradley transfer is in such rarified company after his just second game with Nebraska Basketball makes a big statement on where the Huskers’ program has been.
The big man logged 20 points and 16 rebounds in the Nebrasketball 81-54 win over Florida A&M. It was the first time a Nebraska Cornhuskers player scored 20 and had 15 rebounds in the same game since Aleks Maric in 2008.
15 years.
Maric had an even better game back then, scoring 32 points and bringing down 16 boards against Missouri. Still, what Mast did on Thursday night hasn’t been done since that night.
His head coach, Fred Hoiberg certainly took notice of what Mast did against Florida A&M. It’s a follow up to a good Nebraska Basketball start against Lindenwood when he scored 13 points and pulled down 6 rebounds.
"“That’s pretty good company. Aleks Maric was a monster. Rienk was the guy that really got it going early for us. I thought our guys did a good job finding him. Josiah (Allick) was just a read on his part where he curled, Rienk’s guy was in the paint to pop him out for an open three after he just made one. I love to see that when guys make a shot and have a conscious effort of finding that guy the next time down. Rienk was phenomenal tonight. I thought he did rush a couple in the paint that he could have kicked out but overall yeah with 20 points and 16 rebounds in 27 minutes is a pretty darn good night.”"
Nebraska Cornhuskers meshing quickly
One of the things that has been a staple of the Fred Hoiberg era is that his teams have had lots of new faces every year. With Mast, Charlotte transfer Brice Williams and Josiah Allick to name a few, there are new faces on this crew too.
After the game, Williams talked about how long it usually takes for a team to mesh.
"“It varies between different teams but when you play together you start to learn each other’s tendencies: where you like the ball and what they’re good at. When you get out there on the court you just try to do what you’re good at. You don’t try to do too much or not enough. It will happen quick just because of the way we play is really very free-flowing. It’s not anybody being asked to do anything they can’t do. It will happen pretty fast once you get out there.”"
Keisei may be back soon
One of the really nice things about the Nebraska Cornhuskers’ 2-0 start with two blowouts is that they’ve done it without either Keisei Tominaga and Juwan Gary getting any minutes. That’s two starters that will be in the lineup at some point that haven’t been yet.
Mast and Hoiberg shed some light on when the pair might be back, saying that Tominaga could be back for the Huskers’ next game. Gary is expected to return to the Nebraska Cornhuskers starting lineup at some point next week.