Nebraska basketball is sporting an unexpected hero this season
It was a Wednesday night to remember in Pinnacle Arena! While many were understandably caught up in the 28-point performance by Keisei Tominaga, it was another guard who was able to get himself going in the first half that resulted in the comfortable lead that was never relinquished.
Nebraska basketball veteran guard steps up
While the game was still close, Wilcher got it done on both ends for Nebraska. Between his defense and draining of threes, it looked for a moment that it would be him who would erupt for a 20 plus point evening.
C.J. Wilcher cam off of the bench and provided a crucial 14 minutes in what ended up being an 86-10 win over Indiana. Finishing with 11 points, it was his roughly five minute spark that ignited the Nebraska Basketball offense.
His hustle sequence of the night came off of a steal, that resulted in an offensive board off of the missed shot from Jamarques Lawrence, and his made three. He wasn't needed to put up the same numbers in the second half as Tominaga started to get hot shooting, but this is an encouraging sign for this team going forward.
Nebraska Basketball actual BIG contenders?
We have seen Fred Hoiberg coached teams look good in non-conference only to miss out on post-season national tournament play entirely. With the last tournament appearance being the NIT in 2019, this group appears to be in something of a must win season.
Success for this team would be finishing comfortably in the top half of the Big Ten regular season, going on a run in the conference tournament, and making a March Madness appearance. But what was an earlier discouraging sign was the lopsided loss to Creighton, and a second half giveaway to Minnesota.
With players like Wilcher stepping up and showing that they can carry the offensive scoring, while others look to get their offense going, nights like this will be needed if Nebraska Basketball will accomplish their goals this season. The big test against Wisconsin will give fans a better picture if the Nebraska basketball team will be able to compete in the BIG this year or not.