Missouri Tigers (13-2, 0-0) at Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-3, 0-0)
Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, NE, 1 PM
TV: ESPN2; Radio: Husker Sports Network
Finally, nonconference play is over and the real schedule begns. Missouri, briefly ranked a few weeks ago, and owning wins over USC and Cal, comes to Lincoln to open Bigf XII play. After years of Tiger dominance in this series culminating in a 3-game sweep in 2004-05, the Huskers have dominated this series recently, going 6-2 against the Tigers the last three seasons.
This game is a massive contrast in styles. Missouri is one of the fastest-paced teams in the country, and have scored less than 75 points only twice (both their losses). Nebraska is one of the more deliberate teams, and no opponent has scored more than 65 against them. Both like to force turnovers, and both do a good job protecting the ball.
For Nebraska to win this game, they're going to need to control the tempo, attack the basket for easier buckets, and force more turnovers than they give up. Also, limiting Mizzou's offensive boards is going to be huge -- the Tigers are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, and average 10 more boards a game than Nebraska.
This matchup is actually quite interesting, and hard to predict. Ken Pomeroy's computers project an easy Missouri victory, while the Accuscore computers project a narrow Husker win. My instinct is to go with the home court and Doc Sadler's history against Mike Anderson, and predict a narrow Nebraska victory, 68-65.
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