I wish I were in Lincoln today.
It's snowing here in Iowa, but furthermore....the Huskers are offering a great deal today for the TCU matchup at the Devaney Center. Huskers.com is offering $5 tickets starting at 11:30am, which means a great chance for those tired of the football drama, to get out and see this years basketball team. Valentino's 4-Pack day....damn. Nothing I'd love better than hot pizza, popcorn, soda, and Husker basketball today.
We'll start the game thread season with this game, mainly because it's Nebraska's last real test before beginning Big 12 play on Jan. 8th. If you are snowed in, get your Husker radio streaming, or tune in on the tube and jump on the thread to share what you think of this years team.
Unfortunately, I'll be away today and unable to comment. Anyone who would like to step up today and post score updates would be greatly appreciated!
Quick recap:
Nebraska comes into this game with a record of 7-2, suffering losses to Vanderbilt and Davidson in the Puerto Rico Tipoff Tourney. Not a bad deal, as these are typically stronger teams in the more recent college basketball world. Lance Jeter has lived up to expectations of leading this team as the only real senior with experience. Jeter had a great game against Alcorn State on Wednesday, and his supporting cast has been there for him. (Although you can never tell who it will be)
Lance Jeter leads the Huskers with 10.9 ppg and 4.5 assists. Jeter's biggest x-factor has been his efficiency while running the Husker offense. With just 14 turnovers this season, Lance has a rough ratio of 3:1 - assist to turnovers. If Jeter can continue to spread the ball around to the many Husker scoring threats, we could see a much better offensive output than last season considering the deep Nebraska bench. Nothing to get too excited about quite yet however...if you followed Husker hoops last year, you probably remember that Nebraska went 12-3 to start the season. Right before all the wheels fell off.
TCU has dropped games to Rider, UMASS, and Northern Iowa..but have won 4 of the last 5 games. Looking at the TCU roster, the Huskers will have to temper the play of junior guard Ronnie Moss as well as point guard Hank Thomas. Moss (15ppg) and Thomas (9ppg) are leading a pretty potent offensive attack for the Frogs, who average 73 points per game this year.
Last season, Nebraska scored a season high 90 points in a win over the Horned Frogs. The Huskers have also snagged the last 2 games over TCU, and have won 5 of the last 6 meetings. So far this season, the two teams have shared opponents in USC and Jackson State. Both TCU and Nebraska came out on top in their respective matchups.
Look for a close game here, despite Nebraska averaging a 12 point victory over the last two meetings. TCU came out on top of Texas Tech after holding them to a 40% shooting night. If Nebraska cannot get it's shooters going, it could be tough to outscore the potent Frog offense. However, the incredibly balanced Huskers could prove to be hard to focus on for the TCU defense. Over the first 9 games, Nebraska has seen 7 different players lead the team in scoring. Doc could use a sparkling game out of his defense, and looking at how close these teams matchup, I think fans who fork over the petty cash to head to the game will get a good one to watch.
Scoring Average: Nebraska - 67.8ppg TCU 73.2ppg
Opponents Scoring Average: Nebraska - 56.7ppg TCU - 67.1ppg
Gametime: 1:07pm
Television: FS Midwest / ESPN FullCourt (channel 37 in Lincoln; channel 47 in Omaha; DirecTV channel 680; and Dish Network channel 447)
Radio: IMG Husker Sports Network (Matt Davidson and Kent Pavelka)
Internet Radio: Huskers.com
Internet Video: ESPN3.com
GO BIG RED!!