So, Nebraska is undefeated in conference play and tied for the Big 12 lead. Yes!
Just had to say it while I can.
Nebraska hits the road tonight, and I'll be stuck at work for the first half. Bummer. And although I may be spared watching it, I will be listening as much as possible and posting scores.
Missouri welcomes the Huskers to Columbia one last time for a hoops contest, and currently the Tigers are ranked 12/15 in the national polls. The upside is that Colorado beat 'em down pretty good, so maybe the pre-season rankings weren't as accurate, and therefore offer some hope that Nebraska can extend it's 11-game winning streak.
Some quick hits after the jump, and as always....I appreciate those who can post updates/scores for the rest of us!
Nebraska 13-2 @ Missouri 14-2
Monday night was a good start to conference basketball in Lincoln. The 63-62 win gave the Huskers it's first conference win of the season, something that didn't happen until Jan 30th last year. The second half got a bit ugly, but there were a couple of new things happening versus ISU that may need to be pointed out to anyone who didn't watch last year.
- Chemistry, energy, synergy....whatever you want to call it. There is a different feel to this season's team. I chalk it up to Standhardinger and a few others who have left the team since last November. It's like something that gets stuck in the gears, and then finally get's pulled out. The machine seems to be running with a silkiness this year, something that we couldn't fix in 2009-10.
-Bench production. The Huskers are getting almost half of it's offensive output from bench players. Last season, if Ryan Anderson and Sek Henry couldn't score, we fizzled. The Missouri game last year was a great example of that, where the team relied on Anderson to score us into a chance to win. Didn't happen. This year it looks like we've got about 6-7 guys who can score if given the ball. That's tough to defend.
-Turnovers killed us last season. I can't recall exactly how many, but there were at least a handful of games that we would have won had it not been for dumb turnovers. We've been a little better with the ball this year. Against ISU, the Huskers lost it just 8 times...which is good when talking about basketball. Football? Not really...
The Huskers have picked up a few votes in the polls, something that hasn't happened in years. We've also matched our best start to a season since the early 90s, which was a pretty darn good time for Husker basketball.
Not holding my breath, and to be honest I'm just expecting to be 1-2 in the conference when we host Colorado next week. Mizzou is a good team, and about the only thing going in our favor in this game is the fact that Doc Sadler has given Mike Anderson fits in Columbia in his 5 years as Nebraska's coach.
Here's to hoping we are riding a 12 game win streak into Lawrence on Saturday.
Tipoff: 6pm
Location: Columbia, MO
Television: Fox Sports Midwest, ESPN Fullcourt/ESPN3
Radio: IMG Husker Sports Network - Kent Pavelka and Matt Davison
Internet Stats: Huskers.com
GO BIG RED!