Nebraska Basketball: Huskers Defeat Mississippi Valley State 97 to 51

It wasn't even close.

Whatever hope the Delta Devils came with into the Pinnacle Bank Arena was gone in the first few minutes. Any tapes from last year they used to prepare would be useless. This is not last years team. For once, the Huskers not only played a solid defense, but also had a high scoring offense.

Last years team would have a hard time finding the basket most nights, but not this team. Four Huskers would end the game with double digits.

Three pointers, an area that was worked on heavily in the preseason, were probably the biggest highlights in the game. Nebraska went 10 of 22 from beyond the ark. This state is highlighted by 4 each from White and McVeigh. Hopefully these two will keep this hot streak into the season. It would be nice to have some long range shooters to rely upon as the season wears on.

As a team they shot 54.4% FG from the floor. The big leap was in the second half where they went from 48.3% to 60.7%. That's a fairly big jump as teams can come out of the locker room at half a little flat. Nothing seemed to slow these Huskers down as the game went on.

Defensively the Huskers kept the entire MVS team in single digits and shooting just 25.9% from the field. Nebraska is known as a defensive team and none of the young players made you feel like that this year should be any different. Webster, White, and Watson all lead the team with 2 steals a piece and Nick Fuller dominated the boards with 9 rebounds.

While the starters had their fun it is also nice to see so many from the bench contribute. A lot of the Huskers this year a young and that depth will help carry us through to when conference play starts in January.

Player Highlights

Andrew White III lead the way with 18 points, 2 blocked shots and 2 rebounds. Shavon Shields hand 13 points and 3 rebounds. Jack McVeigh had 15 points and 4 rebounds. Nick Fuller ended game with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Only Benny Parker and Johnny Trueblood were unable to find the basket.

The stats McVeigh and Fuller had off the bench will hopefully be replicated when the season picks up steam. While Mississippi Valley State is not exactly a world beater, this game at least showed that there has been progress with the team in the off season and chemistry is better than where it was left at the end of last year.

Next stop is....

Next game will be this Tuesday in Philadelphia, PA where the Huskers will take on #9 Villanova. This is a tough early season game against the returning Big East regular season and tournament champs. They return a bulk of their roster and should be a true indicator of where we are as a team.