IUFLA Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 (edited) When: Wednesday, January 3rd 9 PM EST Where: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln Nebraska TV: BTN Our Hoosiers invade Pinnacle Bank Arena to start the New Year and enter into the heart of conference play. The Huskers ( 11-2 1-1 in the Big 10 and #57 in Kenpom rankings) are led by 5th year coach Fred Hoiberg (51-85 at Nebraska 166-141 overall) and are currently riding a 4 game winning streak. The Huskers are led in scoring by 4 kids right around the 13 ppg mark... 6'7 junior transfer (Charlotte) Brice Williams, 6'9 junior transfer (Bradley) Rienk Mast, 6'6 junior transfer (Alabama 2 years ago) Juwan Gary, and my favorite non-IU Big 10 player, 6'2 senior Keisei Tominaga. Mast, their only real presence inside, is questionable, after undergoing a minor knee procedure in late December. Last game, 6'8 senior transfer (Kansas City, New Mexico) Josiah Allick filled in Mast's spot. 6'3 junior Jamarques Lawrence mans the PG duties. Sharp shooting 6'5 junior CJ Wilcher (39% from 3) who torched us for 22 points in the Huskers' loss to IU at SSAH last year, comes off the bench along with Hoiberg's son, Sam a 6'0 sophomore, and 6'5 senior transfer (Ball State, Mizzou) and Indianapolis Cathedral alum Jarron Coleman. The Huskers are good in a lot of areas...Good defensive team (51st in DRtg) and a good rebounding team (22nd overall). They shoot a high volume of 3s (27 per game) but don't have a particularly high percentage (33%). Good FT shooting team who doesn't turn it over. Hopefully we have both Ware and XJ back, and the knee Mac was nursing is just a bruise. At full strength I think we have a good chance to steal one here. Mast is a pretty fair player (reminds me of Filip Rebracca of Iowa) and if he's out, it's a blow to their chances. Start guarding both Tominaga and Wilcher when they pass half court, because they will launch long shots, and if the get going, look out. Another road test for our young Hoosiers. Let's see a great effort and get one here... GO HOOSIERS! Edited December 31, 2023 by IUFLA 2 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 (edited) Should be a good barometer of where we stand. Be competitive on the road, and possibly even get a win, is something teh team can build on for a successful conference season. Lose by 15 and that's not a good sign for getting many more road victories in conference. If any key players are missing, I don't like our chances. Edited December 30, 2023 by 5fouls 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DWB Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 I'll be surprised if X & Ware are back at all. X has only had 1 partial day of contact practice according to Woody. If Ware has Covid, highly doubtful he's back at full strength for 2 weeks. Might see some spot minutes (if he tests negative). Don't know for sure if he has Covid, but another poster said he did. Haven't seen any confirmation from Woody, Ware or IU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyhoosier29 Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 The way Nebraska gets after it on D, this could be ugly. A very high efficient two point defense doesn’t bode well for us. Better be able to knock down perimeter shots and lock the perimeter down on the other end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCHoosier32 Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 3 hours ago, DWB said: I'll be surprised if X & Ware are back at all. X has only had 1 partial day of contact practice according to Woody. If Ware has Covid, highly doubtful he's back at full strength for 2 weeks. Might see some spot minutes (if he tests negative). Don't know for sure if he has Covid, but another poster said he did. Haven't seen any confirmation from Woody, Ware or IU. man, i would think an otherwise healthy college age kid would be okay to play by Weds if it's Covid. sure hope so! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyhoosier29 Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 1 hour ago, NCHoosier32 said: man, i would think an otherwise healthy college age kid would be okay to play by Weds if it's Covid. sure hope so! Seems like it, but also seems like an upset stomach keeps a kid out of our team for a couple weeks. Sarcasm obviously, but…. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IU Scott Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 1 hour ago, NCHoosier32 said: man, i would think an otherwise healthy college age kid would be okay to play by Weds if it's Covid. sure hope so! Depends how sick he is and what his symptoms are. I had it three times and each time the symptoms varied. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jv1972iu Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 4 hours ago, kyhoosier29 said: The way Nebraska gets after it on D, this could be ugly. A very high efficient two point defense doesn’t bode well for us. Better be able to knock down perimeter shots and lock the perimeter down on the other end. Where have we heard this before? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kdug Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 4 hours ago, kyhoosier29 said: The way Nebraska gets after it on D, this could be ugly. A very high efficient two point defense doesn’t bode well for us. Better be able to knock down perimeter shots and lock the perimeter down on the other end. In Nebraska’s 5 non-cupcake games, they’ve been mediocre on D. The only game they were good on D against a top 100 opponent was vs K State. They have good metrics on defense because they’ve had 4 games vs sub 300 ranked teams where they dominated - which to be fair, IU hasn’t been able to do. I think this game comes down to the other side of the ball. If we can just be close to average on defense, I think we’ll have a decent shot to pull it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drroogh Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 26 minutes ago, jv1972iu said: Where have we heard this before? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyhoosier29 Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 1 hour ago, Kdug said: In Nebraska’s 5 non-cupcake games, they’ve been mediocre on D. The only game they were good on D against a top 100 opponent was vs K State. They have good metrics on defense because they’ve had 4 games vs sub 300 ranked teams where they dominated - which to be fair, IU hasn’t been able to do. I think this game comes down to the other side of the ball. If we can just be close to average on defense, I think we’ll have a decent shot to pull it out. Guess we’ll see…. Highly disagree that we can just be “close to average on defense” to win on the road against anybody, let alone an improved Nebraska team. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyhoosier29 Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 2 hours ago, jv1972iu said: Where have we heard this before? Needs to improve if people want to stop hearing it. 🤷🏻♂️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Robby Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 I have a feeling we’re going to need elite performances in b10 road games to have a chance to win. Not give up 17 threes on 48% shooting, talk, etc. if we get XJ back, I think we have a better shot obviously, but we gotta defend at a high level 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kdug Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 46 minutes ago, kyhoosier29 said: Guess we’ll see…. Highly disagree that we can just be “close to average on defense” to win on the road against anybody, let alone an improved Nebraska team. Maybe average wasn’t the right word, I’m thinking if we play defense similar to how we did vs Michigan we’ll have a shot. IMO we’ve had 4 mediocre to bad defensive performances since then, with the only good defensive performance being vs Kansas. Our offense has been better than our defense during this stretch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
13th&Jackson Posted December 31, 2023 Report Share Posted December 31, 2023 Raphael Davis thinks this is a big early game. He thinks both are likely bubble teams and doesn’t think both get a bid. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5fouls Posted December 31, 2023 Report Share Posted December 31, 2023 12 hours ago, 13th&Jackson said: Raphael Davis thinks this is a big early game. He thinks both are likely bubble teams and doesn’t think both get a bid. Even if IU goes 28-3 and Nebraska wins the BTT. Damn. That's depressing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach1K Posted December 31, 2023 Report Share Posted December 31, 2023 Hotel I'm in doesn't get BTN. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted December 31, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2023 1 minute ago, Coach1K said: Hotel I'm in doesn't get BTN. Get the Fox Sports app...You can watch it on your computer... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parakeet Jones Posted December 31, 2023 Report Share Posted December 31, 2023 We’ve got to stack more wins than normal in the B1G to make the tournament. A road win against a pesky opponent would be huge in the getting wins department and building momentum. Let’s get this done. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGleas Posted December 31, 2023 Report Share Posted December 31, 2023 13 minutes ago, Parakeet Jones said: We’ve got to stack more wins than normal in the B1G to make the tournament. A road win against a pesky opponent would be huge in the getting wins department and building momentum. Let’s get this done. Yeah, with the metrics not being great so far, two road wins this early in the conference season would be huge! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted December 31, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2023 I think our big issue is who's going to cover Juwan Gary and Brice Williams... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parakeet Jones Posted December 31, 2023 Report Share Posted December 31, 2023 16 minutes ago, BGleas said: Yeah, with the metrics not being great so far, two road wins this early in the conference season would be huge! Let’s say 12-8 is what we have to get to, I don’t want to waste one of those eight losses on Nebraska. That’s why imo, this is a huge game. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGleas Posted December 31, 2023 Report Share Posted December 31, 2023 5 minutes ago, IUFLA said: I think our big issue is who's going to cover Juwan Gary and Brice Williams... I'm not too familiar with Nebraska. What type of players are those guys? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IUFLA Posted December 31, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2023 6 minutes ago, BGleas said: I'm not too familiar with Nebraska. What type of players are those guys? Both in the 6'7 range...Long and athletic...Gary is a really good defender and both can shoot it pretty well and take it to the basket... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGleas Posted December 31, 2023 Report Share Posted December 31, 2023 37 minutes ago, IUFLA said: Both in the 6'7 range...Long and athletic...Gary is a really good defender and both can shoot it pretty well and take it to the basket... Interesting. Seems like Nebraska has a lot of length. I'm sure he'll be rusty but would be good to have XJ back defensively. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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