Nebraska vs TCU RecapThe Nebraska Men’s basketball team travelled to Fort Worth, Texas on Wednesday to square off against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Behind another solid defensive performance and a balanced offense attack, Nebraska was able to hold of TCU for their first road win since the 1995-1996 season, 62-50.

The Nebraska victory was led by senior walk-on Paul Velander who netted 11 points. Velander, as usual, did most of his damage from behind the arc, going 3-for-7 from downtown. Senior Steve Harley and redshirt freshman Toney McCray each chipped in 9 points. Ryan Anderson, Toney McCray, and Ade Dagunduro combined for 18 rebounds in the win. TCU was led by 6’8” Forth Worth native Kevin Langford. Langford scored 19 points, 13 of which came from the charity stripe, and hauled in 6 boards. Talented swing-man Edvinas Ruzgas was held to just 6 points by the Nebraska defense.

Breakdown:

Nebraska’s offense continued to struggle for the 2nd straight game. Without a viable inside presence, scoring droughts will continue to happen. Teams that are geared like this, such as Tennessee the past few years, naturally go through this. The upside is that these teams can score a flurry of points in a hurry. The downside is that you’re not going not going to put away and breakdown teams as quickly as you would like. Get used to it. Every game against a formidable opponent will inevitably be a battle from now until the end of the season. That’s why Doc Sadler took these kids though “the hardest preseason workout he has ever had”. With a team like this it’s about being mentally tough. It’s about finishing. It’s about finding a way to win. When you don’t have that inside presence, it’s imperative that your team is extremely mentally tough.

Nebraska won the rebounding battle 31-30. I think our guards are rebounding at a high level so far this season. Dennis Rodman allegedly told a coach once, “Do you want me to box out or do you want me to rebound?” Rebounding is a mentality. You can coach and develop a player into a good fundamental rebounder. You can’t coach a player to be a great rebounder. A great rebounder has a totally different mentality. They don’t think about putting a body on someone, they attack the ball. While we don’t have any Dennis Rodmans on this team, we do have 3 players who attack the ball and are willing to battle anyone for that rebound. Those three players are Ade Dagunduro, Sek Henry, and Toney McCray. These guys have that natural instinct. You can’t put a price tag on that, at least not this season as we try to live without Aleks Maric. Players like Ryan Anderson, Steve Harley, and Cookie Miller have been built by Doc Sadler to be good rebounding guards. Rebounding will continue to be a struggle all season, but I give Doc Sadler major credit for coaching some of these kids up in that area and letting players like Ade, Sek, and Toney use their instincts and aggression.

Nebraska was the best defensive team in the Big 12 last year. They have shown why so far this year. They have had a few breakdowns here and there, but they are getting out in passing lanes, causing pressure, creating turnovers, and playing great on-the-ball defense. Tonight, TCU only went 10-of-37 from the field and 3-of-19 from behind the arc. Some of that was poor shooting and shot selection by TCU, but most of it was Nebraska’s defense. TCU had some pretty good ball-handlers out there and the Huskers still forced 14 turnovers on the road. Luckily for us, our offense isn’t going to have to score a ton of points for us to win our fair share of ball games this season.

Paul Velander. Is he the best walk-on in Nebraska basketball history? Just broke out my Magic 8 Ball: It Is Decidedly So. This guy means so much to this program. Paul Velander is not the fastest guy in the world, nor is he the most athletic. All this kid does is bust his ass every day in practice and gives us 110% effort in every game. He doesn’t do it for the scholarship money, he does it for his team, his fans, his state. Paul’s senior day will be coming up later this season. Let’s thank him for his service. Let’s fill the Bob with 14k+ and give him the thanks he deserves! Here’s what I’m thinking: Let’s make up red shirts with Paul’s face on the front doing the “Blue Steel” Zoolander pose on it. On the back we can put, “Paul Velander Center For Children Who Can’t Jump Good”. Let’s rock the Bob 14k+ strong in these shirts! How awesome would that be? Paul Velander is a great player, a great student, and symbolizes everything a Husker should be! We love you Paul!

Grant 


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2 Comments | Write Comment

2 Responses to “Nebraska Beats TCU”

  1. Cliff Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 5:39 pm

    Good win for the Huskers on the road. I agree with what Doc had to say: “Any win on the road is a good win.” Hopefully their style of play on defense doesn’t always put the opposing team at the free throw line that much.

  2. Grant Says:
    November 21st, 2008 at 8:44 pm

    For a Husker bye week, there are a lot of good football games to be thankful for…of course it is almost Thanksgiving. At the very least it will help us get bye until the Colorado game.

    I’m taking Texas Tech. Don’t ask me why because I have no idea. It’s just a feeling. Convensional wisdom says Oklahoma will win this game. They are like 39-2 (or something crazy like that) under Bob Stoops at home. Both their offense and defense is a little better than Tech’s. I don’t know why I’m doing it, it’s just a feeling. Call it the Crabtree Factor.

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