Nebraska moved to 3-0 on the season after defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff 67-53 Saturday afternoon at the Bob Davaney Sports Center.  The Huskers were led by guards Steve Harley and Sek Henry.  Harley finished with a game high 18 points while Henry helped the Husker cause by netting 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.  Brandon Richardson and Paul Velander continued their good play this season by chipping in 9 points a piece.  Arkansas-Pine Bluff was led by Lebaron Weathers and Gavin Montgomery who combined for 22 points in the loss.

Breakdown:

Nebraska struggled on defense in the first half allowing Arkansas-Pine Bluff to shoot 52.4% from the field.  There were a lot of easy baskets, especially in transition.  This Nebraska team doesn’t have enough offensive firepower yet to allow opposing teams to have those kinds of easy buckets.  Granted, they only scored 24 points in the first half, but against a better team that would have been a lot more.

In the second half, Nebraska was much better defensively.  Yes, Arkansas-Pine Bluff did score more points, but they did a much better job at challenging shots and creating turnovers.  I’m sure Doc Sadler is going to be drilling defense into their heads in the next few practices. Nebraska can not afford to let up on defense.  That’s the one thing that Nebraska can control at this point.  The fact that it wasn’t there for much of the first half was concerning.

Sek and Harley stepped up in this game.  Sek is going to do some big things this year, he’s improved a lot over the summer.  I have no doubt that Sek Henry is the most improved player on the team this year.  We really saw what Sek is capable of in this game.  He’s going to have many more games like this over the next two years.  It’s equally nice to see Harley get off for 18 points.  We are coming up on a stretch where we need both of these guys to play at a high level.  This is a good sign for the Huskers.

Unlike last year, foul trouble is not going to be a problem for this team.  We are so deep with guys who can play that our fouls will be so spread out that it won’t really even be a problem.  Although I gotta tell you, how does Alonzo Edwards get 4 fouls in 10 minutes?  Impressive.

Toney McCray was sick with a virus, which was the reason for his lack playing time and production.  Had he been able to give us 20-25 healthy minutes, Nebraska would have won by a lot more than just 14 points.  I’m really exited about Toney this year, he’s going to win some games for us.  However, he’s still a freshman, he’s going to be inconsistent at times.

Alonzo Edwards showed some potential.  You could really tell he was really nervous, which led to some mistakes.  He’s been practicing very well lately.  He just needs to log in more playing time.  He should get that after the next 2 games.


4 Comments | Write Comment

4 Responses to “Nebraska Defeats Arkansas-Pine Bluff”

  1. clbaker25 Says:

    Grant,

    What do you see as Edwards role once conference season starts?

    I think he will get 10-15 minutes a game then.

    Corey

  2. Nebrasketball Says:

    Yes, I agree with you Corey. His minutes will increase, especially when Bear takes his medical hardship. From what I have seen in practices, Alonzo strikes me as the type of guy who is very self-conscious and hard on himself. I believe that he is much more fragile mentally than the rest of our players. You’re not going to want to throw him to the wolves. Doc’s going to slowly wean him in.

    That said, when Big 12 play starts, it’s up to Alonzo. It isn’t the ACC, you’re going to get beat-up physically. Alonzo, believe it or not, does have a mean streak in him, that might actually be what he needs. Sometimes, those kind of players thrive in that enviornment because they aren’t constantly thinking about fundamentals and making mistakes. Instead they just play because they are always going to have some guy just beating on them, and all those things that have been beat into his head over the past 2 years just become 2nd nature. Then again, other times those kind of players can’t handle it. We will see I guess. But yeah, I’d say 10-15 minutes a game is probable come conference play.

  3. Nebrasketball Says:

    I’ll follow that up with this…

    If Alonzo comes out of his shell and can give us 10-15 quality minutes a game, our team will improve by leaps and bounds. He does’t even have to score a single point. All he has to do is be able to lock up with the opposing big, wear him down, and play good defense. Right now, if we were to go against a quality PF or C, we would get wiped on the boards. Having Balham and Edwards collaberating for for 25 minutes a game would really help us even out the boards. That would mean their big would be contested for over 1/2 the game, allowing our rebounding guards like Sek, Ade, & McCray MUCH better opportunities.

  4. clbaker25 Says:

    I agree that Edwards defense is key, but I think that offensively we are going to need to start working the ball down low. NU is going to get exposed tonight against St. Louis if they can’t work the ball inside. Rick Majerus is a very good coach and will have his team looking to make an upset against a team they they will have a severe height advantage over.

 
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