OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — For the second time in three seasons, Nebraska men’s basketball will tip off in the NCAA Tournament.
Thursday at 11:40 a.m. CT, the No. 4 seed Huskers will tip against No. 13 seed Troy at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
TruTV will televise the game with Brandon Gaudin, Chris Webber and Andy Katz on the call, while the Huskers Radio Network will carry the radio broadcast with Kent Pavelka and Jeff Smith over the air locally.
The is the first time Nebraska has made the NCAA Tournament twice in a three-year span since the program made four consecutive appearances 1991-1994.
“The opportunity to compete at this time of year, this is to me what it’s all about,” Fred Hoiberg said Wednesday in Oklahoma City. “Going all the way back to our early workouts in June when we put this group together, all the work that they put in with the strength coach, the early mornings, the ups and downs, the highs and lows that you go through over your journey, it’s all designed for this time of year.”
The relatively short drive, just over six hours from Lincoln and Omaha, to Oklahoma City is expected to bring a lot of Husker fans to fill the Arena. The crowd will clearly be pro Nebraska but the team will need to give the fans something to cheer for.
“It’s exciting, knowing that we’re going to have a lot of fans here,” Sam Hoiberg said. “It should be pretty similar to a home game for us, and that’s obviously a bit of an advantage, but we can’t rely on that. We’re going to have to show a product on the floor that’s going to get them into the game. We can’t just expect it to be an advantage because they’re here. We have to make it an advantage by playing the right way and executing and making sure they’re into it.”
Pressure is a Privilege
The gigantic elephant in the room is that the Huskers are the only Power Conference team in college basketball to not win an NCAA Tournament game.
Getting the first NCAA Tournament win in school history won’t be easy, but this Husker team has done things no other has done, from the top-five AP Poll rating in January to the 20-game win streak to start the season.
The Cornhuskers are leaning into the pressure of the opportunity in front of them. A win Thursday is something the Huskers have been building towards for years.
“Have I talked to our players about it? No, I haven’t,” Fred Hoiberg said. “They know. They see it. Is there a pressure that goes along with that? Of course, there is. As I’ve said to the team, pressure is a privilege. It’s what it’s all about, to go out there and do the things we’ve been doing all year. We’ve prepared the same for this game as we have for every game this season, with what we’ve gone out and tried to accomplish.”
Keys To the Game
Nebraska is the clear favorite in the game, but it likely won’t be easy. Troy plays similarly to Nebraska defensively, denying the middle pf the floor and getting deflections to turn into transition baskets.
Troy ranks 140th in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency at 110.7, a good rating for a mid-major program. Here is a full breakdown of Troy and the Trojans’ roster.
The Huskers rank seventh nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, 92.4.
The first key to the game is what it’s been for what feels like every game in the last month, offensive rebounding.
Troy is the 55th-best offensive rebounding team in the nation. Keeping the Trojans off the glass and limiting second-chance points is clearly going to be vital.
The second key is to win the 3-point battle. Both teams defend the 3-point line at a high rate. The Huskers are seventh nationally in 3-point defense, with opponents shooting just 29.9% on high volume.
The Trojans’ best metric defensively is limiting opponents 3-point makes. Troy is 43rd in the nation at giving up made 3-pointers, with opponents shooting 31.3%. If Nebraska can hold the Trojans to under its season average, 33.2% from distance, the Huskers should be in good shape.
Turnovers and points off of them is the third key. Nebraska didn’t do a good job of that Friday against Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament, giving up 17 in the loss to the Boilermakers.
