Nebraska men’s basketball improved to 3-0 on the season with an 86-60 home win over Fairleigh Dickinson Wednesday night.
The Huskers reduced their turnovers from the previous two games. They had 20 assists on 28 field goals and only committed eight turnovers after coming into the game with a 0.73 assist-to-turnover rate.
Here are four takeaways from the game.
Bench Jump Start
Nebraska outscored FDU 29-5 in bench points and everyone that was available contributed to the box score. Sam Hoiberg was a plus-22 in his 23 minutes, contributing five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
When Ahron Ulis checked in, he got downhill and scored all four of his baskets at the rim, which opened up the offense. Nebraska outscored the Knights 40-28 in the paint.
Redshirt sophomore Cale Jacobsen provided an instant spark off the bench at the 5:04 mark of the first half. He checked in for Juwan Gary and played the five with a lineup of Rollie Worster, Hoiberg, Connor Essegian and Brice Williams.
In his five minutes, he had four rebounds, two assists, one steal and made his one field goal on a breakaway layup after his steal.
“Cale Jacobsen, I thought, was terrific,” Coach Fred Hoiberg said. “I thought he gave us a really good boost there to finish off that first half and then push the lead up to 20.”
Small Lineup
Nebraska held Braxton Meah out of the game with what Fred Hoiberg called an ankle injury. The 7-foot-1 center started in each of the first two games.
In his absence, Nebraska started what Hoiberg said is a lineup he likes a lot with Berke Büyüktuncel at the five with Worster, Essegian, Williams and Gary. Frankly, it is a lineup that should give them some more shooting and versatility offensively.
At one point in the first half, Gary was playing the five until Jacobsen checked in, giving Nebraska a couple of lineups featuring Williams or Gavin Griffiths (both listed at 6-foot-7) as the tallest Husker on the floor.
Juwan Gary Doing What It Takes
Gary is one of two stars for this team returning from last season. With Williams struggling to score to start the season, Gary has stepped up in a big way. Wednesday night, he had a team-high 19 points, five assists and two blocked shots, shooting 5-9 from the field and 2-5 from deep.
“He’s just such a good glue guy,” Hoiberg said. “It’s fun to see him getting back to what makes him special. The five assists, I love that out of Juwan and that shows that he played under control. He had a couple of nice finishes, got to the free throw line, hit a couple of 3s.”
Poor Shooting Continues From Distance
The Huskers once again started the game shooting poorly, missing their first four field goals, including two 3-point attempts. Their first make of the game came on a Büyüktuncel put-back at the 4:24 mark of the first half.
From a distance, they missed their first six attempts, and the first make of the game came on an Essegian shot at the 6:59 mark of the first half.
Including the exhibition win over Grand Valley State, the Huskers have made just 23 of their 91 attempts for a 25.3% clip.
In the post-game press conference, Hoiberg said, “I promise you guys at some point we’re going to take the lid off that basket, and when we do, it’s going to be fun.”
Luckily, this team has proven it can make its free throws, going 14-for-17 in the first half and finishing the game 23-of-28 from the charity stripe.
It better start soon because the nonconference schedule doesn’t get any lighter with the team’s two toughest games coming up next — a neutral site game against St. Mary’s in Sioux Falls on Sunday and a visit to No.14 Creighton a week from Friday.
Tipoff for Sunday’s game at the Sanford Pentagon in South Dakota is set for noon CT.
