Nebraska men’s basketball will finish its two-game road trip to the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday night.
The Huskers (14-8, 4-7 Big Ten) will tip off at 9:30 p.m. CT with Washington (11-10, 2-8 Big Ten) on the Big Ten Network with Aaron Goldsmith and Bruce Weber on the call. The game will also be carried on the Huskers Radio Network with Kent Pavelka and Jake Muhleisen.
In the two-game win streak, Brice Williams has been the catalyst for the Huskers. The AP National Player of the Week, Williams averaged 27.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in helping Nebraska post wins over No. 18 Illinois and at No. 16 Oregon.
Numbers to Know
The Huskers still have a top-40 defense nationally. They are ranked 36th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency by KenPom.
In the last two games, Nebraska’s 3-point defense has improved from 206th (34.1%) in the country to 161st (33.1%). The Huskers held Illinois to just 10-of-42 from behind the arc and Oregon 5-of-20.
During the Huskers’ six-game losing skid, their opponents scored 47.1% (243 of 516) of their points from 3-point range.
It is another good matchup for one of Nebraska’s season-long defensive deficiencies as Washington scores just 32.4% of its points from 3-point range, good for just 243rd in the nation.
The Huskies rank 13th in the Big Ten in 3-point percentage (32.6%) for the entire season. In league play, Washington is tied for 16th with Nebraska in the conference with a 3-point field goal percentage of 29.7%. Nebraska is last in 3-point percentage allowed (38.3%) in conference play.
Scouting Washington
The Huskies are coming off just their second win in big Ten play, a 71-68 road victory at Minnesota on Saturday.
Danny Sprinkle is in his first season at the helm of Washington after coaching stints at Montana State and Utah State.
Senior forward Great Osobor, a Utah State transfer, leads the way for the Huskies. Last season’s Mountain West Player of the Year, he leads Washington in scoring (15.5 per game), rebounding (8.7 per game), assists (3.1 per game) and steals (2.1 per game). In his last five games, he is averaging 21.2 points. In conference play, Osobor is 13th in the conference in scoring at 16.4 points per game and eighth in reboudning at 8.1 per game.
Two other Huskies average double-figures in scoring. Tyler Harris is at 12.0 per game and is shooting 46.8% percent from 3-point range after a 23-point effort at Minnesota. Zoom Diallo is averaging 10.9 points and 2.9 assists per game.
As a team, Washington averages 66 points per game in league play, last in the Big Ten.
Key Factors
The Huskers have gotten off to good starts in the wins over Illinois and Oregon. They need to maintain it for a full 40 minutes. That is something they haven’t done consistently in the losing streak, and something Coach Fred Hoiberg has mentioned publicly numerous times in recent weeks.
Sunday against Oregon was an example of just that; outside of a nearly four-minute stretch, they controlled the game and could’ve built a 20-point lead by halftime.
Taking Washington out of the game early and cruising to a win should be the goal.
Washington isn’t a great shooting team from distance; what they are good at is getting Osobor downhill and drawing fouls. Keeping Juwan Gary or whoever is guarding him out of the paint will be a priority.
Finishing possessions has also been a focal point for the Huskers this season. Keeping one of the worst rebounding teams in the league off the glass while creating second-chance points of their own will be key. The Huskies rank 16th in the league with a minus-0.4 margin and are 207th in offensive rebounding percentage (29.2%). Osobor is third in the league with 2.8 offensive rebounds per game.
Nebraska ranks ninth in the Big Ten at 11.9 turnovers per game. That is an improvement from a week ago when the Huskers were 13th at 12.4 per game. Prior to Illinois, they ranked 12th in non-steal turnover percentage (8.4%) in league play; now they are sixth at 7.6%. If Nebraska doesn’t help Washington with live-ball turnovers, they should be just fine in the game as the Huskies rank 10th in the league (8%) in non-turnover steal percentage defensively.
