Nebraska men’s basketball welcomes its second blue blood program to Pinnacle Bank Arena this season when No. 15 UCLA takes the court Saturday for a 1:10 p.m. CT tip.
The Huskers (10-2, 1-1 Big Ten) will take on the Bruins (11-2, 2-0 Big Ten) on FOX with Tim Brando and Nick Bahe on the call. Saturday’s game will also be carried on the Huskers Radio Network with Kent Pavelka and Jake Muhleisen on the call.
After winning the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic and their final nonconference game, the Huskers will restart Big Ten play when they host UCLA.
Top Defenses
UCLA and Nebraska both rank in the top 20 nationally in defensive efficiency. The Bruins are No. 4 and the Huskers No. 15.
“Their physical toughness is as good as anybody in the country, and when you look at their numbers defensively, it’s one through five,” Coach Fred Hoiberg said. “Those guys guard anybody. Their physicality, steal percentage — they’re number one in the nation and steal percentage. They’re going to be in gaps. We can’t play in a crowd, that’s going to be as important as anything in this game. If you do, they are going to take it from you.”
UCLA opponents have averaged just 58.7 points per game in their 13 games this season, and Nebraska is at 65.1 allowed in its 12 games this season.
The Bruins are the best in the country at forcing turnovers (26.6% of possessions) and most of those are non-steal turnovers. Their 13% non-steal turnover rate also ranks number one in the nation, according to KenPom. At the same time, Nebraska ranks 60th and 62nd in the same two categories defensively.
The Huskers offensively have allowed teams to turn them over on 17.3% of their possessions, which ranks 158th nationally. Their non-steal turnover rate is 9.2%, or 314th nationally.
“We have to clean it up if we want to win consistently in this league,” Hoiberg said. “We have to value possessions much better than what we’re doing right now and finish possessions better than what we’re doing right now. And UCLA is going to test us in both of those areas on Saturday afternoon. So we’ve got to get off to a good start as far as taking care of the ball.”
Nebraska has won five straight and the defense has played a major factor in the Huskers’ winning streak. They have held their last five opponents to an average of 56.2 points per game on 34% shooting while out-rebounding teams by 6.2. Nebraska is now in the top five in the Big Ten in both scoring defense and opponent field goal percentage (38.1%).
The Bruins are holding teams to 40% shooting and out-rebounding opponents by 3.6 per game.
Scouting UCLA
The Bruins last played on Saturday, defeating Gonzaga 65-62.
Oregon State transfer Tyler Bilodeau leads UCLA in scoring at 14.5 points per game and is second on the team in rebounding at 5.2 per game. Nebraska has some familiarity with Bilodeau, matching up against him when the Huskers played the Beavers last season in Sioux Falls.
“He’s playing with a ton of confidence,” Hoiberg said of Bilodeau. “They are putting him in a lot of good situations. They are pick-and-popping him with the floor flat, which is a tough cover, especially when they have quick guards like they do. And then they’re putting him on the mid-post and let him go to work with different types of isos. It’s tough. Those are hard covers. It’s the number one thing on your scouting report, is how are you going to cover a shooting five or a guy at the four when they slide him down and come in big.”
Oklahoma State transfer Eric Dailey Jr. is at 11.4 points per game while shooting 54.5% from the field and a team-best 48.4% from 3-point range.
Key Factors
The Bruins have won 10 of their last 11 games, with the only loss a 76-74 defeat to North Carolina in which they led by 14 in the second.
Nebraska has had just one game this season that has ended with a one-possession margin, their 77-74 loss to St. Mary’s in Sioux Falls on Nov. 17. Four of the Bruins’ last five games have been decided by three points or less.
If the game is close at the end, Nebraska will likely lean on the home crowd to pull through for a 20th straight home win, which would tie a school record.
Valuing possessions and not making unforced turnovers is something Nebraska has struggled with but overcome for the most part this season.
UCLA’s defense will force turnovers and the Huskers need to cut down on the unforced errors.
“If you turn it over, they turn it into dunks and layups and 3s on the other end,” Hoiberg said. “So we have to take care of the ball. We have to value possessions.”
The Huskers rank 68th in opponent 3-point percentage (30.3%), while UCLA is 44th at (29.6%). Keeping Connor Essegian free to get his shot off from deep and him not backing down from physicality will be key. Essegian’s six 3-pointers against Southern on Monday was the third time this season he had at least six triples in a game. He is the only player in the Big Ten with multiple games with at least six 3-pointers this season.
