A shorthanded Nebraska men’s basketball team opened the season on Sunday evening with an 84-53 exhibition win over NAIA Doane. The biggest story isn’t the win but Keisei Tominaga and his injured ankle.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Tominaga’s Ankle
The first seven minutes and 29 seconds is all Keisei Tominaga played in the game.
“We’ll know a lot more in the morning with Keisei,” Coach Fred Hoiberg said. “The ankle did swell up after he twisted it. Hopefully, he will recover quickly from it. He’s obviously a very important part of what we do, especially on the offensive end.”
Hoiberg went on to say Tominaga doesn’t have a history of sprained ankles and he will get a day off tomorrow and will get multiple treatments on Tuesday.
The hope is he recovers quickly, especially considering the team finished the game with six available scholarship players.
If Tominaga has to miss a few games, Nebraska might be fine; if it’s an extended period of time, that obviously changes things dramatically.
It’s far too early to tell if the twisted ankle is worse than just a sprain, a high-ankle sprain or something worse. I did see him leaving the arena with a boot on his left foot.
Even after the Rienk Mast news, Josiah Allick’s knee, Juwan Gary’s suspension, Ramel Lloyd Jr. recovering from a tweaked knee in the first practice of the season and Matar Diop who was ruled out Sunday morning due to illness, the team won handily with the six remaining scholarship players.
Freshman Shows Out
If Eli Rice was pushing for playing time before the exhibition, well he may have just earned more.
“He’s just a natural born scorer. He never plays without confidence,” Hoiberg said of Rice. “He led our team in scoring in Spain. He came in right away and hit two 3s for us so we can always expect that from him.”
Rice had a game-high 18 points while shooting 50% (7-14) from the field. Rice is clearly another piece that can stretch the floor, shooting 3-of-7 from deep.
Depending on the severity of Tominaga’s ankle injury, Rice’s ability to make shots from distance could be exactly what Nebraska needs on the offensive end. Defense and understanding what the Huskers want to do is maybe his biggest adjustment, like all freshmen.
Defensive Effort
Nebraska held Doane to 33% from the field and 5-of-17 from 3-point range. That will win you a lot of games, even against better opponents.
If this team can force 16 turnovers on a consistent basis that will be just what the doctor ordered.
Jamaques Lawrence playing the point adds some length, specifically on the defensive end. When his defensive pressure turned up, Nebraska started to pull away even more than the 11-point (38-27) lead at the half.
“I thought his defensive pressure in the second half, it starts with him,” Hoiberg said. “You always know you’re going to get a good effort on the defensive end.”
