Huskers vs. UNO Game #1

Huskers 70
UNO 65

Review: An ugly, ugly game from both teams. 20 turnovers a side, sloppy passing, terrible foul shooting and a quick "curb your enthusiam alert" to Husker fans. NU shot 39% from the field against an undersized Mavs team. NU pounded the Mavs on the boards 53-38, but were able to turn few of the 16 offensive rebounds they corralled into points. The Mavs got within one late with a wide open look at a three to take the lead, but it rimmed out.

What I Didn't Like: Freshman mistakes on numerous fastbreak opps. Marcus Walker made some nice passes, but a few times he was hampered by indecision. Hopefully that can be corrected. Wes Wilkinson: Wes, you've got to shoot the ball when you're open, and knock down those two throws with a minute left, you're a senior buddy, step up. BJ Walker, looked slow, went 1-10, but could be a bruiser and showed a few nice post moves. Team Defense, wow, I hope we never see that trapping defense ever again. What the whole point of that to leave UNO players wide open all over the court? Because mission accomplished if it was. JD's free throws, this horse rode out of town a long time ago. Would have liked to see Balham and Marks.

What I liked: Ummmm....not much. Rebounding was solid, Maric and JD were all over the glass. Maric, Walker, and Wes all took some good shots that will normally go down. Did a nice job breaking the press (Remember Iowa St. last year?) White looked smooth and Walker looked explosive, just didn't result in points.

Diagnosis: My friends assure me that it's not time to panic, but what I saw looks like it will take a long time to fix. Hopefully our cupcake schedule can get us some wins and experience. Perhaps a healthy Chuck III will mean a cut in the TO's and more fast break conversions. For now I will take a deep breath and try to forget about this one, but upper half Big XII teams don't beat D II teams by 5.

PS. A very nice effort by UNO, here's to the Mavs being the best team in Omaha.

JT (I know just how these guys feel)