Tough Defense and Never-Quit Attitude Define Season

A stifling defense and a never-give-up attitude that led to numerous close calls defined a season that culminated in a second consecutive postseason appearance for the 2008-09 Nebraska Cornhuskers. While the final result was not what they had set out to achieve nearly six months before, the Huskers still managed to gain respect throughout the Big 12 and the nation with a postseason appearance after winning 18 games ? including eight contests in league play ? with the shortest lineup in Division I basketball.

Nebraska’s goal every year is to reach the NCAA Tournament and win games in the postseason. The first part of that objective ? getting to the field of 65 ? was within reach as late as the final two weeks of the regular season.

The Huskers opened Big 12 play with a 5-3 record over the first half of the conference slate and still stood in fifth place in the standings at .500 (6-6) with four games to play. A pair of close losses ? by a combined six points ? to teams that went on to win games in the postseason put Nebraska two games below even with only two contests to play. But the Huskers, who showed tremendous determination and grit throughout the campaign, pulled it together in the last week, winning each of their last two contests to end the regular season at least .500 (8-8) in the league standings for only the third time in the Big 12 era.

For the Huskers, reaching .500 in the Big 12 ? the third-highest rated RPI conference in the country ? was one achievement to add to the Huskers’ growing list under third-year coach Doc Sadler. Included in Nebraska’s expanding resume with the energetic and personable coach on the sideline is back-to-back postseason appearances (the first in a decade), three straight seasons with at least 17 wins (a first to open the tenure of any NU head coach) and a reputation as having one of the toughest defenses in the nation.

That last highlight was the primary reason the Huskers were in nearly every game throughout the season. NU found itself fighting tightly contested games on a regular basis, leading to a 6-6 record in games decided by two possessions or less. While the offense sputtered at times without a go-to scorer, the Huskers compensated with a grind-it-out defense that led the Big 12 Conference for the second straight season in points allowed. Nebraska finished among the national top 25 in scoring defense for the second consecutive campaign under Sadler and was also among the national leaders in turnover margin, turnovers per game and steals.

Nebraska allowed just 60.4 points per game on the season, the second-fewest at NU in the last half century (since 1959). Even when the competition picked up during the rough and tumble Big 12 season, the Huskers were ready. Facing some of the biggest teams and the nation’s premier players on a nightly basis, Nebraska led the Big 12-only scoring chart at 62.4 ppg ? finishing as one of only two teams in the league that allowed less than 69 points per game.

With a newly acquired sense that it could compete with any team in the conference, Nebraska finished one game out of fourth place in the regular-season league standings. The Huskers’ eight Big 12 victories ? their most since 1998-99 ? came against a stacked league slate that included a conference-record nine postseason teams, including the Huskers who earned their 22nd all-time postseason invitation.