Griesch's The Word (Jan. 27)

While sitting in a hotel room in Lubbock, Texas, I finally decided I should write a blog entry for the Blog Jam. Nebraska's success on the court has resulted in more work for me, and less time to try to make somewhat insignificant statistics seem significant.

However, I have a couple minutes today before going to the United Spirit Arena, so I thought I would share some really meaningful stats with you all.

In the most recent NCAA statistics (Jan. 24), Nebraska is showing well in some of the most important categories. First, lets start with won-loss percentage - you can't do much better than 1.000, where the Huskers are tied with Connecticut for the national lead as the country's only two remaining unbeatens.

OK - that was too easy.

The Huskers also rank second nationally in scoring margin (23.8 ppg), trailing only UConn's 39.3 ppg. I think maybe UConn should have to play 5-on-7 the rest of the way. Winning by 40 points per game just doesn't seem fair.

Nebraska ranks sixth nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense (25.2 percent). That's a great number and an extremely important category. It basically highlights NU's defensive aggressiveness in locking down and closing out on shooters.

Offensively, the Huskers rank 11th nationally in field-goal percentage, which is a measure of offensive efficiency, and 12th nationally in scoring offense (78.5 ppg). NU also ranks 13th nationally in rebound margin (+8.8 rpg), which illustrates the strength of Nebraska's inside game, and its commitment to finishing defensive possessions. If you can close out on three-point shooters and rebound, you are going to win a lot of basketball games. Those numbers have led to Nebraska's No. 18 national ranking in scoring defense (54.6 ppg).

Finally, the Huskers rank No. 20 nationally in three-point field goals made per game with 7.5. When you consider the strength of Nebraska's inside game with All-America caliber power forward Kelsey Griffin, and fellow forward Cory Montgomery, along with defensive stopper Catheryn Redmon, those shooting numbers from outside will cause headaches for opposing coaches throughout the Big 12 and the country.

Stats are just stats, but these numbers show that the Huskers are getting some big things and little things done on the way to their success this season.

In the Big 12, your only as good as your last game, and Nebraska's next game is just three hours away. Huskers will need to be at their best to beat Texas Tech in Lubbock.

Go Big Red!

Jeff