A Rare Opportunity for Big Red Basketball: A Big 12 Doubleheader at the Devaney

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Cancel those lunch and dinner plans for Saturday. Forget about shopping, a movie or even lounging around watching something you don't care about. Why waste a perfectly good snowless day?

Here's an idea. Clear your calendar and head straight to the Bob Devaney Sports Center for one rare opportunity: A Nebraska basketball, Big 12 Conference season-opening doubleheader.

Saturday, Antelope Creek Parkway's busiest intersection will be Nebraska's version of Times Square on New Year's Eve ... the defending Big 12 champion Nebraska women hosting 2010 Final Four qualifier and current top 20 team Oklahoma at 2:05 p.m. and then, less than five hours later, the Husker men tipping off at 7 p.m. for their final Big 12 season against Iowa State.

Talk about doubling your pleasure. Buy a men's ticket and get in free for the women's matinee.

Remember, Nebraska's women averaged more than 11,300 fans a game last season in the Big 12, so their loyal followers are used to buying  conference tickets online.

If you've never spent a full Saturday at the Devaney, now's the time. Sorry to sound like it's rush week, but join the "N" crowd, think ahead, arrive early for both games and bring some extra cash for the dogs, Runzas, pizzas and Pepsis.

You're going to need a full-meal for this double deal.

Two Great Matchups: Yori vs, Coale; Sadler vs, Hoiberg

If we were televising this doubleheader, we would focus on the coaching matchups.                  

It's Nebraska's Connie Yori, who won five major 2010 National Coach of the Year awards, matching strategy with Oklahoma's Sherri Coale, who guided her program into a national championship game eight years ago. Believe it or not, in 1990, the Sooners had dropped women's basketball from its athletic program because the sport was not financially viable and was averaging only 65 fans a game. Now, OU has been to back-to-back Final Fours and won three of the last five Big 12 regular-season titles. Saturday, you will see the 2009 champion Sooners battling the Husker team that supplanted them as 2010 champions.

Yori vs, Coale should change anyone's Saturday afternoon plans, and the nightcap is equally compelling, matching Nebraska's Doc Sadler against Iowa State's Fred Hoiberg. Yes, the 12-2 Huskers are hot, and the 13-2 Cyclones already have won road games at Iowa and Virginia.

Both matchups have multiple story lines.

Last season, Nebraska's Lindsey Moore was the first freshman point guard in NCAA history to lead her team to an unbeaten regular season. OU point guard Danielle Robinson was a first-team All-American last year. Want more? Oklahoma and Nebraska are two of the best three-point shooting teams in the nation. They shoot more threes than any other team in the Big 12, and they have combined to make an average of more than 16 threes a game, so look for missiles from long range in this one. With two rock-solid point guards and some of the nation's best shooters, the OU-NU game just might turn into an old-fashioned shootout.

If that doesn't wear you out, don't plan on leaving your seats in the nightcap either. Nebraska is riding the school's longest winning streak in 16 years and has one of the nation's top two defensive teams. Hoiberg, it should be noted, was born in Lincoln and became so popular in his hometown of Ames that someone launched a write-in voting campaign to elect him mayor 18 years ago.

"The Mayor" made 183 three-point baskets in his four years at Iowa State and 373 three-pointers in his 10 years in the NBA. Hoiberg may be a Cyclone, but he has great respect for Nebraska, and vice versa. His grandfather, Jerry Bush, was once the Huskers' head basketball coach, and Tom Osborne, NU's athletic director, once offered Hoiberg a football scholarship.

Don't be surprised if several hundreds of ISU fans, including about 30 Hoiberg family members, show up to support the Mayor at the Devaney. It is, after all, the last conference game between the two longtime rivals in Lincoln.

Doc Hopes Devaney's House Will Be Rocking Saturday Night

Doc says he's looking for that proverbial "sixth man" so be sure to bring some friends to help his scrappy defenders rattle a Cyclone team that casts threes just like their coach once did. By my count, the Cyclones rank among the nation's top 10 teams in three-point field goals made, averaging 8.9 conversions a game.

This matchup might become the basketball version of irresistible force against immovable object. Iowa State averages 77.7 points a game, and Nebraska only gives up an average of 52.9. Somehow, someway, something has to give.

The Huskers love to put the brakes on fast-moving teams, so why not begin live from Lincoln on Saturday night? With road games at Missouri and Kansas immediately following the men's conference home opener, there's a certain pressure on a stingy defense that has held four consecutive opponents under 50 points and therefore entitling everyone with game tickets to receive free Runzas or hamburgers.

Defense, in fact, could be rugged and equally pivotal in both conference openers because Yori and Sadler base the personalities of their teams on how well they can handcuff every player their Huskers guard. If they weren't head coaches, Yori and Sadler would make great defensive coordinators.

So fasten your seatbelts and look to see how Nebraska's men and women string electric fences around the key and knock their Big 12 visitors out of their respective game plans.

Don't worry. If defense dominates the action in both games, you can watch exciting halftime shows to get your offensive kicks. Air Elite is bringing its acrobatic entertainment shows from NBA and college arenas across the country and into the Devaney Center, so brace yourself for high-flying athletes that launch themselves from trampolines, fly like Supermen and explode over baskets like Dr. J on the Fourth of July.

That's why the opportunity to watch both games on the same day in the same venue is a slam dunk-of-a-deal. Let me know where else you can get two admissions for the price of one.

So what's the most important point in all this ultra-promotion?

Glad you asked. With defense the theme and flying dunks the entertainment, the action - as always -- will be triggered and then controlled like most competitive basketball games - by the point guards.

Nebraska, we believe, has two of the best in the Big 12 in 5-9 sophomore Moore for the women, and 6-3 senior Lance Jeter for the men. Both certainly have the profiles that any program in the country would be proud to promote.

Lindsey Moore Was Freshman Catalyst for Record Team

Moore was one of those rare athletes who could step from high school to Division I competition without batting an eye or missing a step. All the 2009 Washington High School Player-of- the-Year and third-team Parade All-American did last year was start a record 34 consecutive games, lead her team to a 16-0 Big 12 record, a 32-2 overall record and a top eight finish in both major national polls.

The sophomore Communications Studies major can do it all. Last season, she had an 18-point game against Iowa State, an 8-rebound game against Oklahoma State, an 11-assist game against UCLA and a four-steal game against Texas A&M. Oh yes, she also blocked six shots for good measure.

A classic floor leader, excellent passer and outstanding decision-maker, Moore considers Jason Kidd her idol. She's quiet and unflappable on the court, but bold enough to put on a basketball clinic in Mexico. How does Nebraska's point guard and member of the 2010 Big 12 All-Freshman Team relax? By watching such movies as "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" or "What Happens in Vegas". As someone who brings a serious look into every game, who would ever have guessed something like that?

There is one more good reason why you should take the time Saturday afternoon to watch Lindsey Moore lead a young, but improving team. Last Sunday, the Covington, Wash., native became the first Nebraska men's or women's basketball player in history to accomplish the rare triple-double feat.

That's right. She scored 12 points, had 11 assists and snagged 10 rebounds in the Huskers' 73-57 win over Florida A&M and captured her career-first Big 12 Player-of-the-Week award.

Lance Jeter Started College Career as Wide Receiver

If you've never seen Jeter play basketball, he's worth the price of admission. Watch him weave in and out of physical traffic, truncated legs and hacking hands, and you'd swear he's a wide receiver. And you would be right about that. A native of Beaver Falls, Pa., the hometown of legendary New York Jet quarterback Joe Namath, Jeter was a two-sport star in high school and a first-team all-state selection in both football and basketball.

One of the top five football recruits in Western Pennsylvania, Jeter caught 50 passes for 810 yards and 15 touchdowns as a high school senior and accepted a football scholarship at Cincinnati, where he redshirted one season before changing his mind and giving college basketball a try.

Jeter certainly has the right bloodlines. His mother, Joy, was a three-time Kodak NCAA Division II All-American and led the University of New Haven to a national basketball championship en route to being named the Most Valuable Player in the Final Four. She finished her college career with 2,299 points and 1,486 rebounds.

In high school, Jeter's mother led Beaver Falls to 114 wins in 124 games and one state championship.

In four years as a starter for his Beaver Falls High School team, Lance scored 2,243 career points and led his teams to 102 wins in 121 games, including one state championship.

A Sociology major on track to graduate this summer, Jeter knew he needed seasoning to become a Division I player, so he spent two productive seasons as the point guard at Polk (Fla.) Community College. He led Polk to a pair of regular-season conference championships before Sadler spotted him and envisioned Jeter leading the Huskers up and down the floor.

"Lance played with four freshmen last year and did a great job," Sadler said. "I have great comfort with his ability to take on any challenge, and it helps to have more experience around him."

Last year, Jeter was one of only two Huskers to start all 33 games and proved to be one of the Big 12's top junior college transfers. Sportswriters voted him to the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team, but Sadler is looking for even more leadership and a greater physical presence from Jeter in his Husker curtain call.

Jeter can slice, dice, distribute and lead. Saturday night, for Nebraska to beat Iowa State, he'll have to play a little bit like Niles Paul on offense and a little bit like Prince Amukamara on defense. In other words, he'll have to turn on the jets on offense and be in shutdown mode at the Cyclones' point of attack.

Talent, of course, is required and versatility a major bonus.

Now that you know his background, don't for one second doubt that Jeter can pull off the daily double in a Saturday doubleheader that you simply do not want to miss. 

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Voices from Husker Nation

You sold me on the doubleheader. I've been thinking about how important the Iowa State game is for Doc and the Huskers, but I'm changing my plans and going to both games Saturday. Sounds like they're both critical. I'm excited! Dan Johnson, Lincoln, Nebraska

I will attend both games Saturday and expecting to see two wins. Go Big Red! Diane Miller, Lincoln, Nebraska

Throughout last season, my brother and I kept saying how Lance Jeter looked like a football player. Little did we know that he was a Division I scholarship player. He's a tough hombre and someone you have to respect every time down the flooor. Good article. Scott Jones, Omaha, Nebraska    

We became Nebraska women's basketball fans last year, and now we're hooked. Love Lindsey Moore and can't believe she has three years left to play. Should be exciting. Amy White, Lincoln, Nebraska