Going Deep: Huskers, Defense Travel to St. John's

St. John’s boasts dynamic, playmaking guards who can be disruptive defensively and cause opponents to play at a frenetic pace that may force them outside their comfort zone.

The more chaos on the court, Nebraska basketball coach Tim Miles said, the better the Red Storm plays.

Evan Taylor is heeding that warning, and considering the affable senior guard has his teammates’ ears, that should bode well for the Huskers.

“You’ve got to be poised, under control, but more disciplined,” Taylor said. “That’s a key word for this game. We don’t want to get into a pick-up type of game. We want to be a veteran team, under control.”

Nebraska (2-0) plays at St. John’s (2-0) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the third annual Gavitt Tipoff Games, a shortened series between Big Ten Conference and Big East Conference teams.

The Huskers first participated in the inaugural event two years ago. Nebraska played at No. 11 Villanova, which went on to win the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

St. John’s, 14-19 last season, including 7-11 in the Big East, isn’t quite in that category, but the Red Storm are formidable enough in Miles’ eyes to be a Top 100 RPI team, and a road win over Top 100 team would be a postseason resume builder.

“It’s a business trip,” Taylor said. “You’re going into somebody else’s environment, so be focused.”

St. John’s has defeated New Orleans, 77-61, and Central Connecticut State, 80-55. Shamoire Ponds (19 points per game) and Marcus LoVett (16.5) represent a strong guard combo on a team full of scorers.

“Everybody shoots threes,” Miles said.

Nebraska, meanwhile, has been attacking the rim, with varied results. The Huskers are averaging 42 free-throw attempts over two games, but also, by Miles’ count, are only shooting 19-of-50 at the rim.

“That’s not very good,” Miles said. “We have to be better at the rim. That’s very important.”

So, too, is defense, something Taylor stresses as Nebraska plays its first road game.

“Defense travels,” Taylor said. “Offense might not travel, but defense travels, and that’s how we’re going to win the game.”

 

Hanging Tough

Only two games into the season, the improvement of second-year coach Amy Williams’ women’s basketball teams is markedly noticeable, and refreshing.

I watched the Huskers’ 80-60 victory Tuesday night over Missouri-Kansas City and saw a team that’s having fun, enjoying playing with each other and playing for each other.

Junior forward Maddie Simon told me it’s merely a matter of a young team with a year’s experience.

“Everyone out there has had more time to get playing together and experience the system,” Simon said. “It’s giving everyone a big jump of confidence. We’re just coming out and playing as hard as we can every game, and I think that’s paying off so far.”

How well were the Huskers playing together on Tuesday night? Consider Nebraska had 21 assists on its 32 made field goals.

“That’s a good sign for our team,” Williams said. “This was a good team win for us.”

Sophomore guard Hannah Whitish contributed one of most impressive stat lines of the night, with eight points, five rebounds, nine assists and zero turnovers in 22 minutes.

“It’s showing she’s starting to get a confidence and comfort level in our system,” Williams said. “It’s not just the nine assists, it’s the zero turnovers. She’s learning that she can affect our game in a lot of ways.”

Williams noted the importance of her team playing tough and gritty. “We’re not going to out-physical or outsize opponents,” she said.

That’s why she singled out the work of sophomore forward Rachel Blackburn, who garnered enough points in Williams’ scoring system to win the Toughness Award for the UMKC game. Blackburn, who drew a charge and was diving for loose balls, earned it while playing only 10 minutes.

“She really sparks our team,” Williams said.

Nebraska (2-0) hosts Arkansas (2-0) on Thursday night at 8. The Razorbacks, who finished 13-17 last season, are led by first-year coach Mike Neighbors, an Arkansas alum who led Washington to the Final Four in 2016.

 

On The Brink

The Nebraska volleyball team enters the final two weekends of the regular season in strong contention to share the Big Ten Conference championship, if not win the title outright for a second straight year.

John Cook’s team is 22-4 overall and 15-1 in the Big Ten, and is riding a nine-match win streak, its longest win streak of the season. Nebraska, which plays at Ohio State and at Maryland this weekend, is 7-2 in true road matches and 6-1 in Big Ten road matches.

With four matches remaining in the regular season, Nebraska and Penn State are tied for first place. The Nittany Lions have reeled of 15 straight victories since opening Big Ten play with a home loss to Nebraska in the teams’ only scheduled meeting this season.

Even though the Huskers won head-to-head, the teams would share the Big Ten title if they finish with identical records.

Ohio State, despite its middle-of-the-pack status in the Big Ten, has been a big Nebraska nemesis. The Buckeyes have won three of four matches in Lincoln since the Huskers joined the Big Ten, and Nebraska’s win in Columbus last season snapped a three-game losing streak overall to Ohio State.

Penn State, meanwhile, closes the season at Minnesota and at Wisconsin, perennially two of the Big Ten’s upper-echelon teams. Minnesota currently sits third in the standings at 13-3, and Wisconsin is seventh at 8-8.

Nebraska finishes the season at Northwestern and home to Iowa.

 

Browns’ Club

Nebraska senior kicker Drew Brown will make his 50th consecutive career start Saturday when the Huskers (4-6, 3-4 Big Ten) play at No. 13 Penn State (8-2, 5-2). The game is 3 p.m. on FS1.

Brown will become only one of four players in Nebraska history to start 50 career games, and the first since kicker Alex Henery started 53 games from 2007-10. Kris Brown, Drew’s older brother, started 51 games at kicker from 1995-98.

The only non-kicker in Nebraska history to start at least 50 careeer games was cornerback Ralph Brown II, who accomplished the feat from 1996-99.

Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.