Nebraska Basketball: Cornhuskers start Big Ten play with 2-0 record

Nebraska basketball rallied in the second half to knock off the Maryland Terps in College Park.

A week ago, Nebraska was in the midst of a stretch in which they had lost six of their last eight games, and were just 6-6 overall heading into conference play. Head coach Tim Miles’ seat was getting warmer and Anton Gill was ruled out for the season due to a significant knee injury.

A week later, things have drastically changed for the Cornhuskers. Nebraska has started off Big Ten play with two straight road victories over 16th ranked Indiana and a talented Maryland team, and are one of just three teams that are currently undefeated in the conference.

So what has led to this sudden jolt of energy from Miles’ unit?

The play of their starting guard tandem, their ability to force turnovers and their consistency in getting to the free throw line.

We will start with Tai Webster and Glynn Watson Jr., who scored a combined 47 points in their win over Indiana and 35 points in their victory over Maryland. Webster and Watson are two of Nebraska’s three double figure scorers and they complement each other nicely. Both players can take and make shots from the perimeter and they’re efficient, for the most part. Webster gives the Cornhuskers nice size at 6’4″, while Watson gives Miles speed and quickness.

In addition to some great offensive performances from their two top players, Nebraska has been rather stingy on the defensive end. The Cornhuskers have 24 steals and have forced 35 turnovers in the past two games. Sure, Indiana has major issues with ball security and Maryland has three freshman starting, but the amount of steals they’ve produced show that this is a sign of activity rather than just careless play by their opponents.

Finally, the Huskers are getting to the free throw line at a consistent rate. They shot 45 combined free bees in the last two outings, and earned seven more points at the line than the Terps did. The Hoosiers hit the same amount of free throws in their game against the Cornhuskers and got to the line two more times, but Nebraska’s ability to play even in that category allowed them to win the game with their hot three point shooting (11-of-25 from downtown).

While Nebraska’s effort to open conference play has been impressive to say the least, it doesn’t get any easier from here on out. The Huskers will host Peter Jok and Iowa later this week, host a Northwestern team that cannot afford to have a “bad loss” on their resume and will then visit Michigan.

It’s way too early to start talking about Nebraska making the Big Dance. The good news for Husker fans though, the NIT could be within the realm of possibilities if they continue to play this well.