CC Machine:
has one of the best players in the country playing under the basket in Blake Griffin. Tell us about the Oklahoma big men who will be mixing it up with Nebraska . Griffin Josh: Big Men? What are these Big Men you speak of?
is the smallest team in Division I because they just don't have any Big Men. NU's biggest player who's actually played this season is Chris Balham, who's 6-8 and quite gifted, but his knees have been afflicted by some sort of degenerative condition that's destroying the cartilage, severely limiting his playing time. Alonzo Edwards is also 6-8, but he hasn't played much all season. He has some talent, but hasn't developed to the point he needs to be to be a major contributor. Nebraska The Wild Card is Jorge Diaz, a 6-11 Puerto Rican who had been held up all season by some admissions hoops. He was finally admitted over the weekend and just started practicing. It's still not sure if he's going to play this season, and his conditioning is a major question mark. I simply don't know how he's going to perform so soon, if at all.
Without a big man, expect
to throw junk defenses at OU and work mostly on keeping the ball out of Blake Griffin's hands, rather than trying to defend him straight up. Nebraska CC Machine:
plays a very physical brand of basketball. How physical have the Huskers been this season? Oklahoma Josh:
is very physical because they have to be. When you're undersized like the Huskers, you have to scrap for everything. Watch some of the guards, especially Paul Velander and Ryan Anderson, who scrap for rebounds and take charges, to see NU's physical defense in action. Nebraska CC Machine: How much does
’s 1-3 road record this season concern you with the Huskers traveling to Nebraska ? Norman Josh: A lot, especially considering how much home court has mattered in this series in recent history.
started off on the road by beating a good-but-not-great TCU team, but has struggled since, losing to a terrible Nebraska team (by 1) as well as a pretty good Oregon State team and a mediocre Arizona State team. Aside from the Iowa State game, the Huskers have been in every game until the end, but Arizona State is by far the best team Oklahoma 's played this year. Nebraska CC Machine:
gets it done on defense by holding opponents to less than 56 points per game and forcing a ton of turnovers. How do they do it? Nebraska
Josh: Well, you noted one big thing -- turnovers.
thrives on pressure in the full-court and half-court defense, forcing turnovers and steals. They also play really tough transition defense, holding Nebraska , one of the best transition offenses in the Big XII to a mere 3 points off turnovers in the conference opener. The biggest reason for this is that NU is a very fast team, and get back on defense very quickly. They're also good at dragging opponents late into the shot clock, and forcing them to settle for less-than-ideal shots. Missouri
The Huskers have a 12-4 record including a 2-1 mark in the Big 12 with wins over
The Huskers are one of the better three-point shooting teams in the country. Collectively they hit 38% of their shots from beyond the arch (2nd in the conference) and have an overall shooting percentage of 46% (7th in the conference).
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