Nebraska Basketball: Cornhuskers searching for consistency this season

Nebraska basketball is entering a big season. The Cornhuskers have been remarkably inconsistent recently and they will need to have a solid showing this year.

Nebraska’s schedule is primed with opportunity and they are failing so far. In their first test of the new year, the Huskers were paired up with a St. John’s Red Storm team that is also searching for an identity. Nebraska left the game with St. John’s mired with questions about the direction Tim Miles was taking the program. The Huskers looked slow, out of sorts, and flat-out unprepared.

In their next game, the Cornhuskers faced North Dakota. The Hawks have one of the best guards in the country in Geno Crandall and could have pulled off the upset. Yet, Nebraska made quite the impression as they ran North Dakota out of the gym. It was quite the response from a team who was just beaten in every way possible in their previous game.

Nebraska Cornhuskers Basketball

Nebraska, for much of Tim Miles career, has been extremely inconsistent, and this year is no exception so far. In the opening game of the year, the Huskers struggled to beat Ohio Valley foe Eastern Illinois. Eastern Illinois is a decent team, but should not have given Nebraska much trouble. In the next game, Nebraska outclassed North Texas. North Texas has one of the youngest teams in the entire country and just could not compete with the athletes Nebraska had.

How will the Huskers respond for the rest of the season? Will Nebraska use the game against North Dakota, who was a tournament team last year, as a springboard? The Huskers should be able to learn a lot from their early season. St. John’s was a team with athletic guards who shredded Nebraska inside and out and the Huskers could not stop them. North Dakota was another team who liked to go fast, rely on turnovers, and had numerous athletic guards. The Huskers were moving on defense and were able to shut down the nation’s top scorer in Geno Crandall. It was a great defensive performance by Nebraska.

The offense, which is supposed to be the strong point of the Huskers this year, has left a lot to be desired. Too many times this year Nebraska has found themselves stagnant and standing around waiting for the other players to make a play. This has been a problem with Tim Miles-coached teams far too often in the past.

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The Huskers have until Nov. 23 to wait until their next huge opportunity to impress everyone in the country. On Thanksgiving night, the Huskers start their holiday tournament against none other than UCF, who is one of the better teams in the country this year. The UCF Knights have an advantage over everyone when their 7’6” center Tacko Fall is in the game.

All Nebraska fans hope their team shows up and can at least be competitive. UCF could be in the NCAA Tournament this year and it would be a huge win for the psyche for the Huskers to get a win. If Tim Miles and company struggle in this game and let their season spiral out of control, it could be an early exit for the coach.