Nebraska moves to 3-0 after a 34-point win at home.
The Huskers have beaten their opponents by an average of more than 28 points per game and now prepare for a neutral-site matchup with Boise State in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Though there was plenty to like about the Big Red’s performance Wednesday night against Lindenwood, here are three things we learned from NU’s victory over the Lions.
1. Nebraska’s Got Something to Prove
Last season, Nebraska took the country by surprise, winning a program-record 28 games. Still, after three starters exhausted their collegiate eligibility and another entered the transfer portal, the Huskers had plenty of production and leadership to replace.
Sure, NU hasn’t faced world-beaters of opponents by any means. But after three consecutive wins, one thing is becoming very clear: the Huskers have something to prove. Whether it’s Pryce Sandfort, Braden Frager, Cale Jacobsen, or one of the many other players on NU’s roster who continue to show an effort like never before, the hunger is still very much there.
They haven’t taken their foot off the gas. Instead, they’ve continued to prove people wrong, particularly AP poll voters. Why Nebraska wasn’t ranked in the preseason poll is anyone’s guess. Yet even after checking in at No. 25 in Week 1, the Big Red are looking to prove they deserve to be ranked much higher by next week.
The Huskers took another step toward doing that Wednesday night, scoring 61 first-half points on their way to a dominant win. If they bring that same attitude to the Sanford Pentagon on Sunday at noon, they’ll have every chance to move to 4-0 and possibly even become a Top 20 team.
2. Every Night a Different Player Shines
It started in NU’s season opener, when Nebraska native Cale Jacobsen recorded a career-high 16 points against Le Moyne. The Huskers have now seen three different players emerge as their second-leading scorers in each of their first three games.
Boston College transfer Boden Kapke flashed his potential against Providence on the road, scoring 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting while adding five rebounds in a nine-point win. Then, against Lindenwood, South Dakota State transfer Damon Wilkinson completely took over the game.
The senior forward went 6-for-6 from the field, including 2-for-2 from three, on his way to scoring 17 first-half points. Though he added just two more after the halftime break, Wilkinson showed he’s capable of taking on a bigger offensive role. Jacobsen and Kapke have done the same.
Sandfort, who’s averaging more than 22 points per contest this season, is clearly the Huskers’ go-to scorer. However, it’s becoming just as clear that Fred Hoiberg’s roster has plenty of players capable of chipping in when opportunity calls. Opposing defenses can’t key in on just one or two players, either, as a different threat seems to step up each night. If that continues throughout the season, the Big Red should be a difficult matchup for seemingly every team they play. Frankly, it helps Sandfort out as well. I’d like to see that continue to become a trend as the year rolls on.
3. Nebraska’s Exhibition Slate Did Them Well
As mentioned earlier, Nebraska lost a lot of production and leadership from last year’s team. Nine players left the program, while eight were added in return, meaning NU was always going to need time to figure out how its new pieces fit together early in the year.
After facing NCAA Tournament-caliber teams during exhibition play, that preparation appears to be paying off. The preseason gave the Huskers room to make mistakes, and they did plenty of that, finishing 1-2.
Still, learning on the fly against quality opponents seems to have made life easier for NU once the games began to count for real. Hoiberg and his staff seemingly did so intentionally, and the early results have been encouraging. Whether back-to-back losses to Saint Louis and BYU lit a fire under the players or not, the Huskers are acting as if it did.
Credit Hoiberg and his staff for putting their roster to the test. Physically and emotionally, this team needed to grow. What I’ve seen on the court through these first three regular-season games leads me to believe they did just that.
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