Husker Wrap-up

Woof, losing sucks.  It's especially unpalatable when it's to the fucking corn.  I realize the Buffs weren't going to go 16-0 in conference, or anything close to that, but that one was tough to watch last night.  It was a game of conference firsts for the Buffs, and not particularly good ones: not only was it the first conference loss, but it also was the first conference game that CU was out-rebounded, the first time they've allowed a conference opponent to shoot over 50%, and the first time CU has shot fewer than 10 free throws in a game since early December.  Bad defense, poor rebounding, and no free throw shooting to make up for it: that's a disaster waiting to happen.

More than anything else, defense (and rebounding off of the resulting misses) paved the way for the 3-0 in-conference start.  The level of defense and rebounding that was present in those first 3 games was near non-existent last night.  I knew the size of the Husker front court would hurt us (Nebraska being the first conference opponent with regular contributors over 6-9), but there were so many easy looks inside that it was flat painful to watch.  If Nebraska's fat dude (Almeida) didn't miss 2 easy looks, and get called for 3 stupid travels, then the score would've been much worse.  Time after time the Husker offense would dump the ball down to their forward, and CU would seem helpless to defend them.  This helped to allow the Huskers to shoot an astonishing 56.6% from the field; with that many makes, no wonder CU was outrebounded.

It was a frustrating game to watch for everyone.  From: the Post

The lack of free throws (7 makes on a paltry 9 attempts) was another mind-boggling stat I took from last night's game.  CU's efficiency at the line is such a key component to the offense that it's rather surprising that we didn't try and find more ways to get to the line.  You have to go back to the Citadel game on Dec 17th to find the last time CU shot fewer than 20 times from the line; you have to go even farther back, to Dec 4th and the Oregon State game, to find the last time CU shot fewer than 10.  It's such a focal point that playing that game last night, with no free throw attempts in the first half, and only 9 in the second, was like playing the game with one hand tied behind CU's back.  Hell, Cory Higgins, usually the master of finding way to get to the line, didn't even attempt one last night.

You can complain about a lack of calls on dribble-drive all you want, but CU has to be able to compensate when the refs are keeping the whistles in their pockets.  Nebraska did a great job of routinely getting CU out of rhythm, forcing outside jumpers, and denying lane penetration.  I had to agree with ESPN2 analyst Doug Gottlieb when he said that we looked afraid to drive to the rack on Nebraska.  Refs will typically reward offensive assertiveness, and CU showed none of that last night.

The Huskers were just too strong inside last night.  From: the Post

Oh well, the season continues.  CU is still on track to finish the pre-Kansas portion of their schedule 4-1, a record which I predicted would put them in position to make the Tournament.  The Buffs just need to regroup and focus on the upcoming trip to Oklahoma.