Fred Hoiberg shares how Sam Griesel's absence hurt Nebraska vs Indiana

As if Nebraska didn’t have a tough enough task this week against Indiana, the Cornhuskers had to go through that game without their starting point guard. Sam Griesel missed the game with an illness, meaning Nebraska was down its assists leader and second-leading scorer.

Fred Hoiberg talked about what losing Griesel meant for the matchup, saying it still would’ve been tough to beat the highly touted Hoosiers with him in the lineup. But his absence made a difference in one key area: rebounding.

“Listen, this was a monumental challenge if we had Sam in the lineup,” Hoiberg said. “Once we found out about an hour and a half before the game, one of the things it affects, from our standpoint, is we become pretty small without Sam out there. He gives us a 6-7 point guard, gives us length on the perimeter and he’s an excellent rebounder for his position. We won every game but one, I think, before tonight on the glass. That was a big difference.

“Again, I thought they played more physical than we did tonight. That was Mike’s message the last two days after Rutgers. I thought they came out and played a very physical and very effective game.”

Griesel ranks second on the Nebraska roster this season with 11.3 points per game and leads the team with 44 assists on the season — his first in Lincoln after transferring from North Dakota State. Keisei Tominaga got the start in Griesel’s place, scoring 11 points, grabbing two rebounds and dishing two assists in the 81-65 Indiana victory.

Now, Nebraska is turning its attention to another challenging Big Ten matchup Saturday against Zach Edey and No. 4 Purdue. The Cornhuskers take a 6-4 overall record into the game, but will have a tough task to get in the win column in conference play.