Huskers get humbled in 72-61 exhibition loss to Colorado

BOULDER, Colorado – Looking back on last year’s dominant charity exhibition win over Colorado, Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg almost wished his team would have lost to face some adversity going into the season.

Well, the Huskers got just that in Sunday’s rematch at the CU Events Center. Colorado used 42 points in the paint and 12 offensive rebounds to take control in the second half and never look back, handing NU a 72-61 defeat.

Emmanuel Bandoumel scored 10 of his team-high 14 points in the second half, while Juwan Gary added 11 points and five rebounds for Nebraska. But the Huskers sputtered early offensively, falling behind 10-0 and trailing by as many as 17 in the first half.

The outcome was disappointing, but Hoiberg hoped the early adversity would benefit his team in the long run.

“This game was perfect for us,” Hoiberg said. “We knew we were going to get tested physically. I thought they out-toughed us in the first half. They had nine offensive rebounds. In the second half, we did a much better job, and they only had three.

“But this is the type of length and physicality that we’re going to see with 28 out of 31 high-major games. It was perfect for us to face adversity and stay with it and continue to fight and battle.”

The most important news of the day came before tip-off, as starting center Derrick Walker was a late scratch from the lineup and watched the game from the bench in street clothes.

Without their top offensive post threat, NU shot just 6-of-25 from 3-point range and went 3-for-10 at the free-throw line while only recording six assists on 26 made baskets. 

Even so, Nebraska was still within eight after a 3-pointer by C.J. Wilcher made it 65-57 with 3:31 remaining. But the Buffaloes put the game away with four unanswered points over the next two minutes.

Sam Griesel finished with 10 points, five rebounds, and a team-high three assists. Colorado had six players score at least seven points in the win, led by a game-high 17 from KJ Simpson.

The Huskers will officially open their 2022-23 regular season on Nov. 7 at home against Maine at 7 p.m. CT.

3-point play

Walker’s absence is a big concern

As noted, the main storyline from Sunday’s exhibition was Walker’s absence.

The sixth-year senior made the trip to Boulder and was cheering his teammates on from the bench, and Hoiberg wouldn’t give any details on Walker’s situation beyond that he was out due to “healthcare reasons.”

“Derrick was unavailable tonight for healthcare reasons, and I’ll leave it at that for now,” Hoiberg said. “If Derrick wants to discuss it at a later time, I’ll leave that up to him… That’s all I’m going to say about it right now.”

Hoiberg said he was pleased with the contributions from Blaise Keita, who got the start at center, and Oleg Kojenets off the bench. 

But the inexperienced duo wore down a bit against Colorado’s deep frontcourt, leaving NU to try out a “small ball lineup” with the 6-foot-6 Gary at the five. The Huskers had never worked with that lineup until Sunday, Hoiberg said.

Hoiberg declined to comment on how long Walker might be out. If he misses any additional time, Nebraska must figure out how to replace his leadership and offensive production.

“Obviously, he’s a huge part of our team, especially on the offensive end,” Hoiberg said of Walker. “He can get you a basket, and he’s very efficient with his game. He can pass, he can flash and get guys open, and be a really good pressure release, which was what Colorado did to us tonight. But we’ve got other guys that are capable.”

Nebraska’s shooting struggles again

One thing to consider when looking at Nebraska’s ugly offensive stat line is that, as Hoiberg mentioned earlier this week, it kept its playbook as basic as possible.

Hoiberg said the Huskers only ran three set plays on Sunday – one more than it did in its win over Chadron State. They also didn’t have their top-scoring option in the post without Walker. 

That said, NU still missed numerous open shots at the rim and on the perimeter for the second outing in a row, not to mention missing seven of its 10 free throws. After going 6-of-24 (25%) from behind the arc against Chadron State, Nebraska missed 17 of its first 20 tries from downtown on Sunday.

The Huskers also opened the game 3-of-13 from the field overall to fall behind 28-11 midway through the first half. Hoiberg stressed that NU’s movement with and without the ball was not good enough, and Colorado’s aggressive defense “blew up” dribble hand-offs and caused turnovers and offensive fouls. 

Looking ahead, though, Hoiberg expects a much better offensive product when he opens up his complete playbook on Nov. 7.

“This was by design,” Hoiberg said of only running three offensive actions. “We didn’t want to show a lot. We’ve got a bunch of new faces, and we put in some new offense. So I’m excited to get that started.”

Oleg Kojenets showed some promise

Keita got the start Walker out of the lineup, but the most productive minutes at that spot came from Kojenets.

The 7-foot, 232-pound redshirt freshman from Lithuania played 15 minutes off the bench. He finished with six points on 3-of-4 shooting, three rebounds, and a blocked shot in his first true collegiate test.

Walker’s absence leaves a significant void in the Huskers’ frontcourt. If they can get that type of output from Kojenets, it would provide a considerable boost on both ends of the floor.

Of note, Keita only played 11 minutes in his starting debut, scoring two points with four rebounds.

“Obviously, (Walker is) a big part of our team just from a leadership standpoint. But he’s also a really talented basketball player,” Griesel said. “So we missed him out there. But it’s just kind of a next-man-up mentality right now. I was proud of Blaise and Oleg.

“I thought they gave us really good minutes, and I look for them to grow each game.”

Big O. 🇱🇹 pic.twitter.com/DwOfUMWQIp

— Nebraska Basketball (@HuskerHoops) October 30, 2022

They said it

“Honestly, I think it’s pretty important. We know that we have to stay together through any sort of adverse situation like today. Road wins are the hardest thing to do in college basketball, and the most important thing is we’re staying together. It’s really early, but to show that resilience and that togetherness today, I was really proud of our group for that.”

-Senior point guard Sam Griesel on the value for Nebraska to experience adversity in exhibition play.