2008 Woodie Awards
NU men's basketball still winless in conference
Jonathon Crowl
Issue date: 1/29/08 Section: Sports
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Four games into the conference season, the Cornhuskers (11-6, 0-4 Big 12 Conference) are still winless, victims of a stacked early schedule against some of the conferences best teams.
NU has already faced - and fallen to - undefeated Kansas twice this season. Their other two losses came at Colorado and against Baylor, an upstart program drawing national attention.
Kansas aside, Nebraska has been competitive. Its 55-51 loss at Colorado was the result of abominable shooting, and its 72-70 loss to Baylor was impressive even in defeat. The Bears (16-3, 4-1 Big 12 Conference) are one of the hottest teams in the Big 12 Conference and are building an impressive resumé for an NCAA Tournament berth.
The Huskers, on the other hand, are struggling. The offense is miles behind the defense, and no single player has established themselves as a source of consistency. Each of NU's top three scorers - Aleks Maric, Ryan Anderson, and Ade Dagunduro - have struggled at least once in their four conference games.
Still, the Huskers are looking towards the future positively, even if their four straight losses to open the Big 12 season is a school record.
Their future is already brighter without Kansas in it.
"The tough thing is we have to give a superior effort every night just to have a chance," Nebraska Coach Doc Sadler said after the loss to Kansas. "I'm not convinced a superior, perfect effort would have gotten us a win today.
"But against the other 10 teams in the league, if we play as well as we can play, we'll have a chance."
Opportunities against those other 10 teams start Wednesday, but there won't be much opportunity for the Huskers to slack off. Teams aren't afforded that luxury when they're in their conference's basement.
And regardless, while few teams could dare stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Jayhawks, a wealth of talent resides below them in the conference rankings. Two of those teams - the Tigers and Kansas State - are teams Nebraska will face on the road soon.
And if there's any way for the Huskers' future opponents to benefit from the two losses to Kansas, shutting down Maric on offense will be key.
"We have said all along Aleks has got to be the guy that we get on his back and ride," Sadler said. "He didn't score a point tonight, but the whole team didn't play well."
Maric, for his part, was disappointed in his outing, but presented a forward-thinking mind-set soon after the blowout at Kansas had ended.
"We've got a strong group of guys," Maric said. "We have Missouri coming up on Wednesday. The past is the past, the present is the present and the future is a mystery so we will see what happens."
Sadler credited to himself the responsibility of getting his team ready for the rest of the season and for seasons to come. Though he is clearly disappointed with the zero in the conference wins column, 12 games remaining on the schedule give Nebraska no other option than to keep pressing on.
"We are sitting at 0-4. We wish we had at least one win but we don't," Sadler said. "This team has always worked hard and I expect them to continue that. The fact is that for us, the season starts for us on Wednesday night."
JONATHANCROWL@DAILYNEBRASKAN.com
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