 "Photo: Meghan Leonard")
Back on Oct. 22, Sek Henry took a picture on his camera phone while at the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
The picture was of the Big 12 Conference Championship trophy, and it’s been the background picture on his phone ever since.
“It was beautiful,” he said. “I look at it every day, every time I use my phone.”
And despite Nebraska’s 2-14 conference record, the senior Husker guard has steadfastly insisted that a Big 12 title is still possible.
“I’ll keep believing that we have a chance to win it,” Henry said. “I still believe we have a chance to win the rest of our games and go dancing.”
Henry’s ideals will be put to the test Wednesday afternoon when he and his teammates return to the Sprint Center for the Big 12 Tournament. NU’s first-round matchup with No. 5 seed Missouri will start at 2 p.m.
Double-digit losses to Colorado and Oklahoma State last week would suggest Nebraska doesn’t have much momentum entering the game, but NU’s players see things differently.
“We start fresh now, 0-0,” point guard Lance Jeter said. “We’re going to try and give Missouri our best fight.”
Nebraska is 0-2 against Missouri this season, but the Huskers have already demonstrated that they have a blueprint for topping the Tigers.
When the teams first met in Columbia on Jan. 23, the Huskers limited Missouri in the lanes, forcing the Tigers to rely too much on 3-point shots and preventing MU from getting to the free throw line.
NU also avoided getting caught in the turnover trap that most teams do against Missouri. The Tigers force an average 19 turnovers a game, but the Huskers committed only five in the first half and 12 in the game.
Missouri ended up winning by 17, but the Tigers led by a mere two points at the half.
“Their team speaks for themselves,” Nebraska coach Doc Sadler said. “You’re going to get a team that plays hard and plays their style. They’re going to do it their way, so it’s not like it’s hard to prepare for them.”
Nebraska’s long list of close conference games, highlighted by near upsets against Baylor and at Kansas State, gives Jeter hope for this weekend.
“In the games that we lost, we have been close,” he said. “If we do what we’re supposed to do, I feel like we can make a run. The last five minutes of the game, if it’s a close game, we feel like we’ve got to execute and get a shot to win it.”
Sadler and Jeter both point out, too, that the recent history of Cinderella teams rising up in conference tournaments offers NU some optimism.
Last year, Baylor was the tournament’s No. 9 seed after losing 10 of its last 12 regular season games. The Bears pulled off three straight wins over higher-seeded foes — including an upset of top-seeded Kansas — to reach the championship game.
Baylor lost to Missouri in the title game, but the Bears managed to parlay the momentum from that weekend into a four-game winning streak and an appearance in the National Invitational Tournament championship game.
“Sek said it best to us,” Jeter said. “It’s a new start, a new season right here. Baylor did what we want to do last year, and I feel like we can do that, too.”
Sadler was quick to remind reporters Monday of what Georgia accomplished in 2008. The Bulldogs went 4-12 in conference play but stunningly won the Southeastern Conference Tournament and got an automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Sadler knows his team isn’t expected to get any further than Wednesday’s first-round matchup, but he’s focused on taking things one game at a time.
“I don’t have the mindset that some people may have,” Sadler said. “I have the mindset of: We’re playing Missouri on Wednesday, and we’ll see what happens.”
Jeter said the key to hanging around with Missouri for 40 minutes this time around will be the pace of NU’s offensive possessions.
“They like to run a lot, so we’ve got to make them play defense for 35 seconds,” he said. “Maybe they’ll get tired and break down and we’ll get some easy baskets.”
Those easy points will be more important than usual for NU, as the Huskers’ top two scorers won’t be fully healthy when they take the court Wednesday.
Ryan Anderson sat out Saturday’s game at Oklahoma State with an ankle injury, and Brandon Richardson hurt his ankle late in the game.
Neither was able to complete a full practice on Sunday, but Sadler said Monday he expects both will play.
Despite the long odds his team faces entering the Big 12 Tournament, Sadler knows his team hasn’t stopped working hard in practice. It’s time, he said, for them to be rewarded for their perseverance.
“As I’ve said when this all started going in the direction that it is, something good is going to happen with these guys,” Sadler said. “It better happen quick if it’s going to.”
maxolson@dailynebraskan.com
1 comments
Mizzou - 60How 'bout them Huskers?!Good luck against KU, knock the feathers off those birds...