MBB: Despite recent struggles, NU plays with pride to take down Illinois

Throughout the past few weeks, as the losses mounted against the Nebraska basketball team, coach Doc Sadler continued to stick to two themes.

He was proud of his players, and they were playing hard.

Saturday night the Huskers combined that hard work with an efficient offense and blasted a stumbling Illinois squad that, like NU, entered the game as losers of four straight.

Sadler said the Huskers played with pride Saturday, something that may have been inspired by an unusual speech he delivered to his team before the game. Coaches traditionally harp on playing for the name on the front of the jersey — the team's name — to emphasize unity. Some schools have gone as far to emit the players' names from their jerseys' backs.

Sadler took a different approach. With the season spiraling downward, it was time to play with some pride.

"It's not easy," Sadler said. "We're always going to play for Nebraska, but we're to the point right now that you better play for the back of your jersey too. It should mean an awful lot to you, and I think our guys did that."

That mindset was a different twist on Sadler's "play hard" approach, but it seemed to work. The Huskers held the Fighting Illini to less than 40 percent shooting and kept them out of the lane, something NU has struggled to do in recent games.

And Sadler's point was well-made. Both Bo Spencer and Brandon Richardson admitted postgame that this rough patch in the season hasn't been easy, but they believed the results would turn around if their effort didn't dip.

"We had a mindset that we were going to defend and finish the season out," Spencer said. "We were going to continue to play as hard as we can."

"I'm proud of our guys because they fought hard," Richardson said. "We kept fighting. It started in practice and we carried it over to the ballgame. Maybe guys were realizing that this is the end of our season and guys are trying to do things differently. Hopefully we can continue doing this."

The season has certainly been a trying one for the Huskers. Center Andre Almeida was lost to injury before the season began and Jorge Brian Diaz and Dylan Talley both missed five games midseason because of injuries. A few games ago, Sadler said Diaz's foot problems would cost him the rest of his junior season, leaving Brandon Ubel as NU's only post player with experience.

Mix in a 4-10 conference record, a pair of four-game losing streaks and six losses by 16 points or more and it's not hard to see why Sadler is so pleased when he says he hasn't seen the Huskers' effort dwindle.

"I'm proud of them," Sadler said. "They've been thrown a lot of curveballs. I'd be disappointed if our players didn't care. Our guys care.

"I know how hard it is as a player to come in here and work hard every day. They've done that."

A smiling Richardson admitted his senior season has been wearisome, but it was much easier to be optimistic after a 23-point win that wasn't as close as the final score indicated.

"I know it's been a rough season, but I wouldn't want it any other way," Richardson said. "The guys have been amazing. Hopefully we can continue to do more good things."

danhoppen@

dailynebraskan.com