Men's basketball team focuses on Ohio State game

On Dec. 27, the Huskers were battered around in their first Big Ten Conference game, falling 64-40 to Wisconsin. The Badgers battered NU around like a younger sibling that wasn't ready for his shot against big brother.

Two weeks later, the Huskers traveled up to Madison and gave that same Wisconsin squad all it could handle. A turnover in the final seconds robbed NU of a chance to tie the game and the Badgers prevailed 50-45.

Dylan Talley sees a lot of similarities between that set of games and the one the Huskers will conclude Saturday when they take on Ohio State for the second time this season. The first go-around was a 71-40 debacle in Columbus.

But Talley said the Huskers feel stronger this time around. The near-victory against Wisconsin (a game Talley felt the Huskers should have won) provided NU with a sense it could play with anyone, even a team that had blown them out a few weeks prior.

Couple that with the fact that the Huskers are coming off their best win of the season, a 70-69 victory over Indiana Wednesday, and Talley believes the team will be prepared for the Buckeyes.

"We're a lot more confident," he said. "We're definitely ready for Ohio State at home. We expect to come out and play well against them."

The Huskers will need all the confidence they can muster. Ohio State is ranked sixth in the country and throttled NU in almost every statistical category in their Jan. 3 matchup. The Huskers had as many turnovers as field goals and were outrebounded 42-18. Ohio State coach Thad Matta called it the best defensive game his team has played all season.

This time around, NU gets the services of Talley and Jorge Brian Diaz, who both sat out the first game with injuries. In Big Ten play, the Huskers average 59.8 points per game when the duo plays. In the games they missed, NU averaged 45 points.

The players seemed loose and confident at practice Thursday, basking in the memories of their upset the night before. But coach Doc Sadler was quick to remind them to stay focused.

"If we sit back and think we've arrived, we're fixing to get our head beat in on Saturday night," Sadler said. "So we'd better move on and we'd better move on quick."

Early on in the Big Ten season, the Huskers didn't move on well after games. They let mistakes build on each other, resulting in five consecutive losses to kick off conference play.

That poor stretch has Sadler rethinking his stance on the league's scheduling policies. His team's slow start put a premium on getting any wins available, and the road to improvement starts Saturday.

"I hated the 18 game schedule until we started 1-5 and now I'm glad we're playing 18 games in league," Sadler said with a smile Wednesday night. "There is so much basketball left for this basketball team. It's not going to be easy. We've got a pretty good team coming in here Saturday."

danhoppen@dailynebraskan.com