After a season-opening victory against Southeast Missouri State, Saint Louis University takes a step up the competition ladder tonight with a home game against Big XII Conference foe Nebraska.
It is the back end of a home-and-home series which saw the Cornhuskers defeat the Billikens 71-57 last season in Lincoln.
When I first laid eyes on the diminutive Nebraska team last year, I immediately had flashbacks to those old Charlie Spoonhour-coached teams that had little size, but plenty of intensity and heart. Without a player over 6'6" Nebraska had the smallest team in the nation last year, but their defensive intensity was simply too much for the Billikens to overcome.
NU coach Doc Saddler will be bringing some bigger bodies to the rematch tonight at the Chaifetz Arena. In his starting lineup tonight will be 6'11" redshirt freshman Jorge Brian Diaz and 6'10" true freshman Brandon Ubel. Bringing more size off the bench is 6'8" 240-pound juco transfer Quincy Hankins-Cole.
Even the guards are big with 6'4" Sek Henry, and 6'3" juco transfer Lance Jeter. Ryan Anderson, last year's power forward at a towering 6'4" gets to play a more comfortable role at small forward. Henry scored a game-high 19 points in last year's victory over SLU.
The Huskers may have had a size makeover, but one thing will not changed with a Doc Sadler-coached team. They will guard, guard and guard you some more.
For the past two season, the Huskers have been the Big XII leader in scoring defense. That is the identity of his teams, whether he trots out a bunch of smurfs or a team of trues. You had better be ready to execute against some solid defensive pressure. They gave up only 49 points in the opening-night victory over USC Upstate.
The presence of the Nebraska bigs will be a new challenge for SLU sophomore forwards Willie Reed and Brian Conklin. They had their way last Saturday against a smaller SEMO team, combining for 29 points and 19 rebounds. Tonight, they will be looking up at their foes for the first time this season.
It should be interesting tonight. I look for Willie to use his quickness inside against the NU bigs and run the court a little more and get a few cheap baskets. Brian is smaller, but he should have no trouble banging inside. He just has to be smart and stay out of foul trouble.
Sophomore point guard Kwamain Mitchell is a big key to SLU's success tonight. He has to set the pace with his quickness and leadership. A excellent defensive team matched against a team that struggles to score is not always a good mix, so Kwamain must really be on his game to make sure his teammates get good opportunities to score, plus make some shots of his own.
The Billikens have started fast in their games, but they must keep their mid-game lulls to a minimum to beat a team the caliber of Nebraska. Finding some perimenter offense from the wings will also be a priority. Willie and Brian are improved inside, so I'm confident that they can handle their business, but some perimeter shots will have to fall at sometime for this team to be competitive against the big boys.
So far, freshman Justin Jordan has been able to ring the bell from long distance in his minutes. I'm looking forward to either Christian Salecich, Kyle Cassity to hit a few. Femi John could come into play tonight to match up against Nebraska's big, physical guards, especially Jeter, who goes at about 220 pounds.
Hope to see you tonight. If not, you can catch me and Hall of Fame play-by-play man Bob Ramsey on the call on WXOS, ESPN-101. Pre-game begins at 6:45. Opening tip at about 7:07 p.m.
Go Bills.
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