Husker Hoops ready for final Big Ten tuneup

Nebraska basketball head coach Fred Hoiberg, junior guard Trey McGowens, and junior forward Lat Mayen met with media on Wednesday to preview their final non-conference game against Doane on Thursday night.

Here is a full recap of what the Huskers had to say…

***Hoiberg announced that forward Derrick Walker’s suspension – originally set for 16 games – had been reduced again from 14 to 11 games. That means after Thursday, he’ll miss just four Big Ten games. His first game back will now be on Jan. 2 at home vs. Michigan State.

***Hoiberg said NU looked at several options for how to approach the 10-day window between Creighton and Wisconsin, including the possibility of not playing another game and just preparing for the Badgers.

But the stars aligned to play Doane, and they felt it was the right thing to do for the team. Hoiberg said they wanted to get another opportunity against a live opponent and give freshman center Eduardo Andre a chance to play his first collegiate minutes before jumping in Big Ten play.

***Hoiberg made it clear that Andre was not physically ready for extended minutes after missing the past 21 days due to COVID-19 protocols. Andre just practiced for the first time on Tuesday, and he was having trouble getting up and down the court three times without getting winded.

Hoiberg said this would be a great first experience for Andre to “get his lungs burning” in a real game.

***Hoiberg declined to talk much about the possible immediate eligibility of senior forward Trevor Lakes until an official ruling came out from the NCAA on a potential blanket eligibility waiver for all transfers.

Hoiberg did confirm that, if eligible, Lakes would join NU’s rotation right away on Thursday.

***Hoiberg said he was “really high” on Andre, who he said has gotten better every time he’s stepped on the floor before his bout with COVID. Hoiberg said Andre was doing extra conditioning this week to get back up to speed, but the 21 days off were “a big setback” in his development.

***Hoiberg gave Mayen a lot of credit for “doing everything asked of him” and not complaining once about having to play more at the five than originally planned. Hoiberg said Mayen had struggled some defending bigger bodies the past couple of games, and it’s gotten him into early foul trouble and taken him out of the flow offensively. l

***Hoiberg said Nebraska played 26 minutes of their best basketball this season at Creighton and then followed it with 14 of their worst. Hoiberg said NU had to “build the right habits” as a team and carry over what they do well in practice into games.

***Hoiberg said finishing games was one of the biggest issues Nebraska had to fix. He said it started with not letting adversity lead to poor decisions, especially with bad turnovers and little ball movement on offense.

Hoiberg said they’ve tried many things to improve the ball movement, including full team drills without any dribble. He said the Huskers have looked really good in those situations in practice, “but the real test is, can you do it when things get difficult?”

***Hoiberg said his team was “unbelievably coachable” and was confident they would respond the right way going forward.

***Hoiberg said Walker had been “phenomenal” in handling his suspension and has remained one of the team’s best vocal leader in practice.

***McGowens said the players had an idea they would play a game this week, but they didn’t learn it would be Doane until Monday.

***McGowens said Andre “definitely takes us to another level” with his presence in the paint. He said Andre was a young guy who loved to learn, and even having him back on the floor in practice has helped the entire team.

***McGowens also credited Mayen for the job he’d done at the five, saying he would benefit from Andre’s return as much as anyone by being able to play his more natural position.

***McGowens said the team had responded very well since the Creighton loss, including having a “chippy” practice on Tuesday.

“I feel like we’ve gotten a lot better the past couple of days,” McGowens said, but he also noted that NU needed to show that toughness against its opponents too.

***McGowens said the move where he abruptly stops with the basketball and draws a foul when the defender runs into his back started when he was at Pitt. He said he did it for the first time on accident and then realized it was a great way to draw easy fouls, especially on opposing bigs trying to get back in transition.

***McGowens said Lakes was definitely a shooter, but he also played excellent team defense and was active in passing lanes. “He brings everything,” McGowens said.

***Mayen said he’s just been “doing what team needs” from him through the first six games, but getting Andre and Walker back would be a welcomed help.

***Mayen admitted he’d been “a little frustrated” with how the season has started, but he was also excited about how things have improved. He pointed to areas like trusting each other better on the floor, more ball movement, and playing fast as some of the more noticeable improvements.

***Mayen said the Creighton game was a good lesson for the Huskers about the need to play a full 40 minutes. He said NU wasn’t “mentally locked in” for the second half against the Bluejays, and it showed. If they play full 40 minutes, he said, “we can beat anybody in the country.”