Huskers set to Meet Rutgers at the RAC

It might not technically be a must win game for head coach Tim Miles and his Huskers, but it’s the next closest thing. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have just one win in the conference, however, it did come against a then ranked Ohio State squad earlier this month. For Miles, that’s just Big 10 basketball for you. “You just have to be ready to go every night out,” he said.

Nebraska is a couple of days removed from taking the 6^th ranked Michigan State Spartans to the limit, but ultimately, the Huskers fell short of the mark. After watching the game film, Miles knows his team has work to do.

“First of all, we had some bad decisions in transition, and certainly shot selection that hurt us,” Miles said. “And then when we got open looks, we didn’t make a lot of them.” The Huskers were just 12 of 26 at the rim Thursday night. If they were to repeat that shooting performance, Nebraska would risk getting run out of the RAC. However, that scenario is unlikely, considering the Scarlet Knights possess nowhere near the defensive prowess that Michigan State does.

Despite having lost three of their last five games though, Nebraska is still well in control of their own destiny. “If you start looking at stretches like ‘hey, we need to win four of our next five…’ We’re not at that point (yet),” Miles said.

Nebraska could receive a boost from Amir Harris, who is back up to “100%” according to Miles. The freshman guard missed six straight games as he dealt with mono. His return could provide defensive contributions and depth to a team that desperately needs it. “It was pretty hard,” Harris said of his sickness. “Just my body – I would literally just be in bed all day and my body would cramp up and it was hard to eat. That’s where all the weight loss was coming from”

Miles revealed a couple of weeks ago that Harris had lost 20 pounds from his illness, which hampered his recovery. Once he can get back up to game speed though, Miles says Harris will bring a “defensive intensity and ability to rebound” to the team.

Senior forward Tanner Borchardt had an injury issue of his own – needing to undergo a root canal to a tooth that began acting up the day of the Indiana game.

“I feel great,” Borchardt said. “I mean that game; I was under a lot of pain right before but doc got me numbed up and (gave me) some medication.”

But Borchardt and the rest of the team are focused on bouncing back, a task they should be able to achieve against the league’s lowest scoring team. If the Huskers do stumble though, it’ll likely be due to Geo Baker, Rutger’s sophomore standout.

Baker averages 12.9 points and about 4.5 assists per game. “He’s a guy that can get away from you in transition and he can go and get hot,” Miles said. “We want to make sure he doesn’t get off to a quick start.”

In a conference where every game can be tough, Nebraska will have few better opportunities than Monday night to secure a road win.

Pregame coverage will begin at six o’ clock on 1400, KLIN. Tip-off is set for seven.