Nebraska is setting new ‘standard’ as it embraces identity on defense

Matt Painter was asked a simple question after Purdue’s 65-62 overtime win over Nebraska on Saturday afternoon. What’s different about this season’s Huskers?

“They defend,” the Purdue coach said. “They play defense.”

Simple as it sounds, Painter is right — an improved defense is the biggest difference in this Nebraska group.

The Boilermakers were voted the top team in the country in Monday’s Associated Press Poll. That comes less than 48 hours after the Huskers took Purdue to the brink. Purdue defeated Nebraska 95-62 last January.

“It’s something we’ve tried to change for the culture of Nebraska,” Husker guard Emmanuel Bandoumel said. “It was more of an offensive game for Nebraska and now people are seeing that we are a two-way team and we play defense and we’re making it hard on defense.”

Bandoumel, Sam Griesel and Juwan Gary weren’t on that team that lost by 33 in West Lafayette 11 months ago. Coming into this season, Nebraska wanted to establish more of a defensive identity, and it’s achieved that through 11 games.

Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg feels this is the best defensive team he’s had in Lincoln — those who returned from last year’s roster have noticed a difference, too.

“Defense is our number one priority every night we step on that court,” Nebraska forward Derrick Walker said. “We have a lot of pride on defense. We’re flying around, we’re shifting around, we’re picking up people and we’re being physical.”

“Defense wins championships,” Bandoumel added. “It’s cliché, but it’s a real saying. Defense will win championships. So if we keep working at it like we did (Saturday) — Purdue’s the most efficient team offensively in the whole nation, so for us to keep them to 65 points in 45 minutes just says a lot about what we’re doing.”

Make no mistake, people around the state have noticed and many of the 14,236 fans on-hand Saturday showed their appreciation. Yes, Nebraska sits at 6-5 and 0-2 in Big Ten play. However, Nebraska has been in nearly every game thanks to its defense. A defense that has drawn recognition from fans, opposing coaches and national media.

Nebraska Athletic Director Trev Alberts has noticed too, so much so that he awarded Bandoumel and Gary Blackshirts last week. The two were the first two non-football players to ever receive the honor. Bandoumel was seen throwing the bones multiple times Saturday afternoon and said after the game he wants his defense to be something people should fear.

“These guys have really bought into that side of the ball and that’s the identity I think of this team,” Hoiberg said.

Nebraska shot 32% (23-for-72) Saturday and still had a chance as NU held Purdue to a 29.2% shooting clip in the second half and won the second-half rebound battle, 27-24. The Boilermakers entered Saturday’s game with the nation’s best offensive efficiency and Nebraska held Purdue to a season-low 1.03 points per possession. Nebraska also become the first team to grab 40 rebounds against Purdue as the Huskers pulled down 44 total boards – 25 of them defensive.

Hoiberg said improving the defense was a big focus of the offseason and he wanted to add players with length, toughness and experience. It’s why he brought in Bandoumel, Gary and Griesel, who have been instrumental in Nebraska’s turnaround. Along with the hiring of assistant coaches Adam Howard and Ernie Zeigler.

For those looking for evidence, just look at NU’s ability to shut down opposing bigs over the past week. Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner came in averaging 16.6 points. Nebraska held him to 10 and Walker was able to contain the 7-foot-1 junior at both ends of the floor.

Purdue’s Zach Edey, who Hoiberg called the “most dominant player in the country” last Friday, was limited to 11 points. The 7-foot-4 center scored 22 against the Huskers last January, came in averaging 23.2 points per game and had eight straight 20-point games.

“He’s a really, really good player and we kept him to 11 points, so that’s really big,” Bandoumel said. “Yes, he still stung us on the offensive rebounds and stuff like that, but we were really physical with him and made sure that he felt us on every possession. And it was the same for every other person out there.

“Every guy felt us and that’s what we want to bring. That’s what we want to do consistently. That’s what we need to do and that’s our standard.”

A standard the Huskers want to keep in place for the rest of the season.

“Whether it’s unranked or a ranked team, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to bring it every night,” Bandoumel said. “We’re going to battle for 40 minutes and I think we’ve learned a lot from Creighton, we’ve learned a lot from playing at Indiana and we learned a lot (Saturday night) playing Purdue.

“We know what we’re supposed to do, what we’re supposed to work on, what’s our weaknesses and where are our strengths. We know that defensively we can bring it and now it’s about doing it consistently and even more harder and longer. We wanted to come out with three wins but it didn’t go that way. But at the same time, there’s a lot that we took from all those games and now we’re about to keep that momentum and bring it for the rest of the season.”