Nebraska basketball’s second straight exhibition loss carried a familiar warning sign: the Huskers are still trying to figure out how to handle teams that are bigger, stronger, and more physical.
Friday night’s 11-point defeat at BYU came a week after Nebraska fell 79-74 to Saint Louis, and while neither result counts in the standings, both offered a clear look at what needs work before the regular season begins in early November. The early takeaway is simple enough: Nebraska is getting tested in ways that will matter later, even if the games themselves do not.
BYU’s size and athleticism stood out right away. Outside of Robert Wright III, a 6-foot-1 guard who averaged 18.1 points, 4.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game last season, the Cougars brought a level of physicality Nebraska had trouble matching.
That matters because the Huskers already know what’s coming. Teams like Purdue, Michigan, UCLA, and Michigan State are on the schedule, and those matchups are going to ask the same questions.
Fred Hoiberg went into the transfer portal to address last season’s issues against physical opponents, but the first two exhibition games haven’t exactly shown a clean fix yet. That doesn’t mean the problem is solved or unsolved. It just means Nebraska has work to do, and now is the time to do it.
The biggest offensive concern so far has been the quiet start from Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager. Nebraska won a program-record 28 games last season, and both players were central to that run. Sandfort earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors after setting a single-season program record for 3-pointers made, while Frager was named Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year.
Their numbers through two exhibitions are far from where Nebraska needs them to be. Sandfort has 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
Frager has 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting. That’s not enough production from two players who helped define what the Huskers could do offensively a year ago.
The larger issue seems to be how Nebraska is creating shots for them. Last season, Hoiberg regularly found ways to spring his top offensive players for good looks.
This fall, that hasn’t happened as consistently. If Nebraska is going to reach its ceiling again, Sandfort and Frager have to be more involved, and the Huskers need to find better ways to get them going before the Oct. 26 exhibition against Kansas State.
Rebounding is another spot to watch closely. Nebraska is minus-four on the glass overall this fall, but the bigger concern is the number of extra chances it has given up. The Huskers are allowing an average of 14 offensive rebounds per game, and that has led directly to problems.
Saint Louis and BYU turned those second opportunities into an average of 12½ second-chance points. In exhibition play, that is already enough to swing games. Once the regular season arrives, it can be the difference between surviving a rough stretch and giving one away.
Nebraska does not need a complete overhaul. It does need sharper execution, better resistance against physical teams, and a cleaner finish on the defensive glass. Those are the lessons the Huskers have picked up so far, and they still have time to act on them.
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Nebraska Already Has An Early Problem To Clean Up
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Senior guard Cale Jacobsen tried to steady Nebraska against BYU with a team-high 15 points, but the offense never found enough rhythm against a Cougars group that got double-digit scoring from newcomers Collin Chandler and Jaxon Koehler. With one final exhibition against Kansas State set for Oct. 26, Nebraska still has a chance to smooth out the rough edges before the real season begins. [Read more 🡒]