Husker basketball looks to improve rebounding heading into matchup with Northwestern

Nebraska basketball hosts 10-15 Northwestern on Saturday, coming off losses in three of its last four games, including an overtime loss to No. 13 Purdue on Tuesday. All three losses have come against teams ranked in the top 15 of the Associated Press poll.

Head coach Fred Hoiberg said the No. 7-ranked and 21-3 Huskers watched film on Thursday showing all 21 offensive rebounds Purdue nabbed and followed that up with a physical practice. One of the coach’s recurring themes this season has been making contact first when rebounding.

“We have to find a way to finish off possessions,” Hoiberg said at a press conference Friday. “You give a team 76 (shot) attempts to our 59 in that game, it's hard to win, not only the offensive rebounds, but the sloppiness and the turnovers.”

Hoiberg added that the Big Red players don’t have the size and athleticism to let the opponent box out first, but he said they addressed rebounding and turnovers in practice.

In mid-January, the Huskers traveled to Northwestern and won, 77-58. Hoiberg said Nebraska was physical and active on defense in that win, and benefited from strong rebounding in the second half.

“I thought we played with a lot of discipline in that game,” Hoiberg said. “I thought we kept making the right plays. ... We need to duplicate that again tomorrow.”

But Northwestern won’t be the same team, the coach added.

The Wildcats have switched up their lineup and competed well since they played NU in January.

“I just think that the confidence that they're bringing into this game, not that they weren't confident the first time, but they've shown they can compete against anybody,” Hoiberg said.

He pointed to a road win against USC and a narrow loss to Big Ten leader Michigan earlier this week. In the past, he’s called Michigan’s size and athleticism similar to an NBA team.

“For Northwestern to battle them — that was still a four point game, under three minutes to go — I thought that was one of the better performances I've seen this year in the league, certainly against Michigan,” Hoiberg said.

The Wildcats led by as many as 16 points early in the second half before Michigan pulled away for a 12-point win. Nick Martinelli leads Northwestern at 22.5 points per game, which ranks fifth nationally, according to ESPN.

Saturday also marks alumni weekend in Lincoln. Hoiberg said it’s fun for former Husker basketball players to see the success on the court this year, which included NU starting 20-0, making it one of the last three undefeated teams in Division I this year.

“They love how this group competes, how hard they play, how unselfish they are, how they play for each other,” the coach said. “And I think (it) brings back great memories for these guys.”

Hoiberg, who was born in Lincoln but moved to Ames, Iowa, as a kid, played against many of the Big Red legends in his four years at Iowa State.

“I remember my senior year, I banked in a three I think to put us up, under 30 seconds to go,” Hoiberg said. “And we had a good win at our place, but I think I had a losing record against Nebraska, if I'm not mistaken, with the eight games that we played back then in the old Big Eight conference.”

The Huskers’ game versus Northwestern is scheduled for noon CT at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, with the Big Ten Network on the broadcast.