"This is a blueprint of how we need to play. ... To attack inside and get to the line, it's not about that one guy making shots, it's about a team being focused on finding weak spots. And it's about team defense."
That was Missouri men's basketball coach Quin Snyder four weeks ago after his club bruised Nebraska 80-70 in Columbia, Mo., to snap a three-game losing streak. During the contest, the Tigers shot a season-best 54.3 percent from the field and made 26 of 31 free throws.
They also got a career-best 31-point performance from 6-foot-8, 233-pound sophomore forward Linas Kleiza, who abused NU by going 8-for-12 from the field and getting to the free-throw line 17 times.
"I don't know why they wouldn't try and do that again," Nebraska forward John Turek said about tonight's rematch in the Devaney Sports Center.
But the senior almost sounded as if he'd welcome that kind of challenge.
"That happens when guys get confidence early and they just have one of those nights," Turek said of Kleiza's big outing. "But, yeah, you kind of get a feeling of you let your teammates down and don't want it to happen again."
Tonight's game will pit a pair of teams who have had plenty of problems following their blueprints.
After beating the Huskers, Missouri, now in a four-way tie for seventh place in the Big 12 with NU, Texas A&M and Colorado, lost five in a row. Having ended that stretch with home victories against Oklahoma and Baylor, the Tigers are currently riding their first two-game winning streak in the Big 12. But they are 0-6 in true road games and 0-9 away from Mizzou Arena.
Meanwhile, Nebraska has won just two of its past nine league games. If that's not gloomy enough for you, the Huskers are coming off their most lopsided defeat of the season ? an 83-60 rout at Oklahoma on Wednesday. In that game, they committed a season-high 26 turnovers.
"It'd certainly be accurate to say we've been less than consistent, from the standpoint of two or three guys playing well and two or three guys not playing well, and then the next game roles reverse," NU coach Barry Collier said.
Before Wednesday's game, Collier hammered "to the Nth degree" how important taking care of the ball would be for his club. But by halftime, the Huskers had 16 turnovers and trailed 40-20.
"Bad offense didn't allow us to play good defense," said Collier, referring to numerous breakaways that led to easy Oklahoma baskets.
Turek believes Nebraska's struggles have been more a result of what it hasn't done than opponents preventing it from doing something. Topping his list is the dreaded ?I' word.
"One of the biggest problems is sustaining our intensity," he said. "Any time you go into halftime, teams are going to make adjustments. But teams that start attacking early in the half usually are going to win. We need to have better mental toughness there."
In the first game against Missouri, NU trailed just 52-51 with 12:30 to play. The Tigers then responded with a decisive 18-5 run. Collier felt like that was an example of the Tigers raising their level of play, as opposed to his club letting up.
"In spite of (Kleiza's) tremendous day, we were in that ball game pretty deep," Collier said. "It's always a tremendous disappointment to not get a game when you play a (large) number of good minutes."
That number was significantly lower Wednesday. The good news for NU is that it's 4-2 this season in games that have followed double-digit losses. And one of those defeats was a 59-57 loss at third-ranked Kansas.
"We've been able to come back in every previous situation," Collier said, pointing specifically to a win at Tennessee that followed a 19-point loss at Marquette and the effort at Kansas that came after a 10-point defeat vs. No. 10 Texas. "The intensity thing, I'm not sure ?the look' was there before those games ... (but) they've responded well and practiced hard. It's never been that we're dragging our tails."
Briefly
At 12-13 and with three of its remaining five regular-season games on the road, Missouri is at serious risk of suffering its first losing season since 1996-97, when the Tigers went 16-17 the first year of the Big 12.
Collier said junior forward Jason Dourisseau will play today. Dourisseau, the Huskers' third-leading scorer and No. 2 rebounder, sat out Wednesday with a sprained left ankle. It was the third game he's missed this season because of that injury. One of those was the contest at Missouri.
That was Missouri men's basketball coach Quin Snyder four weeks ago after his club bruised Nebraska 80-70 in Columbia, Mo., to snap a three-game losing streak. During the contest, the Tigers shot a season-best 54.3 percent from the field and made 26 of 31 free throws.
They also got a career-best 31-point performance from 6-foot-8, 233-pound sophomore forward Linas Kleiza, who abused NU by going 8-for-12 from the field and getting to the free-throw line 17 times.
"I don't know why they wouldn't try and do that again," Nebraska forward John Turek said about tonight's rematch in the Devaney Sports Center.
But the senior almost sounded as if he'd welcome that kind of challenge.
"That happens when guys get confidence early and they just have one of those nights," Turek said of Kleiza's big outing. "But, yeah, you kind of get a feeling of you let your teammates down and don't want it to happen again."
Tonight's game will pit a pair of teams who have had plenty of problems following their blueprints.
After beating the Huskers, Missouri, now in a four-way tie for seventh place in the Big 12 with NU, Texas A&M and Colorado, lost five in a row. Having ended that stretch with home victories against Oklahoma and Baylor, the Tigers are currently riding their first two-game winning streak in the Big 12. But they are 0-6 in true road games and 0-9 away from Mizzou Arena.
Meanwhile, Nebraska has won just two of its past nine league games. If that's not gloomy enough for you, the Huskers are coming off their most lopsided defeat of the season ? an 83-60 rout at Oklahoma on Wednesday. In that game, they committed a season-high 26 turnovers.
"It'd certainly be accurate to say we've been less than consistent, from the standpoint of two or three guys playing well and two or three guys not playing well, and then the next game roles reverse," NU coach Barry Collier said.
Before Wednesday's game, Collier hammered "to the Nth degree" how important taking care of the ball would be for his club. But by halftime, the Huskers had 16 turnovers and trailed 40-20.
"Bad offense didn't allow us to play good defense," said Collier, referring to numerous breakaways that led to easy Oklahoma baskets.
Turek believes Nebraska's struggles have been more a result of what it hasn't done than opponents preventing it from doing something. Topping his list is the dreaded ?I' word.
"One of the biggest problems is sustaining our intensity," he said. "Any time you go into halftime, teams are going to make adjustments. But teams that start attacking early in the half usually are going to win. We need to have better mental toughness there."
In the first game against Missouri, NU trailed just 52-51 with 12:30 to play. The Tigers then responded with a decisive 18-5 run. Collier felt like that was an example of the Tigers raising their level of play, as opposed to his club letting up.
"In spite of (Kleiza's) tremendous day, we were in that ball game pretty deep," Collier said. "It's always a tremendous disappointment to not get a game when you play a (large) number of good minutes."
That number was significantly lower Wednesday. The good news for NU is that it's 4-2 this season in games that have followed double-digit losses. And one of those defeats was a 59-57 loss at third-ranked Kansas.
"We've been able to come back in every previous situation," Collier said, pointing specifically to a win at Tennessee that followed a 19-point loss at Marquette and the effort at Kansas that came after a 10-point defeat vs. No. 10 Texas. "The intensity thing, I'm not sure ?the look' was there before those games ... (but) they've responded well and practiced hard. It's never been that we're dragging our tails."
Briefly
At 12-13 and with three of its remaining five regular-season games on the road, Missouri is at serious risk of suffering its first losing season since 1996-97, when the Tigers went 16-17 the first year of the Big 12.
Collier said junior forward Jason Dourisseau will play today. Dourisseau, the Huskers' third-leading scorer and No. 2 rebounder, sat out Wednesday with a sprained left ankle. It was the third game he's missed this season because of that injury. One of those was the contest at Missouri.
