Nebraska basketball moves up in latest AP Top 25

What questions for coach just in terms of uh opponents. Where does Purdue rank? Road trip with *** two day prep with. Yeah, I mean, Purdue was picked to win the league, and you know they’ve got the most likely player of the year with, uh, with Braden Smith, you know, he and Wagler, I think, are up there at the top, and, you know, everything starts with him. It’s an old experienced group that’s played together for *** long time, and Matt Painter is as good as anybody in this business. So, um, you know, they absolutely handed it to us last year, embarrassed us on their home court, and, uh, we’re gonna have to be on point. This team plays hard. Uh, they’re on the floor. They play together, and we, we can’t give them anything easy. They’re so disciplined in their approach on both ends of the floor. They run *** lot of different coverages defensively, so, you know, early on we’ll see how they’re playing us and adjust accordingly, uh, but offensively they’re so hard to shut down. They’re 3rd in the nation in offensive efficiency. And one of the best defensive teams in the country as well, so you know, *** team that’s, uh, uh, coming off *** couple wins. Lawyers really got it going right now. He’s, he’s 29 and, and I think 19 in his last two games, uh, and you know, again they spray it as well as anybody. They they draw two to the ball, they’re gonna make it pay somewhere, so we have to have great activity level and, uh, very important we get off to *** good start. I mean, we, you just have to do the best job you can. Uh, he’s one of the best 3 level scorers in, uh, in the country, and you know, his ability to get the ball in the pocket. He’s the best pocket passer I’ve ever seen, and, uh, you know, his ability to make tough shots again, he can’t get deflated. I know we talked about that with Francis in the last game, you know, give Rutgers, they, they made *** lot of tough mid-range shots in that game. Um, but I didn’t think we got deflated. I never thought we did, uh, in that game the other night in, in New Jersey. So, you know, for us, you know, he’s gonna do some really things, some, you know, things that, uh, you know, *** lot of wow factor type plays. You just, you can’t, uh, you can’t get discouraged when he does that. You gotta keep playing and keep trying to make things tough. Harkins brace. I, I, you know, I listen, I, it doesn’t matter who our guys have played against. I, I think that they’ve embraced every challenge that we’ve had this season, and, you know, they just happen to be going against *** guy that may be the national player of the Year in this game tomorrow. So, you know, the approach hasn’t changed. You still have to go out and do the little things and, you know, try to have great hand activity. I thought Cale did *** really good job in our game the other, uh, the other day against Rutgers. I thought he got some deflections that really got us going, and that’s when we pulled away early in that game. We didn’t have *** deflection. I think the 1st 8 minutes of that game. We didn’t have any and then you look at the end of it. Sam had 9, Cale had 7, and, uh, you know, overall we reached our, our deflection goal and you have to try and do that against Purdue. It’s hard. It’s really hard to do because they’re so disciplined, they’re such good passers, uh, but you have to do everything you can to, to contest everything whether it’s *** shot or *** pass. Yeah, it, it was important. It was important for Rank to have *** game like that coming off the two. Uh, you know, the Michigan game where obviously he didn’t play and then not being right in the Illinois game and, and had *** couple of struggles before that as well as far as putting the ball in the basket, so it was great to see him. JaMarcus made *** really good play stringing out their ice coverage in the first, uh, one of the first possessions of the game where Rink hit *** 3. it’s important to see the ball go in the basket, and I thought his patience on the post was, was, uh, was elite in, in that game against Rutgers. I think he hit 3. He got the Kareem Award. He made 3 hook shots in *** row, um, you know, so to see Rink, uh, put it in the basket like that and to score *** career high, I think he had *** career high in shot attempts in that game as well. So, and, and listen, our guys did *** really good job of finding him, and that’s one thing this group has done, uh, you know, whether it’s *** switch where you can get the ball inside and play off *** rink. He’s obviously *** very good passer and facilitator. Um, you know, Purdue will run different coverages, so we have to be ready. They do *** great job of double team in the post, uh, coming from the baseline side, so, you know, we have to space the floor properly as well. You know, important in *** game like this, you gotta take care of the basketball. We’ve done *** good job of that all year, uh, but these guys do *** great job with their deflections and getting them out in transition. If you give them easy baskets, you, you can’t beat them. I liked struggled this year’s to them. You got it going from inside the paint is the next step, especially in this matchup, getting him going again. Yeah, I mean, it, it’s, listen, I, I talked about this the other day. Whenever Rink shoots the ball, I think it’s going in, and he’s, he’s getting his legs back, and as *** shooter, the, the game’s *** lot easier when you have your timing, when you have your legs, when you have your conditioning level where it needs to be, and Rink is getting back to that point. I, I know I talked about this *** week ago, but you know, he wasn’t able really to get in here and do any extra work, extra conditioning, and he’s been doing that every day. Uh, since we, I think the day after the Illinois game where he came back in for his really first extra session, uh, and he hadn’t done that much this year, you know, one of its protect the knee, but, you know, also after the illness, you know, obviously he wasn’t able to come back in, uh, so that’s, that’s important. It’s, it’s good for your psyche, I think, when you can come get that extra work and see it go in. It’s also great to see that hard work pay off and you know, when you put that extra time. And the commitment level that our guys have and to see that pay off, um, you know, that’s, it’s important as well. So yeah, Rink, you know, I’ve talked about him *** lot, obviously being *** warrior and being the most disciplined guy, and he’s, he’s ready to go off from 3. I’m, I’m convinced of that. What are the, uh, what are the benefits just mentally of getting that win against Rutgers and kind of being able to mentally put the best. Well, I, you know, we really didn’t think of it that way. We just went, went out, I thought, prepared well for that game, and those early ones are tricky. It’s, you know, it was an 11 a.m. for our guys from, you know, body clock standpoint, and. Again, we got off to *** solid start and then pulled away at the end of the half. I just, I thought we were disciplined the whole game. We, we didn’t have any panic. I thought our movement was, was outstanding, um, you know, we did *** good job playing within the flow or, you know, we chart all of our flow off, uh, offense. We’re 1.54 points per possession when we played straight flow, and that’s *** great sign. We work on that all the time, and I thought our guys cut, uh, really well and, and got, did *** good job getting to the next action, which is *** big part of this system. Um, you know, we’re gonna have to be really good tomorrow. Again, this team is so disciplined in everything they do. It’s such *** credit to their coaching staff with the way that these guys go out and play, um, you know, every night, and, and again we’re gonna have to be on point. This team was projected to win the league for *** reason, and, uh, and they’re right up there. They’ve had 3 really close losses. Uh, they could very easily be undefeated right now. Physicality is important for you guys with Kaufman and rebound. Yeah, it’s it’s always, I mean, listen, our main things, uh, take care of the ball, um, you know, finish off possessions with *** rebound. Those are the two things we always go out and talk about at the end of it and then obviously getting back in transition that goes hand in hand with taking care of the basketball, but, uh, yeah, it’s gonna be important. They, they’ve got length, they crashed the boards, uh, we have to finish our possessions. I thought we thought we were much better in the Rutgers game than we had been the previous two against Michigan and Illinois. But