One of Nebraska coach Doc Sadler's preseason goals was to make the NCAA tournament, and he's sticking to it even though the Cornhuskers are the only team in the Big 12 without a conference win.
``If you look at the history of this league, and especially lately, you see teams that were 3-6 or 2-5 come back and be in the NCAA tournament,'' Sadler said. ``This thing is a long, long way from being a panic situation, and I don't know that we'll be in that situation no matter what happens Saturday. I know I won't be. Patience is going to be a critical thing with this basketball team, and that's going to start with me.''
The Huskers (12-6, 0-3) visit Missouri on Saturday and travel to Colorado on Wednesday before playing five of six games against Top 25 opponents.
Nebraska had leads against Big 12 foes Texas A&M, Kansas and Iowa State. But long second-half scoring droughts doomed the Huskers.
``We have to show a sense of urgency to win games and finish down the stretch in the second half,'' senior guard Sek Henry said. ``That's our problem. We're playing good first halves but second halves aren't going well at all.''
The Huskers squandered a chance at home last Saturday against Iowa State, making just two field goals and two free throws in the final 10 1/2 minutes of a 56-53 loss.
``We should have won that game,'' Henry said. ``I know I missed about five free throws I should have made. Our post players could have played more aggressively in the post and scored some more baskets for us. We had an off night the second half. We can't live by what happened that day.''
Nebraska might have gotten a couple more late possessions against ISU if it had managed the clock and foul situation better. Sadler admitted to losing track of how many team fouls the Huskers had committed. Nebraska had only five fouls in the last seconds, so when the Huskers fouled out of desperation, Iowa State was able to inbound the ball rather than shoot a one-and-one.
Sadler said his blunder was bigger than any mistake a Nebraska player had made in his four years as coach.
The Huskers also lost track of fouls in the previous game, mistakenly thinking it had one to give when fouling Kansas' Sherron Collins in the final seconds of the first half. Collins went to the line and made two free throws.
After a soft nonconference schedule, the margin for error has narrowed significantly for the Huskers, who have played in the NIT four of the last six years and haven't made the NCAA tournament since 1998.
``I don't think there is anyone playing any harder than we are,'' Sadler said. ``There are guys making some shots that we're not making. There are guys getting to the free-throw line more than we are and they're making free throws. I'm not happy we're 0-3, but I see a lot of positives with this basketball team.''
The Huskers are allowing only 68 points in conference play, best in the Big 12, but are scoring a league-low 59.3.
They're shooting just 38.8 percent from the field and 60.5 percent from the line, and they're 11th in rebounding margin.
Lance Jeter has an impressive 2.3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio as the Huskers' first-year point guard, newcomer Christian Standhardinger has given the Huskers quality minutes at forward and guard Brandon Richardson turned in a couple gutty performances last week despite battling flu and a thigh injury.
``Any time you play with great effort, you have a chance of winning,'' Richardson said. ``If you can execute as well as having the effort, you end up on the better side of the stick.''
