NU men will play Charlotte in NIT
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By BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
Nebraska’s name had been on the large TV screen in the Huskers’ locker room lounge for at least a couple of minutes.
Suddenly, Ryan Anderson realized the best part of his team’s inclusion in the National Invitation Tournament.
“We’re at home?” Anderson said with surprise.
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Yes, Doc Sadler explained.
Anderson, watching the NIT Selection Show with his coaches and teammates, let out a holler, then pulled out his cell phone to begin sharing his joy.
Many followers figured the Huskers, at 19-12, would be included in the NIT. The home game, however, may have surprised more than Anderson.
“You never know,” Sadler said with a smile.
Nebraska, a No. 3 seed, will host No. 6 seed Charlotte in Wednesday’s first round. Tip-off is 8 p.m. at the Devaney Center, and the game will be televised on ESPN Classic.
The winner will play either No. 2 seed Mississippi or No. 7 seed UC-Santa Barbara, as early as Friday or as late as Monday. Higher-seeded teams host games until the final four teams meet in New York.
Nebraska is seeking its first 20-win season since 1998-99. It’s the Huskers’ 15th trip to the NIT, their third appearance in five years, and the first in Sadler’s two seasons as head coach. The Huskers are 22-13 in the NIT, with a championship in 1996.
“I’m happy to be in the NIT, but I’m even happier to keep playing with this great team,” Nebraska senior Aleks Maric said. “It’s a great bunch of guys, and great coaches.”
Postseason play of any sort is an important step for a team that returns everybody but Maric for next season.
“Each and every day that something happens to them that hasn’t happened can’t do anything but help them,” Sadler said.
“When you’re trying to get a program to do some things maybe that it’s never done before consistently — and that’s not to slight the success that we’ve had here at times — but to put a string together, you’ve got to start somewhere.”
Charlotte, 20-13 overall, was 9-7 in the Atlantic 10 Conference and finished in a three-way tie for fourth after being picked to finish 10th. The 49ers have won six of their last eight games, with both losses coming to NCAA Tournament qualifier Temple, a team Charlotte defeated once during the regular season.
It’s Charlotte’s eighth postseason bid in 10 seasons under Bobby Lutz, who became the school’s all-time winningest coach this season. Five of those trips have been to the NCAA Tournament.
The 49ers are led by senior guard Leemire Goldwire, who’s 126-of-362 from three-point range. He has a school record six 30-point games this season.
The 32-team NIT field includes two teams in last year’s NCAA title game, Florida and Ohio State. The Big 12 Conference, which sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament, also has Oklahoma State in the NIT. In-state rival Creighton qualified as a No. 3 seed, but the Huskers and Bluejays couldn’t meet until the championship game.
“There are so many teams that deserve to continue to play and don’t get the opportunity,” Sadler said “It says a lot about our team. Our guys have continued to play hard all year long, when they’ve had chances to maybe doubt themselves.”
That could’ve been after an 0-4 start to the Big 12 season, which included two lopsided losses to Kansas, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers rebounded with a 7-5 finish in conference play and went 1-1 in the Big 12 Tournament, this time giving Kansas a game to the final two minutes.
“I do think this team’s playing pretty good right now,” Sadler said.
Nebraska went 4-7 against teams in the NCAA Tournament, with victories over Oregon, Kansas State, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.
“This league, this year, was unbelievable,” Sadler said. “If we’d have had this team last year, we’d be playing in the NCAA my first year, and that might not have been good.
“For this team to compete the way that it did with the start that we had says a lot about them. I think it’s really going to help them down the road.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
