Signs of Progress

I asked Coach Sadler this week if his team needed to gain a postseason bid for any sort of season validation. He said that was more for the fans, that his team had accomplished a lot.

The Huskers are no doubt feeling a little more validated after Thursday night’s win over Missouri.

Nebraska beat the Tigers 61-56 in the first round of the Big XII Tournament.

Winning a game you’re supposed to win in a pressure situation shows your program is in good hands.

For only the second time in the last nine seasons, the Huskers won a game in the conference tournament.

Afterwards, Sadler was asked how big the win was for the overall momentum of the program. “Each time we do something we haven’t done, it’s gotta help us. This was just another step. It’s hard to sit there and listen to you guys on tv talk about seven out of the last eight years we haven’t won down here… it starts messing with people’s heads… I was conscious of that. We were fortunate enough to get the win, and hopefully it will help us.”

Next up: Kansas.

Can the Huskers keep it close?

Sadler admitted to there being mixed emotions with the win over Missouri. “My question is do you (media) have any suggestions, because what I’ve done hasn’t worked. We’ll have to play near-perfect basketball. It’s a tough matchup for us…. We’ll give them effort for forty minutes. We have the last four times we’ve played them, but the scores have been out of whack. I’m happy and sad I guess.”