Lincoln, Neb. ? Head coach Doc Sadler and sophomore guard Ryan Anderson, the only two members of the Nebraska basketball program available for interviews after Saturday night’s 79-58 loss to Kansas University, tried to look in the mirror to explain the blowout.
The more they looked, the harder time they had finding any warts.
“We played good,” Anderson said. “I don’t know what it was, man. I can’t call it. I’m just being honest. I can’t call it.”
Neither could Sadler.
“Going into the game, if you would have told me we would turn the basketball over only 12 times and give up only 15 points in transition, I would have said I really, really like our chances against a team that’s playing as good as anybody in the country,” Sadler said. “As far as the turnovers and the transition baskets, we can’t play any better than that. They’re averaging 22 turnovers a game, and we come in and turn it over 12 times.”
ESPN color commentator Fran Fraschilla worked the game and is among those who have called Kansas the best team in the country. Sadler didn’t argue the point.
“It’s not me, it’s everybody that’s so-called seen a lot of basketball that thinks they’re playing as well as they can play,” Sadler said. “You have to pick your poison with them. I mean, you shoot 10-for-22 from the three-point line, then that makes (Sasha) Kaun harder to defend. That makes (Darnell) Jackson harder to defend. That makes (Darrell) Arthur harder to defend.”
Sadler took another look at the box score in his hands, trying to find a reason to offer constructive criticism of his team.
“I’m sitting here, we got beat by 21 points, and as sick as this might sound, I’m not that disappointed in how we played,” Sadler said.
Effort wasn’t the problem for the Cornhuskers (11-3).
“Our defense is good enough,” Sadler said. “There ain’t no question about that. It’s just that offense is what separates you and gives you a chance, and we don’t have enough of that. … We could have got the ball to Aleks (Maric) more.”
