We get our first chance to see BYU Basketball in action Friday night when the Cougs host Nebraska in the Marriott Center at 7pm MT. The game is on ESPN+. This is the return game of last year’s exhibition in Lincoln, which the Huskers won 90-89. 5-Star Wing AJ Williams will be in attendance.
BYU won a closed scrimmage last Saturday versus Long Beach State 102-53, a game in which Rob Wright and Bruce Branch were two of three players to each score 20 points.
Nebraska lost their exhibition opener to Saint Louis last Friday, 79-74. You shouldn’t really draw many conclusions from an exhibition since coaches are toying with lineups and sets; they’re not playing their lineup in such a way to try to win. Nebraska played 13 players in the game.
I expect BYU to have most of its players available, including Jaxon Kohler.
BYU and Nebraska by the Numbers
BYU KenPom: 33
EvanMiya: 25
Nebraska KenPom: 16
EvanMiya: 27
Nebraska Overview
Nebraska lost 4 starters from a team that made the Sweet 16 last year. The one starter they return is First-Team All Big 10 forward Pryce Sandfort, who averaged 18 points on 42% shooting from three. They also return their third-leading scorer and Big 10 Sixth Man of the Year Braden Frager. UVU transfer and Utah native Trevan Leonhardt was one of the main transfers they brought in. They will be out with one of their top transfers in Sam Orme, who also missed their first exhibition.
Nebraska is expected to be a quality team once again, but some of the metrics are higher on them than the humans in the preseason. KenPom has Nebraska 16, while they are just outside the top 25 in ESPN’s early rankings and are 33 in Rothstein’s preseason top 45.
What I am Watching
- BYU’s Starting Five. I expect BYU’s starting 5 this season to be Jaxon Kohler, Tyler Betsey, Bruce Branch, Collin Chandler, and Rob Wright. We’ll see if that materializes.
- BYU’s Frontcourt. Jaxon Kohler is eligible, and I expect him to play this game. I’m also curious how BYU uses its other center options, Khadim Mboup and Petar Ostojic. Does BYU play Kohler and Mboup on the floor much together? That is an intriguing option that would reduce spacing with Mboup’s inability to shoot, but give BYU more rebounding and size.
- How well does BYU rebound? Rebounding is one of my main question marks for this team. I know Jaxon Kohler can rebound, but how much does everyone else chip in? BYU will give up size versus a good chunk of Big 12 teams, so they will need guards/wings to be active on the glass.
- BYU Three-Point attempts. BYU is gonna launch this year. This team has elite spacing and several shooters, and that will be a key foundation of the team. BYU shot 34 threes in their LBSU exhibition, and I’m curious to see what they put up this game.
- Bench Players. BYU has several players that could crack the rotation this year, and I’m excited to see how they show up in this game. Mboup and Jake Wahlin will for sure be part of the rotation, but how do others look? BYU will need Nate Pickens to be a guard reserve, and I want to see what his handle, shooting, and defense look like. Brooks Bahr fresh off his mission — can he push Nate Pickens for minutes in the backcourt? Brody Kozlowski, Dean Rueckert, and Dovyidas Buika will also look to make their mark. This is first chance for them to show what they can do in a real game setting.