Nebraska looks downcast but still dangerous

Steve Carp

Tuesday, March 9, 1999 | 10:08 a.m.

Heartbreak in mid-March is nothing new to Danny Nee. He has been through so much of it, he almost has become an expert on March Sadness.

The letdown that comes with failing to make it to the NCAA Tournament is understandable. But it can be harder for those who are selected to play in the National Invitation Tournament than those who are home for good.

If your season officially ended Sunday, you can brood about it for a few days and then you move on to prepare for next year. But if you're one of the 32 NIT teams, you don't have time to brood. There's another game to play and prepare for. And that isn't always easy.

In his 13 years at Nebraska, Nee has been on both sides of the fence. He has savored the jubilation that comes with hearing your name called on Selection Sunday and he has wallowed in the despair of sorts that comes from hearing from New York later that day.

Nee's team will still be in action for the ninth straight postseason when it hosts UNLV at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Devaney Center. While this will be Nebraska's sixth NIT appearance under Nee, the sting of the NCAA snub still hurts.

"I felt we should have gone to the NCAA, but I'm grateful we're still playing," Nee said after the Cornhuskers' 19-12 overall mark wasn't considered worthy of the Big Dance. "But if you're going to be in the NIT, you might as well try and win it."

That was Nebraska's rallying cry in 1996. The Cornhuskers were a 15-14 team that managed to run the table and win it all at Madison Square Garden, beating Jerry Tarkanian's Fresno State team in the quarterfinals at Fresno.

No doubt that will be Nee's incentive as he tries to get Nebraska emotionally ready to play a 16-12 UNLV team that knew it wasn't going dancing and is looking to finish up on a higher note than the one on which it exited last week's WAC tournament.

Nee said the time-honored cliche of not looking ahead was the key to Nebraska's 1996 NIT success.

"In the NIT, you've got to play 'em one at a time," he said. "It's a one-and-done situation and if you take that mentally and you get your kids ready, you've got a chance."

Nebraska, which had beaten Kansas twice during the regular season and also beat Big 12 foes Missouri and Oklahoma, both NCAA-bound, did well in regular-season play at 11-6. But the Huskers dropped four of their last six and that may have been what did them in.

In several of those losses, turnovers cost Nebraska. In their Big 12 quarterfinal loss to Kansas, the Huskers turned it over 27 times. Nebraska averages 18 miscues a game while getting just 14 assists.

That's not a good ratio and Nee knows it.

"It's been a problem all season," he said. "Guys don't constantly make good decisions."

One thing Nebraska does do well is get the ball to 6-foot-10 senior center Venson Hamilton. The Big 12's Player of the Year averaged just under 16 points and 10.3 rebounds this season.

"He's made it look easy," Nee said. "He's a big, mobile guy who has come into his own as a player."

Hamilton's help comes from guard Cookie Belcher, who averages 11.5 points and is Nebraska's top assist man at 4.3. Senior forward Larry Florence averages 9.5 points. After that, the numbers drop off somewhat.

Nee said there's no sense in worrying about the past.

"There's a lot of teams in the NIT that should be in the NCAAs," he said. "But you've just got to take the cards you're dealt and play."

Hoop du jour It's going to be a long day for UNLV. The team left early today for Omaha via Los Angeles and it's supposed to snow this afternoon, which could make the drive to Lincoln that much longer. The Rebels will practice at the Devaney Center this evening. ... It doesn't appear Wednesday's game will be televised back to Las Vegas. The time frame was too short to get everything in place. However, the game will be broadcast live on KXNT 840 AM beginning with an expanded one-hour pregame show at 4 p.m. ... Because of the team's travel, coach Bill Bayno's weekly radio show will not be aired tonight. ... Eight of Nebraska's 12 losses came to teams that are in the NCAA Tournament, including Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Texas, Tulsa, Villanova, Wisconsin and Minnesota.