Pre-Game Report
Playing first time opponents back to back isn't common to Georgetown, having happened just twice in past 32 years. The task, on short notice for the staff, is how to address a veteran team from Nebraska in the second round of the College Basketball Crown.
Seven seniors, including three starters, comprise the core of a veteran Cornhuskers team that started its season 12-2, with wins over Creighton, UCLA, and Illinois, but struggled through a pair of losing streaks that kept them outside the NCAA tournament field. An 86-78 win Monday over Arizona State behind 30 points from senior Brice Williams carried Nebraska to the second round where it will face Georgetown for the first time in that school's history.Williams' ability to carry the Huskers is not in question: a first team all Big Ten selection, he has led the team in scoring 17 times this season, with a career high of 43 versus Ohio State. What is in question: what (or more precisely, who) does Georgetown put up against him?
More on the Cornhuskers follows at the Pre-Game Report page.
Monday's "Health Incident": What Was it?
Monday's late press drop that two starters were out of action just one hour before game time remains largely unanswered.
At that time, the sports information office announced that due to a "health incident", multiple players would not be available for the game, but failed to identify neither the cause nor the players. It was not until the starting lineups for both teams were posted online that, absent Drew Fielder, some combination of Micah Peavy, Jayden Epps, and Kayvaun Mulready would not see action. As such, Georgetown had only five active scholarship players, with walk-ons Austin Montgomery, Hashem Asadallah, and Michael Van Raaphorst seeing first half duty. (Walk-on Mason Moses is out for the season with a knee injury.)"If I had to guess, this is not as serious as the Hoyas made it sound," writes reporter Graham Weir. "I would imagine that the cryptic statement probably relates to something like food poisoning, the flu or norovirus. Perhaps the players ate some bad food at one of the buffets in Las Vegas. Maybe they hit it too hard at Omnia. Perhaps they just didn't want to play in The Crown. Nobody outside of the locker room knows for certain."
Here’s a quick clip from last night’s postgame press conference.
— Patrick Waring (@WaringPatrick) April 1, 2025
Coach Ed Cooley was asked about player availability and the statement that was released before the game. #Hoyas pic.twitter.com/00FermzFNV
Announcing a starting five for Nebraska is likely to wait until just before gametime.
