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Lincoln – The Nebraska basketball team will face a tough challenge in the opening round of the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, when the Huskers face homestanding Hawaii in its tournament opener.
The Huskers and Rainbow Warriors will tip off at Midnight (central) on Dec. 23, in a game televised nationally on ESPNU from the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
The Huskers, who return all five starters from a team that went 19-13 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, face a Rainbow Warrior squad that returns eight letterwinners from a team that won 20 games, its highest win total in a decade, in 2013-14. Hawaii is led by junior forward Isaac Fotu, who earned first-team All-Big West honors by averaging 14.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Fotu is a teammate of Husker sophomore guard Tai Webster on New Zealand’s national team this summer. Hawaii was 14-5 at the Stan Sheriff Center in 2013-14.
Other first-round matchups on Monday, Dec. 22, include Ohio University vs. George Washington (1:30 p.m.), DePaul vs. Colorado (3:30 p.m.) and Loyola Marymount vs. Wichita State (10 p.m.). Fans in Lincoln will see the Huskers play twice on television on Dec. 23, as Nebraska will face either defending Missouri Valley Champion Wichita State or Loyola Marymount in the second round on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.
Nebraska is 2-6 against Hawaii all-time with all eight previous meetings taking place in the state of Hawaii. While the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic is in its sixth year of existence, Nebraska has squared off with Hawaii three other times in holiday tournaments (1979, 1997 and 2006) when the Huskers played in the Rainbow Classic. The Huskers will be looking for their first win over Hawaii since 1976.
Nebraska is 6-5 all-time against Wichita State, but the teams have not met in the regular season since 1993. The last meeting between the Huskers and Shockers, who went 35-1 and finished the 2013-14 regular season ranked second in the country, was a WSU win in the first round of the 2011 NIT. The Huskers have faced Loyola Marymount only once, a 67-66 win on Dec. 12, 1980.
The multi-day, destination event will feature 12 games over three days. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracketed-tournament format. Three of the 12 matchups, including the championship game, will be showcased on ESPN2. ESPNU will carry seven games, and one will be exclusive to ESPN3.
Five of the participating teams appeared in the 2013-14 postseason, including Nebraska, Wichita State, Colorado, George Washington, all of which earned second-round berths in the NCAA Championship. Ohio advanced through the quarterfinals of the Collegeinsider.com Postseason Tournament.
www.HawaiianAirlinesDiamondHeadClassic.com.
Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic (Schedule subject to change)
Date Time (CT) Game Network
Mon., Dec 22 1:30 p.m. Ohio vs. George Washington ESPNU
3:30 p.m. DePaul vs. Colorado ESPNU
10 p.m. Loyola Marymount vs. Wichita State ESPNU
Tues., Dec 23 Midnight Nebraska vs. Hawaii ESPNU
1:30 p.m. Consolation #1 ESPNU
3:30 p.m. Semifinal #1 ESPNU
8 p.m. Semifinal #2 ESPN2
10:30 p.m. Consolation #2 ESPNU
Thurs., Dec 25 12:30 or 3 p.m. 7th-place Game ESPNU or ESPN3
12:30 or 3 p.m. 5th-place Game ESPNU or ESPN3
5:30 p.m. 3rd-place Game ESPN2
7:30 p.m. Championship Game ESPN2Grammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON, LINCOLN JOURNAL-STAR
A year ago at this time, Vincent Valentine walked into fall camp having just been issued what amounted to a public challenge from his coach.
During last year’s Big Ten Media Days, Bo Pelini talked about the “self-imposed hurdles” the Husker defensive tackle faced, and how Valentine needed to “learn how to work and how to push through.”
Valentine nods his head when reminded of that anniversary. You’ll get no dispute from him about such analysis from a year ago. But he also feels he has traveled some distance from that point: Still plenty to prove, yes, but the sophomore feels different. A good kind of different.
“I think I have a different mind state,” Valentine said. “Going into that year, I’d never played. I kind of took things for granted a little bit. I really wasn’t out there … knowing what it takes to be on the field with the guys.
“I didn’t know what I really wanted. But now that I’ve been on the field, I know what it takes to get to where I want to be, because the ultimate goal is always to go to the league. So I’ve been pushing myself harder. I’ve gained mental strength, and I think that’s the most important thing to me.”
Handle things from the neck up and Valentine trusts his physical skills to do the rest, including taking on a greater workload than the roughly 25 to 30 snaps a game he usually played last year.
"I don’t really have a snap-count projection," he said for the season ahead. "My goal personally is to be out there every snap.”
You can understand why he has high hopes, especially considering he was starting to play some of his best football at the end of the season. Three of his five tackles for loss in 2013 came in the final two games, including a few snaps against Iowa where he barged into the backfield like it was his own backyard.
The 6-foot-3 Valentine is also in the best shape he’s been. Weighing 343 pounds when he first arrived to the program, he entered fall camp weighing about 318 pounds.
“That’s some bad weight gone,” Valentine said.
The weight came off gradually. When conditioning was done, Valentine would run extra sprints to try to help knock off some pounds.
Now he talks about losing even a few more, eating right, being disciplined.
That discipline to drop weight, he thinks, can be applied to other phases of the game, too.
Defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski talks about discipline often.
“From the football field, everything carries over to life as well. That’s what Kaz taught me,” Valentine said. “If you are doing things on the field wrong, you’ll probably see it carry over to your regular life. So I kind of keep everything balanced throughout my life. I know eating right helps me on the field. I can see things carrying over from football to my regular life.”
Kaczenski and Valentine now both enter their third year in the program together. The defensive tackle admitted it took some time to adjust to the expectations of his new coach.
Before he got on campus, he had heard Kaz was as intense as they come. He wondered what awaited him.
“But the adjustment period is over for me now,” Valentine said. “I felt Kaz out and he felt me out, but we know each other. … He’s only going to get on you if you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do and he expects, because he has high expectations.”
That's cool with Valentine. You see, so does he.Grammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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not good....
Steven M. Sipple @HuskerExtraSip 31m
#Huskers nickel corner Charles Jackson watches practice with left knee in brace and leg tightly wrapped. No official word on injury.
Brian Christopherson @HuskerExtraBC 2m
Bo Pelini said in text message Jackson is day to day. He will be further evaluated on Thursday. Jackson seemed in positive spirits #HuskersGrammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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Grammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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Jackson out for the season. Not good. Behind Gregory and Collins, probably the third most important player not to lose on he DGrammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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Not good news. Jack Hoffman's cancer is no longer in remissionComment
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Poor kid. Hope he beats it again.Shut the fuck up Donny!Comment
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I couldn't imagine the emotional ups and downs the family has gone through.... its so sad to read thisOriginally posted by UMStan White View PostGrammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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Fake Pelini at it again.. hehGrammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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He's just great. Love it.Comment
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LMAO!Shut the fuck up Donny!Comment
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LOL..
Fake Bo Pelini @FauxPelini 50m
.@WebMD Can you really get Ebola from juggling goldfish, need to know quickly pleaseGrammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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Leroy Alexander suspended for season...Grammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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that's two safeties UNL lost this week... that will cost UNL a game imoGrammar... The difference between feeling your nuts and feeling you're nuts.Comment
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