LINCOLN — Four days after a blowout loss at home to No. 11 Wisconsin, the Nebraska men's basketball team takes a shot Saturday at No. 16 Michigan State.
After watching film, Husker coach Doc Sadler wondered Friday if a re-ranking is needed.
"I'm not for sure No. 16 isn't playing a lot better than No. 11,'' he said.
Michigan State (12-2, 1-0) handed No. 13 Indiana its first loss Wednesday night 80-65. The Spartans have won 12 straight since season-opening losses to North Carolina and Duke.
Sadler isn't sugar-coating the challenge, especially with two members of his eight-man rotation — center Jorge Brian Diaz (sore feet) and wing Dylan Talley (thigh bruise) — doubtful for a fourth straight game.
"Michigan State athletically is better than seven of our eight spots,'' Sadler said. "And they are playing 24 or 25 minutes (each). So that becomes an issue.''
Even though Nebraska (8-4, 0-1) is short-handed, Sadler said he won't consider pulling the redshirt from guard Ray Gallegos or seeing if center Andre Almeida, still visiting family in Brazil, might be able to contribute when he returns.
"Let's be real, guys,'' Sadler said. "We've got to play really, really good even if we had Andre, Brian, Dylan, Ray ... everybody.
"If I thought one guy was the answer, there's no doubt. But one guy ain't the answer. Winning is my job. I ain't stupid. But it ain't going to be at the expense of a kid.''
As for Michigan State, Sadler said the Spartans' athleticism is so high that it allows their players to make major progress during the season.
"Then when you have a leader like Draymond Green, who coach (Tom) Izzo says is one of his three best leaders in 17 years as a head coach, then that says a lot also,'' Sadler said.
Green, a senior forward from Saginaw, Mich., averages 15.1 points a game and leads the Big Ten in rebounding at 9.6.
The 6-foot-7, 230-pounder has seven double-doubles this year. Last year, he had two triple- doubles. Nebraska has never had a triple-double in its 116-year history.
Facing a ranked team Saturday — and knowing that next week comes road trips against No. 2 Ohio State and an Illinois team receiving votes in the polls — has the Huskers on high alert.
"It's motivation,'' senior wing Caleb Walker said. "We've got four games out the gate that are going to be great games for us. This is another test to see what we have.
"It's going to be work. This is a tough conference.''
Michigan State, during its winning streak, has held opponents to 36.7 percent shooting. That's not good news for a Nebraska offense coming off its most paltry point total at home (40) in 28 years.
"Last game we got a little impatient,'' junior forward Brandon Ubel said. "When we got down, we pressed a little bit.
"But in practice we've really worked on executing our offense, and not panicking when the shot clock gets to 15. There's still a lot of time.''
Any offensive tweaks coming?
"None at all,'' Walker said. "We're just going to keep playing our game.''
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402-444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com
NOTES
• Nebraska coach Doc Sadler said he is still considering a starting lineup change for Saturday.
• During Friday's practice, Nebraska guard-forward Dylan Talley took part in some drills at half-speed. Center Jorge Brian Diaz was limited to dribbling a ball and jogging along the side of the court.
• MSU has reached the Final Four six times in the past 13 years.
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