[Husker] Nebraska 60, Baylor 45

[NUStLNorris at aol.com]

Nebraska put forth a TREMENDOUS second half defensive effort and survived a  
first half scare by an upstart Baylor team tonight at the Devaney Center.   
Nebraska, down 30-23 at the half after a 17-point first half outburst by  Baylor’
s Aaron Bruce (five for seven from behind the arc), ended up 20 for 22  from 
the line for the game and kept the turnovers at a minimum.  Nebraska  shot 
horribly tonight and still survived.  They couldn’t have ended up much  over 30 
percent for the night from the field.  Nebraska outscored the Bears  26-5 over 
the first 15 minutes of the second half … in all, a 22-point second  half 
differential.  Over the past two games, wins against OSU and the  Bears, the 
Huskers have gone 36 for 40 from the line.  Not bad for a  mid-60s percentage team 
for the year.
 
That first half was a nightmare-in-progress for the crowd to watch,  which my 
guess would put on a par with the Mizzou crowd which I believe was  around 
8,200 (actual fannies in the seats).  Baylor, led by Bruce, shot 60  percent 
from behind the arc in the first half before the defense really  intensified in 
the second half for the Big Red, who dropped Baylor's shot  percentage into the 
20s for the last half of play.  As the defense  improved, the rebounding edge 
started to mount.  
 
The second half surge was led by the big Aussie, Aleks Maric.  The  6’11” 
center ended up with 14 points and 13 rebounds.  In the second half,  NU made a 
noticeable effort to pound it inside to Maric.  He’s really  starting to show 
that he’s better than his numbers indicate from the charity  stripe.  Wes 
Wilkinson scored 15 and carried NU in the first half.   Jason Dourisseau had as 
good a game as he’s ever had, finishing with 16 points,  10 rebounds and nary a 
turnover.  Jamel White didn’t have a great offensive  night, but he didn’t 
turn the ball over and contributed seven rebounds.
 
These are the types of games that, according to “convenient” definition,  
only become “big” games if they end up being losses.  This was an  absolutely 
HUGE win for Nebraska and it makes the up-to-date Big XII standings  look like 
this with two games (OU at KU and CU at ISU) scheduled for  tomorrow:
 
Texas, 7-1, 19-3
Colorado, 5-2, 15-3
Oklahoma, 5-2, 14-4
Kansas,  5-2, 14-6
Nebraska, 5-3, 15-6
Texas Tech, 4-4, 12-10
Iowa State, 3-4,  13-7
Kansas State, 3-5, 12-7
Oklahoma State, 3-5, 13-9
Texas A&M,  3-6, 13-7
Missouri, 3-6, 10-10
Baylor, 1-7, 1-7
 
Looking at how their conference season has unfolded … the Huskers won their  
first two (OU and KSU), lost their next three (ISU, KU and CU), and have now 
won  their last three (Mizzou, OSU and Baylor).
 
This sets up a game Wednesday night that many thought not possible after  
Kansas pummeled Nebraska in Lawrence on January 21.  The re-match in  Lincoln 
should be an electric atmosphere (relative to the usual “Lincoln  Library” 
standards and noise levels) with the Huskers having a chance to go 6  and 3 in 
league play for the first time since I-don’t-know-when.  Kansas is  playing well 
(tomorrow’s game against OU in Lawrence at noon C.S.T. on CBS is  must-see 
television for me along with that football game) and they’ve gotten a  lot of 
credit regionally and nationally for playing well here lately.   Nebraska will 
have a great opportunity to really open some eyes if they can take  it to the 
Jayhawks Wednesday night.  It will be a huge conference game --  the kind of game 
that we’re used to watching other schools play in.
 
Dave Norris