[Husker] Nebraska 93, Colorado 77

[NUStLNorris at aol.com]

Nebraska responded from the disappointing effort Saturday against Tech with  
one of their best performances of the year tonight at the Devaney Center.   
All five Nebraska starters scored in double figures, led by Wes Wilkinson and  
freshman Jamel White with 17.  Wilkinson and center Aleks Maric both had  
monster games, posting double-doubles (Wes 17 pts., 13 boards; Aleks 13 points  and 
13 boards).  
 
Nebraska led 43-23 at the half as Colorado shot 24 percent from the field  
(my numbers are from memory and taken from the stat boards at the Bob, so  they’
re far-from-official).  The Buffaloes star Richard Roby was held  scoreless in 
the first half.  He ended up with seven for the game.  I  remember first half 
leads of 22-7 and 28-12.  Nebraska’s defense in the  first half was 
tremendous.  Dourisseau played Roby tough and Maric was  dominant inside.  At one time 
in the second half, I looked up and saw that  NU was out-rebounding the Buffs 
by 20 … and the Huskers had 35 defensive boards  with five minutes yet to 
play.  
 
After leading by 20 at the half, Roby scored his first four of the game  
about 90 seconds into the second half.  A follow-dunk by Wilkinson and a  big “3” 
by Jamel White got NU rolling again in the second half.  I believe  the lead 
grew to 63-34 before Colorado -- playing like the desperate team that  they 
were -- mounted a challenge.  They scored 11 straight before NU  answered.  They 
pressed NU and caused some turnovers (at one point NU had  15 turnovers to ‘
rado’s 6).  Most of the time, they were allowing the  inbounds pass, then 
trapping.  
 
Maric had a conventional three-point-play and Charles Richardson hit a big  
15-footer to help slow Colorado’s roll.  The 20-point halftime lead grew to  
29, shrank to 16, increased back to 26 … then Colorado’s Osborn hit some 3’s  
late to draw the game closer (Speaking of Osborne, Tom and his buddy Barry  
Switzer made an appearance in the second half … waved to the crowd during a  
timeout, then said adios about 15 minutes later).
 
Wes Wilkinson had shot less than 50 percent from the field in something  like 
12 of his last 13 games.  He hit some big shots in the first half, as  did 
Marcus Perry (off the bench for a couple of big 3’s in the first half when  NU 
was taking control).  The offense ran through Aleks Maric all night --  as it 
should.  He’d be unstoppable if he’d develop better consistency on  his 
post-up moves and finishing touch around the hoop.  He’s a heckuva’  good passer 
for a big guy -- one of the best passers on our team.   Nebraska’s three-point 
threats (Wes, White, Perry, even Richardson) were getting  great ‘looks’ in 
the first half because the ball went in to Maric and then came  out to an open 
guy.  
 
An example of Maric’s value that doesn’t show up in the box score, to me,  
is seeing Colorado pick up five team fouls in the first seven minutes-or-so of  
the second half -- all of them while attempting to defense the Husker big man 
in  the paint.
 
NU is now tied with Colorado and Texas A&M for 4th place in the  conference, 
behind Texas (who edged KSU in Manhattan tonight), Kansas and  Oklahoma.  NU 
improves to 17-9 overall (Buffs, Aggies at 17-7).
 
The Huskers now get Texas A&M in College Station Saturday  afternoon.  A&M 
will be tough, especially at home, but I doubt they’re  any more comfortable 
playing games that “mean something” than the Huskers  are.
 
Nebraska was dominant tonight -- as dominant as they were disappointing  
against Tech this past weekend.  This one was never in doubt.  I  wouldn’t be 
surprised to see NU play A&M tough this weekend.  Of  course, they’re capable of 
winning down there and then coming home to lose to  KSU.  We’ve seen it before.
 
There was no denying their outstanding effort tonight, however.  Solid  in 
many different aspects against a good team.
 
Dave Norris