[Husker] Iowa State 71, Nebraska 62

[NUStLNorris at aol.com]

Disappointing loss for the Huskers in Doc Sadler’s first-ever conference  
game.  NU got out quick (9-4), played well and led 30-27 at the half, but  couldn’
t make it hold up as Iowa State’s Mike Taylor just lit up Hilton Coliseum  
(six 3s total, three of which were bang-bang-bang to ignite ISU‘s pivotal  
game-changing charge early in the second half).  I’ve seen Taylor play  twice and 
he looks to be a great off-the-dribble jump shooter (he did the same  thing to 
Minnesota earlier in the year that he did to Nebraska tonight).  
 
Aleks Maric led Nebraska with 20 points and 13 rebounds, but he just  doesn’t 
get any help on the frontline. Nebraska starts Maric and four  guards.  When 
Aleks went out for a breather at one time tonight, they  played with five 
guards.  Freshman Ryan Anderson is the one guard NU has  who can do some things on 
the inside (post, pass, finish and rebound), but he  hasn’t been himself 
since sustaining an injury a few games ago.  Maric  looked tired at about the 
10-minute mark of the second half, but it‘s hard to be  real critical of him.  He’
s trying to do the work of at least two  men.  Help is on the way (6-foot-9 
inch JUCO recruit Shang Ping, among  others), but it won’t be here until next 
year.  And like Coach Doc just  said on his radio show, this year is this year 
and we’ve got to play with what  we got.
 
Wesley Johnson also had a point-rebound double-double for ISU.  NU  played 
hard, but forced some shots in the second half and didn’t play defense  well 
enough to suit their coach.  ISU was scorching in the second half (44  second 
half points), but NU still trimmed an 11-point deficit to 55-51 at the  
under-four minute media timeout.  ISU made the  plays down the  stretch.  Taylor’s 
streak really seemed to ignite the rest of ISU’s game  early in half number two.
 
NU is now 11-4 on the season and 0-1 in the Big XII.  ISU improves to  11-5 
and 2-0 in league play.  Oklahoma State is going to lose to Kansas  toinght in 
Lawrence by about 30.  They’ll be in a nasty mood when they  visit the Devaney 
Center Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
 
Last year, NU ranked 286th in Division I field goal shooting, this year  they’
re ranked #8 at 51.5 percent (coming into tonight).  They are third in  the 
conference in free throw shooting.  They shot very well from the field  in the 
first half tonight, but didn’t make their charity tosses in the second  like 
they have the rest of the season.
 
My point is, they lost, but they come to play every night and were far from  
embarrassing themselves on this night.  They’ve improved greatly under this  
new coach and are only going to get better in the coming years.  Rebounding  is 
going to be a big concern for the remainder of the year, but I love the way  
Doc Sadler’s teams are going to play.  They’re undersized, save for Maric,  
but they’re going to play some good ball this year.  
 
Good things are on the horizon (he’s been coach at Nebraska for about six  
months and a week now) … I’ve seen enough to say that I have a strong belief  
that this is the guy to finally build a basketball program that sustains at  
Nebraska.  We shall see.
 
Dave Norris