[Husker] Texas 62, Nebraska 61

[NUStLNorris at aol.com]

Nebraska was poised to win this one ugly, but came up one shot short in a  
heart-breaking one-point loss to first-year stud Kevin Durant and the Texas  
Longhorns.  Durant's going to make a lot of money real soon.  If this  is the 
only time NU sees him in his career, it's o.k. by me.  Great young  player who 
had about 26 points and 15 rebounds (unofficially).  Texas  turned it over 17 
times to help keep the Huskers in it.  Senior Marcus  Perry hit four 3s in the 
first half as the Huskers hit 7 out of their first 10  from behind the arc.
 
The first five minutes of the second half was uhg-lee!  NU was  throwin' it 
all over the place but Texas couldn't take advantage.  The  'Horns ended up 
turning it over more than NU did for the night.  
 
Aleks Maric looks like he's tired and getting tired of doing all the inside  
work, but what can you do?  I saw NU coach Doc Sadler just put his head in  
his hand once when Texas got back-to-back offensive rebounds on one second half  
possession.  You can't coach 'em to grow.  Maric only had one foul in  the 
first half (Texas led by 3 at intermission), but he picked up two quick ones  in 
the first five minutes of the second half to spell potential trouble for  NU. 
 The Huskers played for the next five minutes with five  guards.  Somehow 
they scapped, clawed and gutted through it.
 
After Texas increased their lead to a game-high eight at 51-43,  the Huskers 
put together a 16-8 stretch to tie it at 59, much to the delight of  an 
enthusiastic, non-sellout crowd at the Devaney Center.  In the game's  last :30, 
Texas worked the shot clock, then missed a pull-up floater.   Maric rebounded and 
got it to Jamel White with plenty of time (eight seconds)  for one last-ditch 
attempt.  NU was out of timeouts so White worked it up  the right side, went 
right toward the baseline, and actually got a decent  pull-up floater of his 
own that looked like it just missed over the rim,  off the iron from about 7 
feet.  A pretty decent look that just didn't  go down.  NU was out of timeouts 
when White got the ball, but I don't think  it hurt them.  Sadler used his 
timeouts to stop a couple of Texas runs in  the second half.  Looking back on it, 
I think he utilized his timeouts  well.
 
Freshman Ryan Anderson has been hobbled for about a month with a leg  injury, 
but you can see him coming and "getting there" more-and-more every  game.  
We've really missed him.  He did some good things and hit some  big shots 
towards the latter part of the game.  He's really a "heady"  player for a young kid. 
 Needs to get back to 100 percent.
 
NU had Marcus Perry fronting Durant a large portion of the time, with Maric  
always staying close to offer inside help when he posted up.  When he  didn't 
post up, he was strokin' it from behind-the-arc.  This is a great  young 
player.
 
NU has no size at all, save for Maric.  They'll get out-rebounded  every 
game.  It's frustrating when Maric has trouble finishing around the  basket, but 
you've got to cut him SOME slack when you consider the load he's  carrying and 
the attention he's drawing.  He finished with 15 points and 12  rebounds, I 
believe.  Marcus Perry led NU with around 17 (extremely  unofficial).
 
Tonight, I thought NU's defensive effort was outstanding.  It's easy  to get 
behind Sadler and his program.  He needs some more players (emphasis  on at 
least SOME size) and when he gets them, I can't wait to watch.  NU  drops to 
12-6 on the year, 1 and 3 in conference.  
 
This one hurts.  It hurts more now than it did five minutes ago.   Great 
effort.  Heart-breaking loss.  This one was there to be  had.
 
Dave Norris