[Husker] Nebraska 85, Oklahoma State 73

Mon Mar 5 22:53:34 CST 2007

Doc Sadler's Cornhuskers notched their long-awaited and much-needed 17th win on the season tonight in Lincoln on Senior Night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.  Appropriately enough, senior Marcus Perry put on a 3-point shooting clinic in the first half.

Neither team started out shooting at all well ... not much scoring in the game's first four minutes.  Nebraska managed to hit a couple from behind the arc for a 6-0 start and, if I recall correctly, were never behind.  Perry missed his first two shots, then proceeded to hit six straight from behind the arc when this game was swinging in Nebraska's favor.  Marcus - with wife and two kids in the stands - was absolutely unconscious.  NU closed the half with a flurry to lead 36-23 at the break as Perry had 18 points.  It's not surprising that Charles Richardson played all 40 minutes tonight, but so did Perry!  This is the guy who, because of some physical ailments (including stress fractures to his legs), really can't do much at practice except shoot.

Perry tied his career-high with a team-high 25 points, adding six rebounds as well.  He ended up seven out of 10 from behind the arc.  Aleks Maric played an inspired game and finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds.  Four Huskers scored in double figures as walk-on Paul Velander started and scored 20 (four for nine on 3s).  Freshman Jay-R Strowbridge scored 11, had four rebounds and five assists.

Nebraska came out smokin' in the second half as Perry hit from just inside the arc on the first possession.  Then everyone started hitting (Richardson was the only one who didn't shoot well, but he had eight assists and was his usual steadying force for this team).  Nebraska, up 13 at the half, went on a 18-4 run to start the second to build a 27-point lead at 54-27!

Oklahoma State played the first 22 minutes like they didn't want to be here.  The Cowboys, winners of five neutral court games earlier this year, didn't win a "true" road game all season.  Center Mario Boggan and especially JamesOn Curry were flat.  Curry didn't score for about the first 22 minutes of the game.  Obi Muonelo and Bryan Eaton led a Cowboy comeback with 24 and 25 points respectively, but only after they were getting embarrassed did OK-State look like they were interested in playing.  Nothing against Sean Sutton, but I can tell his dad is no longer there (well, I guess that IS something against Sean Sutton).

The team shooting numbers ended up being very good.  Nebraska shot 54 percent from the field, 52 from behind the arc (13-25) and a solid 77 percent from the line (20-26).  Okie State, who seemed like they missed their first ten outside shots, ended up at 49 percent from the field, 58 from behind the arc (14-24) and 83 from the line (only five of six).  Okie State started draining 3s right-and-left after falling way behind.

Nebraska, led by Maric' 13, outrebounded the 'Pokes, 31-21.

I'm sure Sean Sutton is going to be a good coach, but the Huskers - a team that's struggled to score this year - racked up 85 points on OSU.  Eddie Sutton's teams just didn't allow you to do that.  I remember back in the day when Piatkowski started lightin' 'em up in the Devaney Center and you could tell that Eddie issued a demand that someone needed to start grabbin', holdin', and shovin' Pike or do whatever you could to get him off his game.  Piatkowski still went for 32, Nebraska still won, but those were some of the best tackling Oklahoma State teams I ever saw.

Nebraska finishes the regular season at 17-13 overall and 6-10 in the Big XII.  They're going to be seeded 10th this weekend in the conference post-season tourney.  Texas Tech finishes in fifth place at 9-7; Missouri in sixth place with a 7-9 record.  Four teams are next, tied with 6-10 records (Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Oklahoma and Nebraska).

The Huskers play Oklahoma State again on Thursday night at 6 p.m. in Oklahoma City.  ISU and OU play at 11:30 a.m., followed by Texas Tech and Colorado at 2.  Mizzou and Baylor play after NU-OSU.  

Nebraska will at least have freshman Ryan Anderson back on Thursday night.  He's the only NU guard (since Jamel White's no longer on the squad) who's capable of posting up, playing the high post and maneuvering inside with the ball (good interior passer too) ... and he's NU's best backcourt rebounder.  If it's possible for a 6-4 guard to contribute while playing a small forward position, Anderson qualifies.  NU is noticeably more depleted without him available.

In case you missed it, Anderson was ejected from the demoralizing loss in Boulder on Saturday to Colorado for "fighting," costing him the opportunity to particpate in tonight's game as well.

Dave Norris
________________________________________________________________________
AOL now offers free email to everyone.  Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com.