[personal] [Husker] Nebraska 85, Oklahoma State 73

[Skylar Dodds]

Hello Husker Fans,

I was at the game tonight and this is probably as well as we've played
all year.  Dave was pretty much right on, so I'll try to add some
points here too.

Check out my pictures:
http://www.psdodds.com/Huskers/

We shot lights out to end the first half and open the 2nd.  It got a
little tight late, but the Huskers pulled away.

Ironically, in the first half, we were leaving their guys wide open
from 3-point land and they didn't seem to want to take the shot, until
late in the half.  In the second half, we were covering pretty well
and they were chucking up off-balance shots, but EVERYTHING was
dropping, and I mean EVERYTHING.  I must have said to my dad 2 or 3
times, "If that goes in, I'm gonna _____ (swish!)".

Perry had an amazing night and the fans were changing "Perry! Perry!".
It really seemed to move him a little.  He hit some great shots, but
the one that really stuck out was one of those, "Oh my god, I've got
the ball and there's 3 seconds on the shot clock" fading away falling
backwards kind of shots that drew nothin but net!

Actually, I posted a picture, the score was 3-0 almost FIVE MINUTES
into the game (real minutes, not Shatel minutes...Sorry, just had to).
I'm pretty sure it was 6-0 for a while after that. If at that point
you'd have told me we'd score 85, I'd have you committed.

JR Strowbridge absolutely SHUT DOWN Jameson Curry using the box-and-1
in the first half (I don't think JC even got a shot off) and really
kept him in check for the second half too.

That one will go down as one of the best games I've seen in person.
Mostly because of the emotion behind Charles and Marcus's last game,
especially how Marcus lit it up.

-- 
Go Skers,
 Skylar                            mailto:Sklarbodds at cox.net

nac> Doc Sadler's Cornhuskers notched their long-awaited and
nac> much-needed 17th win on the season tonight in Lincoln on Senior
nac> Night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.  Appropriately enough,
nac> senior Marcus Perry put on a 3-point shooting clinic in the first half.
nac>  
nac> Neither team started out shooting at all well ... not much
nac> scoring in the game's first four minutes.  Nebraska managed to
nac> hit a couple from behind the arc for a 6-0 start and, if I recall
nac> correctly, were never behind.  Perry missed his first two shots,
nac> then proceeded to hit six straight from behind the arc when this
nac> game was swinging in Nebraska's favor.  Marcus - with wife and
nac> two kids in the stands - was absolutely unconscious.  NU closed
nac> the half with a flurry to lead 36-23 at the break as Perry had 18
nac> points.  It's not surprising that Charles Richardson played all
nac> 40 minutes tonight, but so did Perry!  This is the guy who,
nac> because of some physical ailments (including stress fractures to
nac> his legs), really can't do much at practice except shoot.
nac>  
nac> Perry tied his career-high with a team-high 25 points, adding
nac> six rebounds as well.  He ended up seven out of 10 from behind
nac> the arc.  Aleks Maric played an inspired game and finished with
nac> 23 points and 13 rebounds.  Four Huskers scored in double figures
nac> as walk-on Paul Velander started and scored 20 (four for nine on
nac> 3s).  Freshman Jay-R Strowbridge scored 11, had four rebounds and five assists.
nac>  
nac> Nebraska came out smokin' in the second half as Perry hit from
nac> just inside the arc on the first possession.  Then everyone
nac> started hitting (Richardson was the only one who didn't shoot
nac> well, but he had eight assists and was his usual steadying force
nac> for this team).  Nebraska, up 13 at the half, went on a 18-4 run
nac> to start the second to build a 27-point lead at 54-27!
nac>  
nac> Oklahoma State played the first 22 minutes like they didn't want
nac> to be here.  The Cowboys, winners of five neutral court games
nac> earlier this year, didn't win a "true" road game all season. 
nac> Center Mario Boggan and especially JamesOn Curry were flat. 
nac> Curry didn't score for about the first 22 minutes of the game. 
nac> Obi Muonelo and Bryan Eaton led a Cowboy comeback with 24 and 25
nac> points respectively, but only after they were getting embarrassed
nac> did OK-State look like they were interested in playing.  Nothing
nac> against Sean Sutton, but I can tell his dad is no longer there
nac> (well, I guess that IS something against Sean Sutton).
nac>  
nac> The team shooting numbers ended up being very good.  Nebraska
nac> shot 54 percent from the field, 52 from behind the arc (13-25)
nac> and a solid 77 percent from the line (20-26).  Okie State, who
nac> seemed like they missed their first ten outside shots, ended up
nac> at 49 percent from the field, 58 from behind the arc (14-24) and
nac> 83 from the line (only five of six).  Okie State started draining
nac> 3s right-and-left after falling way behind.
nac>  
nac> Nebraska, led by Maric' 13, outrebounded the 'Pokes, 31-21.
nac>  
nac> I'm sure Sean Sutton is going to be a good coach, but the
nac> Huskers - a team that's struggled to score this year - racked up
nac> 85 points on OSU.  Eddie Sutton's teams just didn't allow you to
nac> do that.  I remember back in the day when Piatkowski started
nac> lightin' 'em up in the Devaney Center and you could tell that
nac> Eddie issued a demand that someone needed to start grabbin',
nac> holdin', and shovin' Pike or do whatever you could to get him off
nac> his game.  Piatkowski still went for 32, Nebraska still won, but
nac> those were some of the best tackling Oklahoma State teams I ever saw.
nac>  
nac> Nebraska finishes the regular season at 17-13 overall and 6-10
nac> in the Big XII.  They're going to be seeded 10th this weekend in
nac> the conference post-season tourney.  Texas Tech finishes in fifth
nac> place at 9-7; Missouri in sixth place with a 7-9 record.  Four
nac> teams are next, tied with 6-10 records (Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Oklahoma and Nebraska).
nac>  
nac> The Huskers play Oklahoma State again on Thursday night at 6
nac> p.m. in Oklahoma City.  ISU and OU play at 11:30 a.m., followed
nac> by Texas Tech and Colorado at 2.  Mizzou and Baylor play after NU-OSU.
nac>  
nac> Nebraska will at least have freshman Ryan Anderson back on
nac> Thursday night.  He's the only NU guard (since Jamel White's no
nac> longer on the squad) who's capable of posting up, playing the
nac> high post and maneuvering inside with the ball (good interior
nac> passer too) ... and he's NU's best backcourt rebounder.  If it's
nac> possible for a 6-4 guard to contribute while playing a small
nac> forward position, Anderson qualifies.  NU is noticeably more depleted without him available.
nac>  
nac> In case you missed it, Anderson was ejected from the
nac> demoralizing loss in Boulder on Saturday to Colorado for
nac> "fighting," costing him the opportunity to particpate in tonight's game as well.
nac>  
nac> Dave Norris
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