Huskers outlast Alabama A&M
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BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
If Nebraska’s consistency and efficiency were half as strong as its effort, Doc Sadler would be a happy man.
Instead, two games into the men’s basketball season, Sadler sounds like the coach of a team with a bunch of new guys who aren’t quite in sync.
Say, these Huskers, for instance.
“As I just told the team, it makes no sense to go out there and play that hard when you’re not going to finish plays,” Sadler said after Nebraska’s 59-45 victory Saturday over Alabama A&M.
“You’ve got to finish it with a defensive rebound, and when you get a defensive rebound, you can’t turn the basketball over.”
Nebraska wasn’t accomplished in either area against a team it beat 82-55 a year ago.
Alabama A&M (1-3) bothered Nebraska with full-court pressure, forcing 18 turnovers, and was more of a force on the offensive boards — collecting 16 — than many figured.
Those aren’t particularly good signs as Nebraska zones in on Saturday’s game at rival Creighton. A Tuesday night game against Norfolk State is the final tune-up for the 2-0 Huskers.
“Our efficiency level — I think that’s a football term, isn’t it? — our efficiency’s not very good,” said Sadler, noting he’s very pleased with his team’s effort.
“This team relaxes way too much. Way too much. Just like late in the game, we had opportunities to attack the basket, and it looked like we got scared.”
Nebraska led 55-38 with 7 minutes, 48 seconds remaining but went more than five minutes before scoring again. The Huskers had four turnovers in that stretch and were 0-of-3 from the field before Aleks Maric scored inside.
“We’re getting there,” Maric said. “We’re on our way to (being) a good offensive team. We still have some tweaking to do.”
Maric had 21 points and 16 rebounds for his 24th career double-double, the third most in school history. He’s also the eighth player in Nebraska history to surpass 700 career rebounds; he has 702.
Ryan Anderson was the only other Husker in double figures with 10 points. Eight of those came in an early 10-0 run that wiped out a 7-3 deficit.
Anderson also had four turnovers.
“Just have to be a little bit more decisive with the ball,” Anderson said. “Know that the ball means something, and if the game is close, those four turnovers make a big difference.”
Nebraska shot 42.3 percent from the field but was only 3-of-13 from three-point range.
“They did a nice job of picking you up man-to-man and then switching to zone,” Sadler said. “I understood what they were doing, we told them what they were doing, but it’s still hard to play against.”
Alabama A&M, led by Evan Hilton’s 16 points, never got closer than 10 points in the second half. Of the Bulldogs’ 21 turnovers, 14 were on Husker steals, including five by Cookie Miller. Maric had a career-high four.
Nebraska’s biggest lead was 21, that coming after an impressive flurry early in the second half by Ade Dagunduro.
Dagunduro assisted Anderson on a score, grabbed a defensive rebound, then made an athletic, driving move for basket.
He followed with a no-look pass to Maric for a dunk, collected another rebound, then skied to grab a transition alley-oop pass from Miller. Dagunduro, not in perfect position for a dunk, adjusted nicely for a lay-up.
Nebraska, though, couldn’t sustain that momentum.
“It’s just being smart,” Maric said. “I think we made a lot of mental mistakes in the second half. That was evident today.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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