Husker men stuff Sooners
Nebraska’s dominating 63-45 men’s basketball victory against Oklahoma on Wednesday night left Doc Sadler yearning for March.
As in, the end of March.
“I wish the season ended today,” Sadler said, smiling. “I’d be happy as heck.”
Oh, but the fun’s just beginning.
Nebraska’s most impressive performance of the Big 12 Conference season — before 10,013 fans at the Devaney Sports Center —has thrust the Huskers into a wild, crowded race for a top-four league finish.
Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech are tied for sixth place, all with 6-7 records. Two teams, Baylor and Texas A&M, are tied for fourth at 7-6.
Three games remain before the Big 12 Tournament, where the No. 4 seed earns a first-round bye. The Huskers have tiebreakers against three of the five other teams in the middle, with a chance for a fourth Saturday at Oklahoma State.
Did the Huskers envision any of this less than two weeks ago, following a dismal loss at Iowa State?
“I knew we had to bounce back somehow,” Nebraska senior Aleks Maric said. “You just look as far as your next opponent.
“It’s a one-game season now, and that’s how we’re looking at it.”
Nebraska improved to 17-9 overall and bolstered its postseason hopes with strong defense, key individual performances and a cut-throat mentality.
For the fourth time this season, the Huskers held an opponent to 12 or fewer points in the first half.
But unlike the Iowa State game, when Nebraska led 24-11 in Ames and lost, the Huskers seized control.
Iowa State needed only seven minutes of the second half to wipe out its deficit. Wednesday night, Nebraska led 29-12 at halftime and had maintained its 17-point lead with 13 minutes remaining.
In fact, from there, the Huskers pushed their lead to 23 points.
“They really knocked us back early,” said Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel, whose team fell to 18-10. “We were weak, and they were strong.”
Nebraska was particularly strong on defense, clogging the lane and doubling down on 6-foot-10 freshman forward Blake Griffin.
He scored 17 points, roughly two points above his average, but take away his 7-of-8 shooting, and the rest of the Sooners combined to shoot 10-for-38 — or 26 percent.
“We tried to make it tough for the big guys to catch it,” Maric said. “We did a good job of that tonight and tried to make them take some tough outside shots.”
The Huskers shot 50 percent, their third straight game of hitting at least half their shots, and committed a Big 12-season-low eight turnovers.
That was without freshman point guard Cookie Miller, who watched from the bench in street clothes with a sprained shoulder. His status remains day-to-day.
“He told me before the game that it was feeling a lot better,” Sadler said.
Steve Harley, accurate from 15 feet and beyond, led Nebraska with 17 points, and Maric had 16. But it was performances from Ade Dagunduro and Paul Velander that provided somewhat of a surprising spark.
Dagunduro had 13 points, including a one-handed putback jam that had the Devaney Center erupting.
“I made a couple of hustle plays early, and those got me in the groove,” Dagunduro said. “My energy was up the whole game.”
Velander, a walk-on, was 3-for-3 from three-point range and scored 11 points. He’d made one three-pointer over Nebraska’s previous eight games, one of which Velander didn’t play.
Two of Velander’s threes came early, helping the Huskers to a 12-8 lead. The other put the Huskers ahead 39-20 with 13:12 remaining. Dagunduro’s three-pointer on Nebraska’s next possession pushed the lead to 20, and the Huskers coasted.
“The good news is,” Sadler said, “our guys are gaining some confidence and making some shots.”
Briefly
-- Ryan Anderson dislocated his left pinkie finger late in the first half. He had it popped back in and returned by the first media timeout of the second half.
-- Dagunduro’s seven rebounds were a season high for the junior in Big 12 games. Four were offensive.
-- This was Nebraska’s most lopsided victory against Oklahoma since a 90-63 victory in 1981.
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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