Cowboys cool off Nebraska
STILLWATER, Okla. — Cookie Miller sat toward the end of the Nebraska bench, wearing street clothes.
Miller said before Saturday’s game he was feeling better. He smiled. He seemed in better spirits.
Still, there’s no word on when, or if, Nebraska’s freshman point guard will return this season.
“It’s going to be hard for him to come back and be like he was,” Nebraska men’s basketball coach Doc Sadler said. “He’s got a bad shoulder. He’s going to get it hit an awful lot.
“We don’t have shoulder pads.”
The fact Miller was a prime topic in postgame discussion wasn’t a good sign for Nebraska.
Without him, the Huskers had 19 turnovers, their most in Big 12 Conference play, and fell to Oklahoma State 77-63 before 10,663 fans at noisy Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Nebraska (17-10, 6-8) had its three-game winning streak snapped, while Oklahoma State (16-12, 7-7) won its fifth in a row.
Miller missed his second straight game with a severely sprained shoulder. His absence was barely a side note in Wednesday’s 63-45 victory against Oklahoma, when the Huskers had a Big 12 season-low eight turnovers.
It was a different story Saturday, when Oklahoma State pressured Nebraska’s guards and bothered the Huskers with full-court pressure.
“It concerned me going into the game,” Sadler said. “They did a nice job of understanding of getting to the basketball and creating us some issues.
“We didn’t do a good job of using pressure releases like we’ve been doing, and they did a nice job of pressuring us.”
The turnovers disguised Nebraska’s fourth straight game of shooting at least 50 percent. The Huskers, led by Aleks Maric and Steve Harley with 17 points apiece, were 26-of-52 on Saturday.
Problem was, Oklahoma State shot 52.4 percent — 68.8 in the second half — and was 9-of-19 from three-point range. Byron Eaton, 6-of-7 from the field, led the Cowboys with 20 points.
“They executed better,” Sadler said, “and they made shots.”
Combine that with 24-of-33 free-throw shooting and a deadly transition game, and it explains how the Cowboys were able to pull away in the second half.
“That’s what they do best,” Nebraska guard Ryan Anderson said. “We didn’t take away their strength, and that’s the outcome.
“They came out really aggressive. We didn’t match their intensity level, came out sluggish. After that, we tried to pick up, play up to their speed, and it was too late.”
Nebraska, despite turnovers on its first three possessions, led 4-0. It was 6-6 when Oklahoma State went on a 15-3 run, capped when James Anderson converted a three-point play.
Maric picked up his second foul on the play and sat the final 9:44 of the half. Oklahoma State built its lead to double digits, but Harley’s three-pointer shortly before the buzzer got Nebraska within 31-27 by halftime.
The Huskers responded by turning the ball over on their first two possessions of the second half, and Oklahoma State expanded its lead to 14 points.
“We didn’t play our game, in spurts,” said Maric, who had 12 rebounds and five turnovers. “When you go on the road, your margin for mistakes is very, very small.”
The Huskers got within 52-41 with 8:51 remaining, but Obi Muonelo hit back-to-back three-pointers. His second one came out of transition following what was Nebraska’s final turnover.
“We just didn’t get stops when we needed to get stops,” Ryan Anderson said. “Like Coach said, we had a game plan, and we didn’t execute what we wanted to get done.”
Nebraska travels to Texas on Tuesday, and Miller will likely make the trip.
“I don’t know,” Sadler said, when asked how much having a healthy Miller would’ve helped against Oklahoma State’s pressure. “You can speculate, but the fact of the matter is, he didn’t play.
“We’ve got to have some other guys help Sek (Henry) and help Jay-R (Strowbridge). I don’t think that happened.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
Miller said before Saturday’s game he was feeling better. He smiled. He seemed in better spirits.
Still, there’s no word on when, or if, Nebraska’s freshman point guard will return this season.
“It’s going to be hard for him to come back and be like he was,” Nebraska men’s basketball coach Doc Sadler said. “He’s got a bad shoulder. He’s going to get it hit an awful lot.
“We don’t have shoulder pads.”
The fact Miller was a prime topic in postgame discussion wasn’t a good sign for Nebraska.
Without him, the Huskers had 19 turnovers, their most in Big 12 Conference play, and fell to Oklahoma State 77-63 before 10,663 fans at noisy Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Nebraska (17-10, 6-8) had its three-game winning streak snapped, while Oklahoma State (16-12, 7-7) won its fifth in a row.
Miller missed his second straight game with a severely sprained shoulder. His absence was barely a side note in Wednesday’s 63-45 victory against Oklahoma, when the Huskers had a Big 12 season-low eight turnovers.
It was a different story Saturday, when Oklahoma State pressured Nebraska’s guards and bothered the Huskers with full-court pressure.
“It concerned me going into the game,” Sadler said. “They did a nice job of understanding of getting to the basketball and creating us some issues.
“We didn’t do a good job of using pressure releases like we’ve been doing, and they did a nice job of pressuring us.”
The turnovers disguised Nebraska’s fourth straight game of shooting at least 50 percent. The Huskers, led by Aleks Maric and Steve Harley with 17 points apiece, were 26-of-52 on Saturday.
Problem was, Oklahoma State shot 52.4 percent — 68.8 in the second half — and was 9-of-19 from three-point range. Byron Eaton, 6-of-7 from the field, led the Cowboys with 20 points.
“They executed better,” Sadler said, “and they made shots.”
Combine that with 24-of-33 free-throw shooting and a deadly transition game, and it explains how the Cowboys were able to pull away in the second half.
“That’s what they do best,” Nebraska guard Ryan Anderson said. “We didn’t take away their strength, and that’s the outcome.
“They came out really aggressive. We didn’t match their intensity level, came out sluggish. After that, we tried to pick up, play up to their speed, and it was too late.”
Nebraska, despite turnovers on its first three possessions, led 4-0. It was 6-6 when Oklahoma State went on a 15-3 run, capped when James Anderson converted a three-point play.
Maric picked up his second foul on the play and sat the final 9:44 of the half. Oklahoma State built its lead to double digits, but Harley’s three-pointer shortly before the buzzer got Nebraska within 31-27 by halftime.
The Huskers responded by turning the ball over on their first two possessions of the second half, and Oklahoma State expanded its lead to 14 points.
“We didn’t play our game, in spurts,” said Maric, who had 12 rebounds and five turnovers. “When you go on the road, your margin for mistakes is very, very small.”
The Huskers got within 52-41 with 8:51 remaining, but Obi Muonelo hit back-to-back three-pointers. His second one came out of transition following what was Nebraska’s final turnover.
“We just didn’t get stops when we needed to get stops,” Ryan Anderson said. “Like Coach said, we had a game plan, and we didn’t execute what we wanted to get done.”
Nebraska travels to Texas on Tuesday, and Miller will likely make the trip.
“I don’t know,” Sadler said, when asked how much having a healthy Miller would’ve helped against Oklahoma State’s pressure. “You can speculate, but the fact of the matter is, he didn’t play.
“We’ve got to have some other guys help Sek (Henry) and help Jay-R (Strowbridge). I don’t think that happened.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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