Sunday afternoon, Nebraska rebounded quickly after the disappointing loss to WKU and showed what Doc Sadler teams are made of.  Relentless defensive pressure ensued and the Huskers walked away with an impressive 63-51 win over Rutgers from the Big East Conference.  

Maric led the Huskers with 19 points and 8 boards but committed 4 turnovers.  Ryan Anderson chipped in 14 while Ade Dagunduro added 13.  Nebraska still struggled at the guard spot while Sek Henry, Cookie Miller, Jay-R Strowbridge, and Steve Harley were a combined 3 of 15 for a measly 20%.  Fortunately for Nebraska only 11 total turnovers were committed while forcing 16 from Rutgers and those 4 only accounted for 4 of them.  The Husker’s defense lapsed a little bit after halftime allowing the Scarlet Knights to shoot 46% from the field after holding them to 24% in the first half.  There was no answer for Freshman guard Corey Chandler as he scored a game high 25 points.

Nebraska dominated the score after the 4 minute mark in the first half but Rutgers, after weathering a 9-2 run by Nebraska to open the second half, put up a 11-2 run of their own sparked by Chandler’s 2 steals and 8 points to pull it closer at 44-39.   But, the D tightened and Nebraska bounced back with a run of their own to lead 56-39 and led by double didgets the rest of the way.

Nebraska has outscored it’s opponents this year 537-448 for an average of 67-56.   The Huskers are going to have to find some offensive fire power soon.  Our guard play has been horrible this year with inconsistent scoring and poor ball handling.   One of those four guards is going to have to step up and right now I just don’t know who it will be.  We are  seriously missing Marcus Perry and Charles Richardson  and I don’t see this team pushing Big 12 teams around offensively or defensively.  All I can hope for is something to ”click” with these guys and we can have a more balanced offense with more go to weapons.  I won’t hold my breath. 

See the Huskers.com Box Score here.