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NEBRASKA WINS 88-79!!!!!

On Saturday, Nebraska did what many thought was unthinkable.  Play defense and Run and Gun.  I never thought this game would be won by Nebraska the way Oregon kept hitting 3’s at will, but with Tenacious D (My Pick was Destiny!) and an all out effort from the entire squad, they prevailed.   HOLY COW!!  I simply cannot remember a more exciting basketball game in my life!  The ups and downs of this one were a cardiologist’s nightmare with 10 lead changes and 5 ties.  This is not to mention the huskers hot start to lead 9-0 only to have it vanish away in 3 minutes and trail 14-13.  Everytime Nebraska would go on a run, Oregon would answer with hot 3 point shooting.  Guard Malik  Hairston was a perfect 5-5 from downtown and Tajuan Porter was 7-15.  It seemed whenever they needed a three, they got it.  None was more bigger than the one Porter sank with 9 seconds left on the clock.  Down 74-71, Porter lofted one up from right of the key.  He pulled a Reggie Miller and stuck  his foot out to catch Strowbridge jumping past him.    A foul was called and instantly in my mind I said ” well he has to make all 3″ and then the rainbow 3 went down.  I can’t say what I said then.  Porter, a 70% FT shooter went to the line and missed the shot.  Nebraska put the ball in play and raced down the court much to my dismay.  I thought a time out and a regroup would’ve been perfect in this situation.  Let’s get a play in and hopefully an open look at the basket.  But, just like in the Western Kentucky game, we made a bad decision and Harley took an off balanced shot at the key and put up brick off the backboard.

OVERTIME

I’m not gonna lie, Nebraska played with great heart all day long, but when everything was going Oregon’s way and overtime was forced I thought our chances of victory in a 5 minute shoot out were slim especially since Ade Dagunduro fouled out with 2 minutes left in regulation.  However, unlike the WKU overtime, our boys jumped on them offensively and pressured Oregon into some difficult shots.  Ryan Anderson played lights out in overtime.  Hitting clutch free-throws and coming up big with a couple of steals.  Nebraska held Oregon scoreless for 4 minutes of overtime and the Huskers iced it with free-throws down the stretch.  Just thinking about it now I am still getting excited!

The Huskers led Oregon in almost every category with the only exception being rebounds.  They finished the game with ONLY 7 turnovers compared with 20 assists for a 2.5-1 ratio (REDTILDEAD).  To see the final box score, click here at huskers.com

I thought Ryan Anderson was the HUSKERZONE Player of the Game.  His defense all game long was great with 4 steals.  He finished with a season high 21 points, shot 60% from 3pt land and was a perfect 8-8 from the charity stripe.  It just seemed whenever Nebraska needed a big 3, he hit it.  Aleks Maric had the HUSKERZONE Play of the Game when with 30 seconds left HE HIT…. 2 clutch free throws to bring Nebraska’s lead to 74-71 forcing the Ducks to hit a 3 to tie in regulation.   The rest is history and MAN what a GAME!!!

“First of all, I can’t say enough about this team as far as competing. They had a couple of chances when things didn’t go the way we’d like. This team hasn’t had very many opportunities, but at the same time, it hasn’t had a lot of great things happen for it. I thought for them just to continue to compete when maybe we missed some easy shots, maybe we missed some free throws when the game was tight, I think that shows a lot for the character of these guys not having a lot to draw from……..  With 20 seconds to go, I thought we did an excellent job of switching out on (sophomore guard Tajuan) Porter, but about the fifth time he went off the ball screen, we didn’t make the switch, and being the great player he is, he hit a 3. We were fortunate that he didn’t make the free throw and we got it into overtime. Saying that, I never thought, going into the game, that if it got this high-scoring, then I didn’t know if we could win it, because that’s what they like to do. But that shows you what I know.”

Doc Sadler

Oh, and one last thing.  Since I am 2 for 2 on predictions, I would like to make a few more.  National Championship for football within 3 years.  I will hit the Powerball soon, and just for Ed and Count, peace in the Middle East.