1st half re-cap 

NU weathered the storm of the Baylor Bears 3 barrage and pulled ahead with 5 minutes left in the half to lead, 35-30.  Steve Harley is having a great game going 5-6 from the floor, punctuated by a 2 hand fastbreak jam,  and is leading the huskers with 11 points.

 The Bears have hit 7-13  from behind the arc as the Huskers continue to struggle with defensive pressure on the long ball.

The Huskers have hit 41% of their shots compared with 39% for Baylor.

2nd half highlights 

Second half has just started and Baylor tipped in it’s own shot to only be down 3.   Nebraska needs this game BAD!  Let’s hope the D can hold up and the offense can catch up.

Starting out the second half, Maric is possessed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  But, unlike KAJ, Maric is not hitting the sky hook so he should definitely stop doing it.  DUNK IT MAN!!!!  Poor passing is killing the Huskers right now and they need to tighten it up.  A close game is not going to favor Nebraska as BU has alot of weapons at their disposal.

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BU jumped out on a 7-0 run to start the second half and clearly distanced themselves from the now 11-5 (0-3) Huskers.  Steve Harley had a great first half but couldn’t capitalize on his hot shooting any longer, going 1-5 in the second half to end the game 6-11 for a career high of 15 points.  Harley finished just 1-6 from the free-throw line while Nebraska as a team only shot 61% on 21 of 34 attempts.  This is the difference between a win and loss in conference and NU just couldn’t hit the free ones on their own court.  Baylor had four scorers in double digits let by Henry Dugat with 19.  The Bears, 15-2 (3-0),  showed poise and patience by weathering NU’s runs and answering with one of their own.  NU went on a 9-0 run early in the half to take a 54-49 lead only to be aswered right back as Baylor matched their run to take a 58-54 lead with 5 minutes to go in the game.  With Baylor up 3 after a pair of NU free throws, they stepped on the line after bringing the ball in and gave NU one more shot to force OT.   Jay-R Strowbridge pump faked his opponent to get an open look at a 3, but travelled, and ended NU’s chances with it. Nebraska had it chances down the stretch, but poor shooting at the line and bad shot decisions would ultimately derail the effort put forth today.  Nebraska played with some heart and never gave up.  They did not have one of their best games and still almost won for the second time in as many games.

Some things that concern me after this game are:

  1. If we use Alecs Maric to do sky hooks all game long we can kiss this year good-bye.  Too many times on Saturday the Huskers ran the same play over and over again to get Maric the ball in the post.  75% of the time he tried a sky hook that most of the time missed badly.  Maric can’t be expected to put the ball on the floor and dribble.  He is just too slow for that.  Drive some people to the basket and create a double team which will open Maric for a wide open shot.  To Maric I have to say…… there was only one Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, so let the sky hook retire with him, don’t bring it back.  DUNK IT!  I know coach Sadler always says the offense has to run through Maric, but I am almost tempted to say NO IT SHOULDN’T!  If he was going to be putting up half-hearted attempts all game long, let someone else try to get in a rhythm.
  2. Everyone else.  These guys need to hit a shot!  The last 3 games have been atrocious to say the least.  Score, Score, Score.  Doc Sadler says he is not worried about offense, but with it, we’d be 2-1 in conference.
  3. Three point defense.  I have said this is the key to a good conference record since the beginning and it is not pretty for NU.  In three Big 12 games the opponents are shooting 26-61 for 43% and it’s only going to get tougher.  This better get tightened up quickly.  The last thing NU wants is a team that is lights out from behind the arc against them.
  4. Free throws.  If they were really free, we’d be hitting them.  Sixty-three percent is just plain not good enough over the last 3 games.  For the 2 home games in there NU has made just 59% on 32 of 54 free throws.  For the season, NU averages 68% while their opponents average 69%.  The Big 12 is not Savannah State, so I expect this number to increase the rest of the year.  This can be the difference in games and it certainly was today.

The Huskers return to action next Saturday for a 12:30 game against #3 Kansas in Lawrence followed by a visit to Columbia  on January 30th for a 7 P.M. match-up against Mizzou.

[see the box score courtesy of Huskers.com]