The biggest problem with last
night’s game was the inconsistency among the Cornhuskers.
Nebraska came out in the opening
minutes and played very well. Ryan Anderson hit shot after shot, going 3-4 on field goals, and 2-2 beyond the
arc. But then it’s almost like the
Huskers shut down.
In the last 5:36, Missouri went on a
terrorizing 20-2 run and went into the locker room with a 41-30 lead.
Alexs Maric was obsolete the entire
first half. Missouri did a great
job with their zone coverage to shut Maric down, but there were times when he
was open and should have gotten the ball.
Instead of looking to the low post for an easy two, Anderson, Harley, and
others began to take shots from bad angles; they were double teamed, or had a
hand right in their face. If the
Cornhuskers did not play well in spurts, the outcome would have been much worse.
Once again, Nebraska came out of the
locker room and dominated the opening minutes of the second half. Missouri’s head coach, Mike Anderson
decided, for some unknown reason, to switch his defense from a powerful zone, to
an ineffective man-to-man.
The Huskers took advantage of this
change and finally realized Maric was open and started getting him the
ball. The 6-11 senior from Sydney,
Australia began a tremendous Husker comeback. He added 17 points to his previous
eight, and racked up 25 points, ten minutes into the half and ended the game
with 32 points.
Cookie Miller moved the ball very
well up and down the court, threading passes to Maric for easy lay-ups.
As the end of the game approached,
the Huskers were down by two and found a hero, for now, in Steve Harley. Harley was fouled with two seconds
left in the game and went to the line, with the Huskers down by two, and needing
these important free throws. He
made both and tied the game at 71 with the clock reading 00:00. The Huskers headed into overtime
confident and motivated.
Anderson realized he had made a
mistake by switching to a man-to-man defense. Maric dominated the second half getting
pass after pass in the paint and making easy two’s.
Once again, the Huskers wilted under
the zone defense. Maric seemed to
disappear and was not a factor at all during overtime. The Tigers dominated every aspect of the
overtime period.
Missouri outshot, outrebounded, and
flat out, beat the Cornhuskers to win the game with a final score of 86-78.
If Nebraska could have stayed
consistent throughout the entire game, I am sure the outcome would have been
much different. Maric was extremely
underused. When Miller and Anderson
realized Maric was there, good things happened. Points came easy for the Huskers and
they gave Missouri a run for their money.
You have to give Missouri
credit. They hit big shots at key
moments. Just when you thought the
Huskers were going to take the lead for good, the Tigers hit a three, got a
steal and took it to the house, or simply played good defense, and silenced the
faithful fans of dear old Nebraska U.