Nebraska gives up a late banked in three pointer to Nigel Hayes and loses another heartbreaker on Thursday night. Wisconsin is a great team and they were favored by more than 8 points in this game. But winning on the road in college basketball is a tough thing to do and the Huskers fought hard. Wisconsin just made a few more plays to pull out the win. Nebraska has now lost nine out of their last 10 games. The Badgers go to 21-3 (10-1) and the Huskers fall to 10-14 (4-8). Nebraska is in the danger zone of having to play in the dreaded Wednesday game in the Big Ten Tournament. The bright side? There are some very winnable games down the stretch.
The Good
Husker fans have to appreciate the effort by Nebraska in this game. The crowd was phenomenal all night long and was able to cheer the team on throughout this game. Ed Morrow played his first game in a couple months. He had 13 rebounds and 5 points in this game. If Morrow doesn’t play, Nebraska most likely loses by more than a point in this game. Michael Jacobson had the game tying three-pointer to end regulation. Nobody expected him to take that shot, let alone make it. That was a great moment for Nebraska fans in this game. Tai Webster led the Huskers in scoring with 19 points and Glynn Watson Jr. had 15 points of his hard. Baskets were hard to come by in this game but Nebraska fought hard and kept it close. That’s all you can really ask when you’re playing the number 7 team in college basketball.
The Bad
That last three-pointer by Nigel Hayes definitely hurt. But Hayes had been really struggling lately so giving him that shot didn’t seem like the worst thing in the world. Free throw shooting hurt the Huskers down the stretch as well. Nebraska shot 15-24 from the line. Make a few of those and the Huskers probably pull the upset. This has been a constant battle all season and really needs to get better going forward. Close losses has also been the story of the season. Nebraska needs to learn from these experiences and I think they will. These losses really could benefit them going forward.
What’s Next?
Nebraska doesn’t play a game this weekend. There next game is Tuesday, February 14th against Penn State at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tip-off for that game is 8PM and can be seen on BTN. The Nebraska - Penn State games in the past has always been close games so expect that again on Tuesday night.
Tweet of The Day
Miles was asked if yet another gut-punch loss could sink his team this season. “This will not sink us.” Tai shook his head in agreement.
— Robin Washut (@RobinWashut) February 10, 2017