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The the vast annals of basketball history there are many memorable games that come across as some of the greatest to ever be played. So many games between national powers and even lesser ones.
Games that bring up names such as Rupp, Allen, & Wooden grace these pages that basketball historians flip through as they gather knowledge that may just help propel them to future greatness.
This is not one of those games.
Well, I am probably being too harsh on these teams. To be honest, they both played better than they have the past couple of weeks. Michigan State got their much needed first win of the conference slate. A more confident Michigan State team came into Lincoln today and played a little bit more to the level that they should have been the past few games.
Nebraska, while still on the losing end, was able to push through a late first half slump that crept into the second half and made it a game to the very end. There was no second half shooting drought that doomed the Huskers from ever coming close to pulling off the win. This game had the Huskers competitive until the very end.
The Huskers were lead early on by Trey McGowans who’s play gave hope that this Husker squad might pull off the upset against the struggling Spartans. Banton ended the night with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.
While Trey’s story was one of the highlights of the first half, it was Teddy Allen who came alive in the second to keep the Huskers in this game. Foul trouble hurt him in the first half but Teddy caught a shooting streak that had him with 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist for the Huskers.
Off the bench Kobe Webster gave the Huskers 10 points and 2 rebounds in the closer than it looks loss.
Overall the Huskers shot 49% from the floor and 47% from beyond the arch. Number that are a vast improvement from the previous losses. Was it enough to pull the win from MSU, no but it showed that this talented team can pull themselves out of a rut and play well against a fairly talented opponent.
The Huskers will head east to West Lafayette on Tuesday to take on the Boilermakers of Purdue. Hopefully Fred can keep his team focused enough from this loss to steal a win back to Lincoln.