Buffs stuff Nebraska
BOULDER, Colo. — Doc Sadler’s postgame briefing to his Nebraska men’s basketball team was just that. Brief.
Roughly five minutes after the Huskers’ 55-51 loss Tuesday to Colorado, Sadler was already addressing reporters outside the Nebraska locker room.
Sadler, the head coach, apparently didn’t need the usual 10 to 15 minutes to tell his team what went awry.
The explanation was quick and simple.
“There’s no difference between the two teams,” Sadler said. “The team that comes in and hits harder is going to win, and they hit harder.”
Nebraska didn’t hit back — at least not hard enough for Sadler. And certainly not hard enough to win a very winnable road game against a team picked to finish last in the Big 12 Conference.
“I was disappointed because I thought (Colorado) played harder,” Sadler said. “We didn’t respond to that. They had us playing on our heels.
“We’ve got guys talking about altitude, and they’ve got guys talking about winning. So that’s the problem.”
Nebraska (11-4, 0-2) lost its second straight game to start the Big 12 season, and again struggled offensively.
Those struggles were fairly understandable Saturday against third-ranked Kansas, when the Huskers shot 40 percent in a 79-58 loss against one of the league’s best defensive teams.
But Colorado?
The Buffaloes (9-7, 1-1) entered Tuesday ranked last in the Big 12 in field-goal percentage defense. Teams were shooting better than 44 percent against Colorado.
Nebraska shot 34 percent.
“Bottom line,” Sadler said, “is we’ve just got to get some play out of some guys who aren’t giving us much right now.”
Like, perhaps, senior center Aleks Maric, who scored 14 points but attempted only nine field goals.
“And they played man-to-man,” Sadler said. “You tell me.”
Maric admitted he didn’t play to his potential.
“I should’ve played harder,” Maric said. “It was unacceptable. Individually, I should’ve played harder.
“No explanation. It wasn’t there. That’s about it.”
Well, “it” wasn’t there for several Huskers. Ryan Anderson was 1-for-6. Steve Harley was 0-for-5. Jay-R Strowbridge was 0-for-6. Ade Dagunduro, held scoreless against Kansas, was 1-of-3.
One player Sadler saluted for his toughness was freshman guard Cookie Miller, who scored a team-high 18 points on 6 of 10 shooting. His three-pointer with 2 minutes, 35 seconds remaining ended a 5½ minute field-goal drought for the Huskers, who pulled within 49-44.
“I think we need to shoot more,” Miller said. “I think we need to go to the hole more. I think that will come. We’ve just got to keep practicing and not give up.”
Miller drove the baseline from the right side and kicked out to the left corner to an open Paul Velander, who swished a three-pointer with 58 seconds left, pulling Nebraska within 51-49.
Richard Roby maneuvered his way around Maric for a layup with 30 seconds left, putting the Buffs back up by four, 53-49.
Nebraska missed two shots before Maric dunked the second miss with only 5.2 seconds left. Xavier Silas’ two free throws with 4.4 seconds left sealed CU’s victory.
The final was 10 points shy of the exact score of November’s football game here between these two schools.
This one, though, had that same knife-twisting feeling for the Huskers, who return home Saturday against Baylor. Their two games after that? At Kansas, at Missouri.
“We didn’t come ready to play,” Miller said. “First half, we came out with no intensity. Our defense was there, but we’ve got come out ready to play every game.”
The Huskers led by as many as five points in the first half, and CU’s biggest lead was eight with 3:33 remaining.
Cory Higgins had 13 points for Colorado, which shot 39.1 percent. Roby had 12 points.
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
Roughly five minutes after the Huskers’ 55-51 loss Tuesday to Colorado, Sadler was already addressing reporters outside the Nebraska locker room.
Sadler, the head coach, apparently didn’t need the usual 10 to 15 minutes to tell his team what went awry.
The explanation was quick and simple.
“There’s no difference between the two teams,” Sadler said. “The team that comes in and hits harder is going to win, and they hit harder.”
Nebraska didn’t hit back — at least not hard enough for Sadler. And certainly not hard enough to win a very winnable road game against a team picked to finish last in the Big 12 Conference.
“I was disappointed because I thought (Colorado) played harder,” Sadler said. “We didn’t respond to that. They had us playing on our heels.
“We’ve got guys talking about altitude, and they’ve got guys talking about winning. So that’s the problem.”
Nebraska (11-4, 0-2) lost its second straight game to start the Big 12 season, and again struggled offensively.
Those struggles were fairly understandable Saturday against third-ranked Kansas, when the Huskers shot 40 percent in a 79-58 loss against one of the league’s best defensive teams.
But Colorado?
The Buffaloes (9-7, 1-1) entered Tuesday ranked last in the Big 12 in field-goal percentage defense. Teams were shooting better than 44 percent against Colorado.
Nebraska shot 34 percent.
“Bottom line,” Sadler said, “is we’ve just got to get some play out of some guys who aren’t giving us much right now.”
Like, perhaps, senior center Aleks Maric, who scored 14 points but attempted only nine field goals.
“And they played man-to-man,” Sadler said. “You tell me.”
Maric admitted he didn’t play to his potential.
“I should’ve played harder,” Maric said. “It was unacceptable. Individually, I should’ve played harder.
“No explanation. It wasn’t there. That’s about it.”
Well, “it” wasn’t there for several Huskers. Ryan Anderson was 1-for-6. Steve Harley was 0-for-5. Jay-R Strowbridge was 0-for-6. Ade Dagunduro, held scoreless against Kansas, was 1-of-3.
One player Sadler saluted for his toughness was freshman guard Cookie Miller, who scored a team-high 18 points on 6 of 10 shooting. His three-pointer with 2 minutes, 35 seconds remaining ended a 5½ minute field-goal drought for the Huskers, who pulled within 49-44.
“I think we need to shoot more,” Miller said. “I think we need to go to the hole more. I think that will come. We’ve just got to keep practicing and not give up.”
Miller drove the baseline from the right side and kicked out to the left corner to an open Paul Velander, who swished a three-pointer with 58 seconds left, pulling Nebraska within 51-49.
Richard Roby maneuvered his way around Maric for a layup with 30 seconds left, putting the Buffs back up by four, 53-49.
Nebraska missed two shots before Maric dunked the second miss with only 5.2 seconds left. Xavier Silas’ two free throws with 4.4 seconds left sealed CU’s victory.
The final was 10 points shy of the exact score of November’s football game here between these two schools.
This one, though, had that same knife-twisting feeling for the Huskers, who return home Saturday against Baylor. Their two games after that? At Kansas, at Missouri.
“We didn’t come ready to play,” Miller said. “First half, we came out with no intensity. Our defense was there, but we’ve got come out ready to play every game.”
The Huskers led by as many as five points in the first half, and CU’s biggest lead was eight with 3:33 remaining.
Cory Higgins had 13 points for Colorado, which shot 39.1 percent. Roby had 12 points.
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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