KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Brandon Rush, standing at midcourt, thought he was dribbling out the clock.

That’s when Nebraska’s Jay-R Strowbridge and Sek Henry double-teamed the Kansas guard. Henry poked the ball away and drew a foul with six seconds remaining.

The pro-Kansas crowd of 18,897 booed, apparently thinking that, with the Jayhawks ahead by 12 points, the opponent should just surrender.

“I didn’t care,” said Henry, who sank two free throws. “I’m playing hard ’til the end. I don’t care if your fans are booing me or anything.”

It’s that sort of attitude that allowed Nebraska to — at long last — give big, bad Kansas a tussle. It might also show the National Invitation Tournament committee that the Huskers, at 19-12, certainly belong in its field of 32 teams.

Sure, the fifth-ranked Jayhawks prevailed 64-54 in Friday’s quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament at the Sprint Center.

Compare that to recent games between these teams, though, and it’s understandable why the words “moral victory” were being tossed about in the Nebraska locker room.

“Me, personally, I never believe in moral victories,” Nebraska guard Ade Dagunduro said, “but in this situation, I might have to set my personal feelings aside.”

Nebraska, which had lost its previous four games to Kansas by an average margin of 32.5 points, seemed in position to pull a shocking upset.

The Huskers led 27-22 at halftime, survived an expected Kansas surge to start the second half, and were alive in the final minutes. Paul Velander’s four-point play kept Nebraska within 47-42 with 7:23 remaining.

That’s as close as the Huskers got against a bigger, physical Kansas team that exerted itself in the second half.

For the game, the Jayhawks shot 31 free throws, compared with 10 by Nebraska, and collected 14 offensive rebounds, including 10 after halftime.

Nebraska coach Doc Sadler pursed his lips in the postgame news conference when asked about the free-throw differential; each team made 19 field goals.

Sadler, who drew a technical foul from official Terry Davis with 1:19 remaining, ducked into the Big 12 office after the game to visit with John Underwood, the conference’s director of officials.

Sadler is prohibited from commenting on officiating, but was clearly upset at Davis, the same official responsible for a controversial traveling call on Strowbridge at the end of Nebraska’s 72-70 loss to Baylor earlier this season.

Friday’s issues began in the first half, when Davis, 25 feet behind the play, waved off a put-back dunk by Dagunduro, claiming offensive goaltending. Sadler jawed at Davis throughout the game, finally earning the technical when Velander, shooting a three-pointer from the corner, ended up in Nebraska’s bench, with no foul called.

“The ball didn’t bounce our way for a couple of minutes there,” said Velander, who had 12 points. “It’s just too bad, because we had our chances. I feel we outplayed them in the first half. We really did.”

Nebraska led by as many as nine points in the first half, the result of brilliant execution of Sadler’s game plan — draining the shot clock on every possession and frustrating the high-flying Jayhawks with a half-court game.

Not only did the Huskers not shoot until the shot clock had eight or fewer seconds, they finished with clutch shots. Nebraska had six three-pointers in 12 attempts in the first half. Kansas, meanwhile, had 12 first-half turnovers.

“We came out this game, looked them in the eye,” Nebraska freshman Cookie Miller said, “and we were the ones throwing punches.”

Kansas, facing its biggest halftime deficit of the season, responded with a 16-4 run to start the second half. Still, the Jayhawks never led by double digits until Mario Chalmers converted a three-point play with 4:32 left for a 53-43 lead.

That was among a trio of three-point plays in the second half, the result of Kansas becoming more aggressive and attacking the basket.

“We hit them with a blow, and at the beginning of the second half, they hit us with a blow back,” Henry said.

“We were expecting it, because they’re Kansas. A lot of stuff went their way toward the end.”

Dagunduro, who scored a combined seven points in two regular-season games against Kansas, had 13 points, and center Aleks Maric scored 10. Maric was scoreless in an 84-49 loss in Lawrence.

“We didn’t finish the game,” said Sadler, after praising his team’s effort and energy. “We’re going to be back here, and we’ve got to learn from it.”

Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.