OFFENSE: A
Nebraska did a fantastic job getting the shot they wanted nearly every single possession today and it was no coincidence that they scored their career high in the Big 10 (82 points) on 50% shooting from both the field and downtown.
It was refreshing to see them handle the zone with ease and only get turned over once (Tai Webster late in the second) against the zone press they saw almost the entire game.
What more can you say about Terran Petteway other than he played his best game as a Husker, scoring a career-high 35 points (and the most since Aleks Maric in 2007) on 10-15 shooting to go along with six rebounds, three assists and two turnovers. The scary thing is that this kid still has a lot of ceiling left, too. Love seeing an NBA player at Nebraska again.
I have to call Shavon Shields the most underrated factor in this contest, as he scored some VERY KEY baskets while Petteway was on the bench with four fouls late in the second and NU was in dire need of baskets during a Golden Gopher run. Shields only scored 10 but they were a key 10 (how big was the three before the half)?
All I can say is that it was truly fun to watch Petteway today.
DEFENSE: A
Nebraska was TRE-MENDOUS today!!! Best defensive game of the Tim Miles era.
The doubling of guards with our Bigs completely ceased dribble drives for a good portion of this game and helped force 13 key turnovers and several late shock clock contested three's.
Nebraska was active with its feet AND hands for once, stealing the ball EIGHT TIMES (I'm sure a season high) and swatting away three key shots.
David Rivers, Benny Parker and Ray Gallegos deserve special mention for the work they did on the defensive end.
And, maybe there's something to the talk of NU's W-L record with Rivers getting significant minutes.
REBOUNDING: A
Nebraska and Minnesota finished dead even on the boards (32-32) and NU held the Gophers to a very quiet eight offensive boards.
Once again, Petteway and Shields led the way with six boards each.
BALL HANDLING: A+
19 assists to 11 turnovers. FANTASTIC - THIS is what good teams do!
One completely unfair and pointless question I'd like to throw out - what happens in this game, both offensively and defensively, if Deverell Biggs had played? Do we play as good of defense knowing his well publicized deficiencies? Do we share the ball as well and break the press all day? Just sayin'.
COACHING: A+
Coach showed guts in disciplining Biggs, first of all, just before the game today.
Second of all, coach had an awesome defensive game plan that his players completely bought into.
He did a marvelous job with substitutions, especially at the end going offense-defense when the foul-a-thon ensued.
His team got good shots 95% of its possessions today and its defense created offense (10 fast break points and 14 off of turnovers).
This was the best game of the season.
OVERALL GRADE: A
Nebraska played well in every facet of its game today. Would like to see more stops, less fouling and more made free throws in the last 90 seconds of games in which we have leads, but that's a symptom of being a young basketball team.
I can't say enough about how impressed I was with this victory against a very good NCAA Tournament team (8-9 seed).
PLAYER OF THE GAME: TERRAN PETTEWAY
2013-2014 PLAYER OF THE GAME RESULTS:
TERRAN PETTEWAY - 10
TAI WEBSTER - 2
WALTER PITCHFORD - 2
LESLEE SMITH - 2
SHAVON SHIELDS - 2
DEVERELL BIGGS - 1
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