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Since it wasnt at home, I celebrated by buying a Runza.

OFFENSE: A If the Huskers had scored a few more points in the first half, this would be an "A+." Either way, I can't imagine Nebraska playing any better offensively, as the Big Red shot 51% from the field en route to scoring 79 points! What's even better than the scoring is how NU achieved it, with virtually everybody contributing. The obvious place to start is with Rey Gallegos, who poured in a career high 20 points on 8-13 shooting, including 4-8 from downtown. There was a four minute stretch of the second half where I could swear I was watching a road red team with #23 on the back. It was difficult shot after difficult shot, with an amazing left handed lay up in between. Gallegos is a slam dunk Player of the Game. However, Andre Almeida was a close second, as the big man showed the kind of touch we all hoped he'd have when he set foot on campus. Almeida finished a staggering 9-10 (90%!!!!) from the field along with 2-2 from the foul line and tied a career high with 20 points of his own. Almeida also earned his first career double-double, as he pulled down a team leading 11 boards. Besides those two, Dylan Talley scored his normal 14'ish points, and even in only 18 minutes, Ubel put in 11. I also thought guys like Benny Parker and Mike Peltz looked good running the offense, other than Peltz's air ball, lean in jump shot that looked like my pickup game last week at Prairie Life. Nebraska had excellent spacing, worked the offense until a good shot presented itself and once it did, they took it and obviously, converted more times than not. This offense looked relaxed, focused and efficient. It was really rather amazing and not something I was expecting to see in the least. P.S. Nebraska scored 51 points in the second half!!! 51!!! I bet we don't see that again this year. DEFENSE: B+ Nebraska was pretty darn good defensively, though some of the Husker success was due to Wake Forest missing everything (including some open looks) in the first eight minutes of the game. Actually, this game was quite interesting, because I felt Nebraska really played better defense in the second half, outside of the last few minutes, yet Wake scored 39 points and connected on 54% from the field. It's hard to explain; it just seemed as if they had more contested shots in the second half but happened to make them, unlike the opening frame. However, Nebraska did allow Wake to get to the rim a lot more in the second half, too, so maybe my analysis is more because I was having so much fun in the second half, that I didn't care. REBOUNDING: A- 36 to 30 on the boards, another NU win. 10 offensive rebounds allowed is not great, but overall, this was another nice night for the Big Red boarding the basketball, especially with Ubel largely absent. As mentioned above, this was the first career double-double for Almeida, who pulled down 11 boards and as always, Talley was right behind (with 8). BALL HANDLING: A+ I believe Nebraska had only two turnovers the entire second half. Two. That's it! For the game, NU finished with a sparkling 8, including 12 assists. Wake also showed different looks and various presses against the Huskers and though NU mildly struggled at times, it was clear this team was well prepared and expecting this. COACHING: A+ I'm positive Tim Miles would be the first to admit that when you make some shots, the coach looks a hell of a lot more intelligent than he actually is. Still, I don't care, and its more than the fact that NU was making shots, or that Gallegos briefly turned into Michael Jordan. Nebraska was PREPARED for this game. The offense was crisp; great spacing, a clear plan, and most of all, the team just looked so freaking loose. Almeida looked probably the best he ever has, both offensively and defensively. Gallegos continues to improve. Talley looks like a new player. Parker looks serviceable. Even Ubel, who was mostly quiet for this party, has continued to evolve. Nebraska did a great job of taking away free throws from Wake Forest's arsenal, outside of the final few minutes of the game. The Huskers were prepared for Wake's various junk presses. Miles stole key minutes and was able to keep both Ubel and Almeida in the game while it still counted. Oh, and I should probably also mention that David Rivers looks like he could still become a basketball player yet. I went from thinking he had no chance at being in this program next season to now believing he could legitimately be a great 6th or 7th man for the remainder of his career. Tim Miles deserves a lot of credit. I would hug him if I saw him. OVERALL GRADE: A+ Nebraska won its biggest margin of victory on the road since December of 2003 at Minnesota. They represented the B1G well in the ACC/Big 10 challenge and they did so on National TV. This should also give NU some nice momentum and a nice Monday crowd against USC, when a young man from Europe makes his official visit to campus. I am on cloud nine. Wake Forest is not good; but Nebraska might be better than we thought. And that's exciting. GREAT WIN for our boys. Let's do our best to spread the word and get these kids a nice atmosphere on Monday - they deserve it. PLAYER OF THE GAME: RAY GALLEGOS 2012-2013 PLAYER OF THE GAME TOTALS: RAY GALLEGOS - 3 DYLAN TALLEY - 2 BRANDON UBEL - 1 Click here to view the article

I think he maybe one of the better writers out there. He has great wit and he was really on last night/this morning: Fake Coach Miles ‏@FakeCoachMiles Some perspective, NU fans. Beating Wake Forest was the highlight of Callahan's last season. Things can go downhill quickly. #Nebrasketball Fake Coach Miles ‏@FakeCoachMiles Need to send Doc a thank you for redshirting Gallegos last year. #nebrasketball #huskers Fake Coach Miles ‏@FakeCoachMiles If these announcers think I'm having fun coaching, they should see me on the recruiting trail. I'm like a candy coated fat kid. Fake Coach Miles ‏@FakeCoachMiles Peltz, stay in your lane, bro. #nebrasketball #huskers Fake Coach Miles ‏@FakeCoachMiles Wake Forest halftime tweet: We have to win this game to stay in the Big Ten, right? I really don't want to go to the ACC. #nebrasketball Fake Coach Miles ‏@FakeCoachMiles Almeida doesn't block shots so much as he devours them. #nebrasketball Fake Coach Miles ‏@FakeCoachMiles If Peltz and Menke can't play in the ACC, I don't know who can. #nebrasketball #huskers Fake Coach Miles ‏@FakeCoachMiles So no one from the Big 12 will play #nebrasketball to open the new arena. Guess ol Timmy has 'em scared

To be fair, the OP was hinting that the reason we lost to Kent State was because Almeida was benched (the move being equated - rather erroneously IMO - to similar seemingly irrational in game moves by Doc Sadler). It was not that the OP was suggesting Almeida needed to ride the pine more and play less. At any event it was a poorly thought out and completely useless topic of discussion, much less warranting an entirely new thread. Clearly it was an attempt to troll the board and establish the OP as somehow "in the know" about what constitutes good and bad coaching. I am afraid that criticism of Coach Miles, especially this season, is simply not warranted, if not just flat-out wrong, and this user deserves every bit of negative reputation he (or she as the case may be) receives in this or any other thread in which he (or she) continues to spout off on a topic he (or she) is clearly not capable of discussing in anything even remotely resembling an informed manner. ...to be continued in the next 2 weeks, unfortunately.

Look, we all know this year may be very, very tough on NU. But last night for the first time in a long, long time I had so much fun watching these players. In that 2nd half, we were pouding the ball inside, pounding the glass, hitting jump shots, running when it allowed, playing good team defense.....and on top of that, the players look to be having so much more fun and playing so much more loose. Again, I'm not going to sit here and say that things are all rosey and things are where we want them to be yet, but last night was so much fun to watch. I hope we can continue this momentum and play well vs USC. I also hope we get a GREAT crowd with Webster in the house!

This one?

With Smith's departure (apparently for weight issues) UCLA is left with 8 scholarship players: Four are freshmen; and three are transfers from North Carolina. Wow. How do you get three transfers from North Carolina? Can we get in on that action? "Yes, I'd like a McDonald's All-American with cheese, two North Carolina transfers and a biggie-sized foreign kid. And I'll take fries with that."

Amazing what happens when you hit some shots.

Did you read the whole thing? I included myself in there and was even willing to take the first "slap." Everyone else did not take it seriously, and it was not meant to be. I myself predicted us to lose,so it was not like I had any room to talk... hence me including myself. ok. Slates wiped clean. Starting over. We all agree it was a good win.

Congrats on the big road win.

We have a reasonable chance to be 10-3 coming out of the non-conference schedule. That is way better than I would have expected as I'm sure most of you can say the same. Still along ways to go but I didn't even expect us to be 5-1 at this point. I think most people (including myself) were predicting about 10 wins on the entire season and we are half way there already. So far Coach Miles and this team has exceeded my expectations.

Almeida without a doubt was the player of the game. 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks in only 27 minutes. Had to step it up with Ubel in foul trouble. Gallegos was a non factor in the first half while Almeida was a major reason the Huskers had the lead.

Who was that team? Where did they come from? And I hope they stay.

Almeida's really got some skills. Unfortunately one of them is eating.

Ubel gets more ticky-tack fouls...

Up 4 at half. Better than a sharp stick in the eye....

I wonder if he put Menke on Andre's shoulders and confirmed that the hoop was 10 ft?

1. We all knew the bench was going to be very shallow this season. Ever since Danny Nee left, Nebraska's depth has slowly diminished. Its not a Barry Collier thing or a Doc Sadler thing; its an institutional problem. Granted, over the years some good players have passed through the program; but when they went to the bench, a lesser, more often than not substantially lesser, player came off the bench to replace him. Confounding matters was that some of the good talent left about the time they were needed to step up in place of a departing senior. Doc did the best he could by bringing in some good JUCO's, but they are only here for two years. Worsening the problem was a slew of injuries (it seemed like almost every big man had to sit out all or part of a season with a knee injury) or kids failing to qualify academically. It just seems like Nebraska has not had a full squad for some time. We got by some years thanks to strong guard play, good shooting, and solid defense, but it always felt like everything could fall apart for one season. Unfortunately, that time came this season. Picture this time if Vander Joaquim and Adrian Coleman qualified; Christian Standhardinger and Myles Holley did not transfer (2009 class). What if Nebraska would have signed at least 1 high school player in 2010? What if Diaz, Moore, and Hilliard remained on the team? What if Niemann's knees did not give out? Lots of if's there. 2. Miles was very smart by bringing in the transfers. Granted, the back court will be vastly improved next year, but the front court will remain shallow. That being said, size is not always necessary to win. A number of schools have advanced to the NCAA tournament, and even played the second weekend, with 1-3 true bigs. Villanova run a number of 3-4 guard lineups for years. Pittsburgh relied upon "bigs" such as Sam Young (6'7") and DeJuan Blair (6'8") for a few years. George Mason's magical 2006 run relied upon Jai Lewis (6'7") and Will Thomas (6'9") in the post and beat a very talented Connecticut in the Elite 8 which had four players who were 6'8" or taller with Hilton Armstrong, 6'11", Jaron Boone, 6'10", Rudy Gay, 6'9", and Ed Nelson, 6'8". Nelson was not a key contributor and Gay mostly played SF leaving Armstrong and Boone as the primary front court guys with size. I remember a few Virginia Tech teams with lots of size repeatedly failing to make the tournament over the years. What really matters is how well the guards and wings perform. If you have a good floor general, a few shooters to keep the defense honest, and a slasher or two, teams have a better chance of advancing to the NCAA tournament. Next year we will have: PG: Biggs, Parker, Webster SG: Gallegos, Shields SF: Petteway, Hawkins, Fuller In theory, we could put any combination of Petteway, Hawkins, Shields, and Rivers at the 4 with Pitchford or Vucetic at the 5 and be fine. I do agree it would be nice to have a 6'8"-6'10" JUCO or a prep school signee for next year, but this team has some athleticism and should be able to compensate for its . . . shortcomings.

I think the Huskers would have a decent shot at winning a banana eating contest with the Jays, but only if Almeida doesn't get winded after the first 10 minutes...

For those of you who predicted Nebraska to lose... you should be slapped! These guys are fighters!!! Now who wants to come open up the slapping by hitting me first?

Eerily familiar to some of the treatment of coach Sadler and some of our better players. Does the name Christian Standhardinger ring any bells? Clearly Rivers does not give us a better chance to beat Kent State then Almeida does, anyone who thinks otherwise can just replay the game last night. Miles clearly has other motives in this case, we saw this with Sadler and it unfortunately doesn't lead to much winning. Gonna be a long year, only way we undo what happened last night is to take this state back with a win over Creighton. Let's turn this around and give us fans something to chear for. Let's do some meaningful winning for once in a while.