FIRST HALF ANALYSIS:
This game started out like a track meet, with both teams getting out of the blocks relatively quickly. Pryce Sandfort carried the Huskers to a 9-point lead by scoring 11 straight. Kansas State was guilty
of some sloppy ball handling, as they had 6 turnovers in the opening 5 minutes. Much of the same continued, as Nebraska jumped out to a double-digit lead and K-State committed a few more turnovers.
Nebraska was hot from the floor early, making 8 of their first 13 shots. Sam Hoiberg was perfect from the floor, going 4-4 with 8 points. Kansas State started to climb back into this by hitting the offensive glass. The Wildcats had recorded 6 offensive rebounds, including one possession where they had 3 of them alone. Kansas State had cut the lead down to 6, but the Huskers kept them at bay and took a 45-35 lead into the locker room.
FIRST HALF STATS:
Kansas State shot 13-33 for 39% from the floor. They went 4-19 for 21% from deep and 5-6 for 83% from the free-throw line. The Wildcats collected 19 rebounds, 7 of which were offensive. Kansas State had 9 turnovers to 8 assists and had all of its scoring from the starters.
The Wildcats were led by P.J Haggerty, who had 12 points. Abdi Bashir Jr. had 8. Haggerty also led the way with 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Nebraska shot 19-35 for 54% from the floor. They went 5-18 for 28% from deep and 2-5 for 40% from the free-throw line. The Huskers collected 18 rebounds, 5 of which were offensive. Nebraska had 9 assists to 5 turnovers and had 9 bench points.
The Huskers were led by Pryce Sandfort, who had 13 points. Berke Buyuktuncel led the way with 6 rebounds. Sam Hoiberg led in assists and steals with 3 each.
SECOND HALF ANALYSIS:
Just like last night, Nebraska off to a horrible start to the half. K-State went on an 8-0 run to begin things. Teams are starting to figure out the defensive rotations and it’s killing Nebraska. Nebraska’s lead shrank to 2 in just under 3 minutes. Kansas State, who wasn’t that great from beyond the arc, all of a sudden got hot. In particular, Abdi Bashir Jr. was doing most of the damage early.
The Huskers lead eventually went away at the 13:34 mark with a Wildcats 3, which gave them a 2-point lead. If you enjoy back and forth, close ballgames, you were in luck from there. No team had a lead greater than 5 the rest of the way. At the under 8 timeout, Bashir was officially 7-15 from the floor, with every attempt coming from beyond the arc. One would think Nebraska would have either chased him off the perimeter or made sure he wasn’t getting open looks, but that would have been considered smart.
Jamarques Lawrence picked up a flagrant 1 foul for shoving Elias Rapieque as he was in on a breakaway layup. Nebraska took a 4 point lead with 5 minutes to go, and that was the largest lead either side had after that. Every bucket and mini run was countered, and Nebraska looked as though they would lose this due to a handful of missed free-throws. Luckily, after Pryce Sandfort missed a 3 with 3 seconds to go, Sam Hoiberg collected the rebound, put up a shot, was fouled on the play with 1.2 seconds to go. He would hit one free-throw to break the tie, and the Huskers would hold on.
FINAL STATS AND THOUGHTS:
Kansas State shot 27-62 for 44% from the floor. They went 12-35 for 34% from deep and 19-22 for 86% from the free-throw line. The Wildcats collected 32 rebounds, 9 of which were offensive. Kansas State had 19 assists to 13 turnovers. David Castillo had all 8 bench points.
The Wildcats were led by P.J Haggerty, who had 27 points. Abdi Bashir Jr. had 26. Haggerty led the way with 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Nate Johnson and Elias Repieque had 5 rebounds each.
Nebraska shot 33-61 for 54% from the floor. They went 8-32 for 25% from deep and 12-20 for 60% from the free-throw line. The Huskers collected 32 rebounds, 8 of which were offensive. Nebraska had 16 assists to 12 turnovers. Nebraska had 20 bench points.
The Huskers were led by Pryce Sandfort, who had 21 points. Rienk Mast had 20. Berke Buyuktuncel had 8 rebounds, while Braden Frager had 6. Jamarques Lawrence had 5 assists.
Whew! I can exhale after that one. Nebraska came out flat for the second straight game in the second half, allowing a double-digit lead to nearly evaporate within a few minutes. The bright spot is that despite blowing those leads, the Huskers have shown great resilience on how to close out games. This will be massively beneficial come conference play.
Balanced scoring was again a strong facet to the Husker offense, as four different guys finished in double-figures. This is another solid victory, carrying the nation’s longest win streak to 10 games. The Huskers face Winthrop on Tuesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tipoff is 7:30 pm on BTN.
