Huskers Fall to Iowa State, 88-75

Lincoln ? Despite a near double-double from Wes Wilkinson, Iowa State spoiled Nebraska’s bid for its best conference start in 30 years with an 88-75 victory over the Huskers Tuesday evening at the Devaney Center.

Wilkinson finished with 19 points, including 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range and matched his career best in 3-pointers set earlier this season against Northern Colorado. He also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in 27 minutes despite being in foul trouble for most of the first half.Wilkinson was one of three Huskers to finish in double figures, as NU dipped to 12-4 overall and 2-1 in the league. Marcus Walker and Aleks Maric finished with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Iowa State (12-5, 2-2 Big 12) broke a two-game losing streak behind the play of Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock, who combined for 48 points and 13 assists in a winning effort.

Stinson finished with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting while adding six assists and five steals, while Blalock totaled 21 points, including four 3-pointers, and a game-high seven assists. Four Cyclones finished in double figures as the Cyclones hit 52.7 percent of its shots from the floor to become the first team to shoot over 50 percent against a Husker defense this season.

ISU did most of its damage from 3-point range, hitting half of its 20 shots from beyond the arc, including one stretch where they hit 14-of-19 from long distance. ISU’s 88 points were the most by a Husker opponent in more than two years.

In the first half, NU trailed 18-16 before Marcus Perry’s 3-pointer began a spurt of eight unanswered points for Nebraska, helping NU to build a 24-17 lead after Jamel White’s 3-pointer at the 8:52 mark. The lead would be short-lived as ISU took control over the next five minutes, using a 14-0 spurt of its own to regain the lead for good. Jiri Hubalek’s jumper pushed the Cyclones lead to 30-24 with 3:38 left before intermission.

The Huskers climbed back into the contest, pulling within 32-30 after a pair of Charles Richardson free throws, but the Cyclones got hot from 3-point range. Blalock and John Neal turned a two-point game into an 11-point Cyclone advantage by hitting from long range with Blaylock’s 3-pointer with two seconds left in the half giving ISU a 41-30 lead at the break.

Behind the shooting of Wilkinson, Nebraska made a late run, as the senior scored nine straight points for the Huskers during a 9-4 spurt to close to within 74-65 after his second straight 3-pointer with 3:12 remaining. That would be as close as the Huskers would get as two baskets by Shawn Taggert and a Stinson free throw pushed the lead to 14 with 2:18 remaining as ISU handed NU just its second home loss in 13 contests this season.

The Huskers return to action this Saturday, Jan. 21, when they travel to Kansas. Tipoff for the ESPN national telecast is set for 3 p.m. (central). The game can also be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network with Randy Lee and Matt Davison calling all of the action.