Husker Win Streak Snapped at OSU

Stillwater, Okla. --- The Nebraska men's basketball team continued its hot pace on offense, hitting 50.0 percent from the field, but 19 turnovers were costly as the Huskers saw their three-game winning streak snapped with a 77-63 loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

With the victory, OSU improved to 7-7 in the league standings and 16-12 overall with its fifth straight win while the Huskers dropped to 6-8 in Big 12 action and 17-10 on the season.

Nebraska played much of the first half with center Aleks Maric on the bench in foul trouble, but poor ballhandling was the main culprit that led to a double-figure deficit midway through the opening period. Nebraska was playing its second straight game without point guard Cookie Miller, who is day-to-day after suffering a severe shoulder sprain in last weekend's win over Texas A&M. Without Miller's steady hand, the Huskers committed 12 first-half turnovers and trailed by four despite hitting 55.0 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes.

Oklahoma State started slow as the Husker defense didn't led OSU get on the board until Marcus Dove's conventional three-point play at the 15:11 mark. The Cowboys, however, quickly made up ground. After Maric tied the game at 6-6, the Cowboys used a quick six points in one minute, 30 seconds to pull ahead 12-6. Two of the baskets came from Eaton, who drove the lane and got a shot off with less than two seconds remaining on the shot clock each time.

OSU extended the run to 9-0 before Sek Henry knocked down a free throw at the 11:09 mark. The Cowboys pushed the advantage to 21-9 on James Anderson's three-point play with 9:43 left in the period before the Huskers started chipping away. Ryan Anderson and Chris Balham sandwhiched baskets around an Ade Dagunduro free throw before Steve Harley put in four straight points to pull NU within seven, 25-18, with 4:39 to play before intermission. 

The Cowboys responded with an Eaton basket and Dove 3-pointer, but the Huskers ended with a flurish as Dagunduro and Harley scored the final nine points of the period for NU. Harley's 3-pointer with less than four seconds remaining pulled NU within 31-27 at the intermission.

In the second half, Oklahoma State steadily pulled away behind the strong hand of Eaton, who had a pair of early 3-pointers and another basket to push the lead to 16 points, 52-36, at the 9:58. Eaton fnished the game leading all scorers in the contest with 20 points while Dove added 17.

After the Huskers made a quick flurry to pull within 11 on Maric's dunk at the 8:57 mark, Obi Muonelo dashed any Husker comeback hopes as he drained a pair of 3-pointers 26 seconds apart to push the Cowboy lead back to 17.

Following Muonelo's basket at the 8:08 mark, the Cowboys had just one more basket the rest of the period but connected on 16-of-18 free throw attempts down the stretch. OSU knocked down 18-of-25 at the stripe after the break and was 24-of-33 from the line in the game. The Cowboys were just as hot from the field, hitting 52.4 percent from the floor in the game, including an impressive 68.8 percent on 11-of-16 shooting in the second period . 

After falling behind by 19 points with 4:05 to play, the Huskers tried to make it interesting, running off seven straight points to get within 12 with 3:15 remaining. But with each made shot by the Huskers, OSU made its free throws on the other end to keep NU from breaking back within single digits.

Maric and Harley each finished with 17 points while Dagunduro had 12 points. Maric hit 8-of-11 shots from the floor and added a game-high 12 rebounds for his ninth double-double in the past 10 games. Nebraska connected on 26-of-52 shots from the floor but hit just 8-of-14 at the charity stripe, making 19 fewer free throw attempts.

The Huskers return to action on Tuesday, March 4, when they make their final regular-season road trek to Austin, Texas, to take on No. 5 Texas. The Huskers and Longhorns will tip off at 6:35 p.m. in a game that will be telecast in Nebraska on FSN Midwest, in Texas on FSN Southwest and nationally on ESPN FullCourt.