Huskers Hold on for Road Win

Lubbock, Texas - Nebraska held off a furious Texas Tech rally at the end of each half to prevail with a solid 82-69 road victory at the United Spirit Arena on Saturday.

The victory improved the Huskers to 13-7 on the year and into a tie for fifth place in the league standings with a 3-4 record in Big 12 play. NU snapped a three-game losing streak with its second road victory of the season and first in conference play. The Husker finished off the Red Raiders after losing their last three games despite being within two points in the final five minutes of each game.

Cookie Miller and Ade Dagunduro led the way on Saturday with a combined 39 points, eight assists and eight steals. They helped the Huskers score their most points in a road game since posting 83 points in an overtime loss at No. 7 Oklahoma State in 2004. Overall, Nebraska improved to 14-0 under coach Doc Sadler when scoring at least 80 points.

Miller tied his career high for the second straight weekend, posting 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. He also had five assists against just one turnover and added a season-high five steals as the Huskers forced 20 turnovers on the night with 13 steals.

Dagunduro posted his second 20-point performance in a row and the third of his career with 20 points. He had just six field-goal attempts, making five, but was a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line, helping Nebraska hit 76.7 percent (23-of-30) at the stripe.

After leading by seven at the break, the Huskers jumped back ahead by double figures, hitting eight of their first 11 shots from the floor in the second half.  The Huskers started to break the game back open behind redshirt freshman Brandon Richardson, who hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to push Nebraska ahead 15 points, 54-39, at the 12:47 mark. Dagunduro added a layup 30 seconds later before the crowd got back into the game and pushed the Red Raiders.

Texas Tech made a furious run starting a couple minutes after Red Raider head coach Pat Knight was ejected from the game for receiving two technical fouls after running onto the court to protest a foul called on his player. Knight rushed to midcourt following the replay on the in-house video board.

Paul Velander hit two of the four free throws from the technicals and the Huskers got a pair of free throws and a transition basket by Miller to run out to the 66-49 lead. From there, the Red Raiders rallied, using the long ball like they did in the first half. TTU hit nine treys on the day, including five by John Roberson, who fouled out with a team-high 19 points.

The Red Raiders pulled within five points on Roberson’s 3-pointer at the 3:49 mark and again at 72-67 on a pair of free throws with 3:16 to play. From there, Dagunduro and Miller hit 8-of-8 at the line in the final three minutes, and Sek Henry had 2-of-4 free throws, including scoring the Huskers’ final point with 43 seconds left. 

Unlike the last time the Cornhuskers were in Lubbock, when NU had to rally from a 13-point halftime deficit for the victory at the buzzer, the Huskers got off to a solid start Saturday. 

Nebraska’s defensive intensity, which held TTU without a field goal for more than four minutes to start the game, transferred over to the offensive end where Nebraska parlayed early strong shooting into a 14-3 lead at the 12:32 mark.

Dagunduro scored the team’s first two points and Ryan Anderson made it a quick 6-0 lead with 16:01 to play. Following a Tech 3-pointer, one of five first-half Red Raider treys, Nebraska pushed the lead out to eight points behind a trio of baskets from redshirt freshmen. Richardson started the rookie blitz, knocking down a nice bank shot driving in from about seven feet and then added a 3-pointer just under a minute later. Toney McCray capped the early Husker run with a 3-pointer at the 12:22 mark.

Texas Tech had only one field goal in the first 10 minutes of the game as Nebraska continued to extend the lead. Henry and Cookie Miller recorded consecutive baskets and Miller forced a steal that led to a transition alley-oop to Henry that pushed Nebraska to a 23-6 lead with just under nine minutes left in the half.

The steal was one of 10 in the first period for the Huskers, as NU forced Tech into 15 turnovers in the opening period. Nebraska came into the game ranked third nationally in turnover margin.

Nebraska also hit 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the field in the first half but needed every basket as the Red Raiders rallied late in the period to cut the Huskers’ advantage to just seven at the intermission. Tech finished the half hitting just 34.6 percent (9-of-26) but held a 22-14 lead on the glass, including a 10-2 advantage on the offensive board.

Starting with Rogdrick Craig’s 3-pointer with just under 7:30 to play, Texas Tech outscored the Huskers 15-6 over the next six minutes. TTU hit four treys in that stretch and looked to have the momentum heading into halftime until a late Husker surge.

With the clock running under one minute, the Huskers pushed the lead to five points when Steve Harley hit the back end of a two-shot free throw opportunity. The Huskers forced one last turnover and steal seconds later, with Harley coming away with the ball on the NU baseline. Harley, who had not scored before the final minute of the period, quickly drove to the basket and scored the final points of the half with 39 seconds remaining, giving NU the final three points of the period and a surge into the locker room.

Nebraska returns to the court on Wednesday, Feb. 4 when it travels to take on the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder, Colo. The game is the second straight road game for the Huskers and part of a stretch of three away games in four contests. Nebraska and Colorado will tip off at 9:30 p.m. Central and the game will be seen on Fox Sports Midwest in the state of Nebraska and on ESPN FullCourt.