Talley: Confidence THE Key to Next Level

 

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By Randy York

Minutes after the bedlam inside the Devaney Center Wednesday night, Nebraska play-by-play man Kent Pavelka had Dylan Talley on the radio trying to explain the Husker Sports Network's play of the game - his 3-point basket that cut Indiana's lead to two and gave the Huskers honest-to-goodness hope that this was a game they were now in to win and eventually did, 70-69.

And Talley, a 6-foot-5 junior guard, was the one leading the charge. His rainbow 3-pointer brought the house down, but it was no more pivotal than several other special deliveries Dylan made down the stretch ... his layup following a turnover, his three offensive rebounds that led to six hurry-up points, the biggest of which was his own put-back that pulled the Huskers within a point with 24 seconds to play. And, oh, did we mention Talley blocked an Indiana 3-point field goal attempt and got everyone believing what he was?

Asked to "recreate" that 3-point play, Talley talked about getting out of the way and running hard down the floor, but it all came down to one word ... confidence. "I just had to stay confident," he said. "I shot it, and it went in." Simple enough, but really, it's a little more complicated than that. Talley, you see, struggled mightily in a scoreless first half, but is one of those rare athletes that can hit the reset button in his mind. It deletes the negative, accentuates the positive and changes his physical and emotional gears simultaneously. Unwavering, unshakeable confidence is the only legitimate explanation for someone that can move from struggling to electrifying so fast.

"Talley's not overly athletic, like so many think he is," Matt Davison told me Friday.Nebraska's color analyst says supreme confidence is what separates Talley from others. Regardless of what happens, he has no fear of failure, and that mindset is what Nebraska needs overall to challenge sixth-ranked Ohio State Saturday night.

If you listened to Talley right after the game, it's obvious what he thinks. "We had about three other close games we should have won that went right down to the last minute," he said, "but now that we got over the hump, I think this takes this team to a whole new level. We've always believed we could do it, and now we know we can do it. We have an 18-game conference schedule." In other words, the opportunity is there for the Huskers to finish their first season in the Big Ten Conference with a flourish.

Talley has a simple description for Nebraska's newfound confidence. "It's just about believing," he said after scoring 10 points in the second half of the win over the No. 11 Hoosiers, complementing his nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

After spending more than two weeks without practicing and missing five consecutive games with fellow junior teammate Jorge Brian Diaz, Talley said the Huskers are different with both back in the lineup. "Brian's two foul shots at the end ... oh man, they were big-time," Talley said. "I was confident he could do it, even when they took a timeout (to ice Diaz). Obviously, he was confident, too." Such confidence needs to be contagious for the Huskers to conceive another upset, believe it and, finally, achieve it. "We're definitely ready for Ohio State," Talley said. "We expect to play well."

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