Horne stays course, spurs Huskers' upset of Purdue

By Brian Rosenthal / Huskers.com

So, Matt Painter, did anything in particular surprise you about Jeriah Horne’s game?

Three-point shooting? Athleticism?

Anything?

“It surprised me he played,” Painter deadpanned.

Thing is, Painter, the Purdue basketball coach, wasn’t joking.

Horne, a Nebraska true freshman wing, hadn’t played in the Huskers’ last game, a road loss to Northwestern.

Who, then, would expect Horne to play a lead role in Nebraska’s 83-80 upset of No. 20 Purdue on Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena?

Oh, sure, Painter had the 6-foot-7 Horne on the scouting report. He’d be doing himself a disservice if he hadn’t. After all, Horne has made splashes this season. Remember his trio of three-pointers in Nebraska’s victory at Indiana to begin Big Ten Conference play?

Or, maybe, like Painter, you remember Horne was 4-of-17 on three-pointers in January, and knew he’d had the dreaded “DNP – CD” (did not play, coach’s decision) next to his name and stat line on Thursday night in Evanston.

“Any time you play sparingly, it’s really hard to gauge a guy because it’s not who they are,” Painter said. “It’s really hard to be consistent when you have inconsistent minutes. It’s a tough thing, especially for a true freshman.”

You know what else is tough? Being called out by your head coach in practice for not giving enough effort, yet having the mental fortitude to respond positively.

In today’s age of needing instant gratification, or maybe expecting something for nothing, Horne didn’t pout, give in or make demands. He buried his nose, stayed the course and, for the time being, is reaping rewards – say, 16 points and seven rebounds to help your team end a five-game losing streak.

“When success comes, you’ve just got to remind them what got them to that stage,” said Nebraska senior guard Tai Webster, who knows all too well the ups and downs Horne has experienced.

“He got called out by Coach (Tim) Miles for his effort, and he responded. He’s been practicing great lately. And even before when we saw some success out of him, he’d been practicing really well. It’s just staying on him, constantly reminding him what’s getting him to the performances he had tonight and in the past.”

Horne, who’d become something of a fan favorite after shooting 4-of-6 on three-pointers in a December game against Southern, said he wasn’t surprised – unlike many fans – that he didn’t play at Northwestern. Coaches told him he needed to work harder in practice, and that his time would come.

“There’s a lot of freshmen around the NCAA that some games they play a lot, some games they don’t,” Horne said. “I just got to get used to how it goes for a freshman, preparing for every game like I’m going to play. I’m OK with that.

“Every day is a learning experience for me. At the beginning of this season, my defense was not where it is right now. Every day, I’m improving on something. I just trust in my coaches and my teammates having my back every step of the way.”

 But honestly – honestly – what were Horne’s feelings when, for only the second time this season, he didn’t log a single minute in a game?

“Honestly?” Horne said with a big smile. “Well, it happened earlier in the season, and I stuck with it and I got my chance and I played well against Southern. Really, I’ve just been sticking with it, trusting Coach. He’s been telling me to keep working hard in practice and it will all come together. I think today was a prime example of that.”

Horne had a three-pointer and one-handed dunk in transition that sparked an 8-0 run in the first half after Nebraska (10-11, 4-5 Big Ten) had fallen behind 18-9.

In the second half, Horne rose again, this time hitting a three-pointer after Purdue (17-5, 6-3) had taken a 72-67 lead with 3 minutes to play, casting some doubt over the crowd of 14,194.

“He’s got a nice pull-up. He hit a couple of those floaters. His three late was obviously huge,” Painter said. “Give him credit. That’s a hard thing to do, to not play very much and then not play in a conference game and then turn around and then maybe be the difference-maker in this game, so give the kid credit.”

Painter’s team had cashed in on 14 three-pointers and held Nebraska’s top two scoring threats, Webster and Glynn Watson Jr., to a manageable 15 points and 12 points, respectively. Surely that formula would produce a road victory.

Well, it didn’t, because Purdue had been surprised by not only Horne, but also Jack McVeigh, who tied his career high with 21 points. The sophomore wing made four three-pointers, all in the first half, blocked a couple of shots and grabbed three rebounds.

Horne, McVeigh – 37 points, 10 rebounds.

“We don’t win without it,” Miles said. “Like Tai said, to go from playing to ‘DNP-coaches decision’ is hard – hard to stomach, hard to swallow. It’s bad for your confidence, bad for your ego. But I think it shows their competitive nature, their commitment and how they want to help us. I’m very proud of them.”

Miles is also impressed by the contributions of sophomore forward Michael Jacobson, who quite literally played his guts out.

More than once in the first half, Miles had turned to his bench to send Jacobson into the game, only to learn that Jacobson was somewhere vomiting.

He lay in the locker room at halftime as he received an IV.

“I just said, ‘Don’t kill yourself over a basketball game for crying out loud.’ And he goes, ‘No, no, I’ll be ready.’ I didn’t know if he was talking about a date for later tonight or the basketball game,” Miles said.

Jacobson (nine points, seven rebounds, 23 minutes) not only did yeoman’s work in battling against Purdue’s beaming frontline of Caleb Swanigan (6-9, 250) and Isaac Haas (7-2, 290), he rebounded a missed three-pointer by McVeigh and stuck it back through the hoop for a 79-78 lead with 41 seconds left. That possession started after Jacobson simply snagged the ball away from Swanigan in the paint.

“That’s a big win for the morale and in terms of positioning and everything,” McVeigh said. “Every night, someone’s got to step up, and tonight everyone did, really. When you look at it, the whole team played big-time.”

Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.