Postseason plans look brighter for NU
Nebraska probably played its way into the NIT with Friday night's 69-63 win over Oklahoma in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament.
Could an NCAA bid be around the corner?
It at least has to be part of the discussion. Two more victories would give NU (19-12) its first league tournament title since 1994 and an automatic spot in the NCAAs.
A semifinal win today won't come easily. The opponent at 3:30 p.m. is No. 17 Kansas, which has thrashed NU by 42 and 21 points already.
Today's semis • Texas (26-5) vs. Texas A&M (21-7), 1 p.m. (Cox 2)
• Kansas (23-7) vs. Nebraska (19-12), 3:30 p.m. (Cox 2, KFAB AM)
"That first game against them was a nightmare," NU coach Barry Collier said. "And the second one was at least a bad dream."
But that wasn't the prime topic after the Huskers upset the 22nd-ranked Sooners before about 10,000 fans at American Airlines Arena. Among those in attendance was Nebraska Athletic Director Steve Pederson, who through a spokesman declined any comment on the embattled Collier's job status.
The main talking point was the play down the stretch of Nebraska freshman guards Jamel White and Marcus Walker.
White, averaging 8.3 points a game, scored 18 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, including nine in the final 2:16 as NU stretched a one-point lead to six. Walker, averaging 5.8, scored eight points in the final 5:20 and 10 overall.
"That was huge," said senior guard Jason Dourisseau, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds. "Those guys grew up today."
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Nebraska head coach Barry Collier, center, and assistant Scott Spinelli return to the locker room after the Huskers upset Oklahoma Friday night in the Big 12 tournament. The victory moved the Huskers into the semifinals of a conference tournament for the first time since 1994.
Part of what sparked the guards in both tourney wins has been a quicker pace than Nebraska has used most of the season.
Hard dribble penetration and attacking the basket has become the mode of operation instead of standing and dribbling 35 feet from the basket.
White said he didn't seek to take over the game in the second half.
"It just kind of evolved like that," he said. "My team was finding me and I was shooting well. The shots were there, and I kept shooting."
Nebraska, down 27-23 at halftime, scored the first six points of the second half to retake the lead. White got four of those points.
The Sooners later took their largest lead at 42-36. But NU responded with a 10-2 run, capped by guard Marcus Perry's 3-pointer, to regain the lead 46-44 with 8:12 to go.
Over the next five minutes, the lead changed hands six times and neither team led by more than two points. Then White and Walker scored NU's final 13 points for the win.
Offense wasn't the only key to this win.
Nebraska played most of the game in a diamond-and-one - four men in a zone and point guard Charles Richardson chasing OU 3-point shooting star Michael Neal.
Neal, averaging 13 points a game, went scoreless in the first half and never attempted a shot. He finished with six points.
"We really took them out of their comfort zone," Richardson said. "Our coaches really prepared us, even though we hadn't worked on that defense a lot.
"The main point in this diamond-and-one was to limit Neal's touches as much as possible. We made them play to our defense."
Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said his team had been practicing well, but didn't show it against Nebraska.
"Tonight was a little bit of an ambush," Sampson said. "I didn't see this coming."
Nebraska, which had lost four of its final five games entering the tournament, now has won two in a row.
"This feels real good," White said. "We've been through a lot of ups and downs."
Dourisseau was more blunt.
"We have been through a lot of adversity this year with our local media and everything," he said. "It feels great to get to this point.
"We're not satisfied yet. We've got another one tomorrow, and we'll be ready to play."
