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Huskers can't keep up with red-hot Spartans in 72-61 loss

FINAL STATS

As has been the theme for Nebraska all season long, just when things start to go the Huskers' way, the other shoe doesn’t wait long to drop.

Such was the case once again on Thursday night, as Michigan State put on one of its best shooting performances of the season to roll past NU 72-61 in front of a packed house of 15,821 at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Freshman center Jordy Tshimanga had a career game with 15 points and nine rebounds while senior guard Tai Webster reached double figures for the 23rd consecutive game with a game-high 18 points, but it wasn’t enough to combat the Spartans’ red-hot shooting.

Despite coming into the game shooting just 38 percent from 3-point range as a team, MSU ended the night hitting a season-high 64.7-percent from behind the arc, including going 8-of-11 in the second half.

The Spartans (14-9, 6-4) shot 55.8 percent from the field as a whole, while their 11 made threes tied for their second-highest total of the season. Their 3-point percentage also set a Pinnacle Bank Arena record.

The loss also snapped Nebraska’s (10-12, 4-6) streak of three straight victories over Michigan State dating back to 2014.

"They made their shots," NU head coach Tim Miles said. "They made big shots, and they kept doing it. Sometimes you have a little hot streak or whatever it might be, but they just kept running their stuff and running their stuff."

It was a fairly back-and-forth game through the first 10 minutes until Michigan State finally made the first run to go up eight with just over nine minutes to go in the first half.

While Tshimanga posted 10 points and five rebounds in just 10 minutes of action, MSU’s stellar freshman Miles Bridges scored 11 of his team-high 16 points to help the Spartans take a 32-26 lead into halftime.

"It came naturally," Tshimanga said of his big night. "I just followed the game plan, and it happened."

The Huskers certainly didn't help their cause by going the final 3:54 without a field goal and making just one of their final 10 shots of the first half.

Nebraska was able to get the lead down to as little as one point in the opening minutes of the second half but couldn’t get over the hump.

As a result, Michigan State eventually took its biggest lead yet on a 3-pointer by Cassius Winston to make it 50-38 with 13:48 to play.

"We did execute some great things in a 10-minute stretch," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "We got a little sloppy at the end, but I just think we are getting better because we are playing together."

Six straight points from from sophomore forward Jack McVeigh and two free throws by sophomore forward Michael Jacobson got the Huskers back back to within 53-46 with 11:28 left.

But the Spartans quickly ended that rally and took a commanding 14-point advantage on a layup by Bridgers with 8:28 to go.

Nebraska once again went nearly three and a half minutes without making a basket until the final seconds, as it ended the game shooting just 38.5 percent from the field and 25 percent from behind the arc.

"From the beginning, I don't think our defensive energy was there tonight like it was against Purdue," junior guard Evan Taylor said. "I think we wanted it to be there, but we were weren't bouncing, flying around.

"I mean, when you don't come to play every night on defense, you take that risk. People can get hot, and next thing you know they've got eight threes in one half."

Sophomore guard Glynn Watson scored 13 points with three steals, while McVeigh added eight points off the bench.

Nebraska will return to action on Sunday when it travels to take on Iowa at 1 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

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3-POINT PLAY

1. 3-point defense remains biggest weakness

The same script once again led to Nebraska's undoing on Thursday night, as Michigan State - like so many other opponents have managed to do all year - came up with one of its best 3-point shooting performances of the year. At some point a coincidence occurs enough times that it becomes a trend, and that's what the Huskers have been dealing with for the past three seasons. A big part of it stems from NU's need to double in the post because of its lack of size, but at some point the Huskers have to figure out why seemingly every team they play ends up shooting lights out. If not, it will continue to be more games with the same frustrating results.

2. Bench was non-existent

One game after getting a season-high 39 points from its bench against Purdue, Nebraska's reserves did next to nothing in the loss to Michigan State. McVeigh had eight points on 2-of-7 shooting, and the other three players who came off the bench combined for just one point on 0-of-6 shooting. When all was said and done, the Spartans' bench out-scored Nebraska's 31-9, marking NU's largest such discrepancy and its fourth-lowest bench scoring total of the season. Needless to say, that's just not going to cut it.

3. No excuse for lack of intensity

Both Miles and Taylor mentioned after the game that Nebraska just didn't play with enough effort and intensity, especially on the defensive end. How does that happen? This is a team that just picked up one of its biggest wins of the season over Purdue last time out, finally snapping a five-game losing streak and providing some desperately needed positivity. So of course the Huskers respond by coming out completely flat and letting Michigan State essentially do what it wanted all night on offense. With so much on the line, that lack of fire from NU was inexcusable.

AND-1

"It was a disappointing night because of the idea of the night, with Tyronn Lue having his jersey retired. I texted him earlier and said, 'It's our job to come through for you... This is your night. Enjoy it. We need to do our job and come through for you.' And we didn't, and that's the hard part."

- Head coach Tim Miles on losing the night of former Nebraska legend Tyronn Lue's jersey retirement ceremony.

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