Nebraska’s home matchup against Southern might have given fans some flashbacks, and not good ones
A week earlier, the Huskers dropped a double-overtime loss to Southern Utah, they once again found themselves playing beyond regulation against Southern on Friday night.
But this one ended a little bit differently, as NU turned an 80-80 tie at the end of regulation into a 93-86 win over the Jaguars to move to 2-2 on the season.
Despite coming into their fourth matchup of the season as 18.5-point favorites, the Huskers let the Jaguars hang around all night.
After coming out hot to start with two three pointers from junior Jervay Green, the offensive pace quickly lagged for both teams.
It wasn’t just the shooting where the Huskers struggled, though, as the main point of concern was a familiar one instead. Nebraska struggled to rebound on both sides of the court.
“We talked about it from the very first day we met, that rebounding was going to be an issue for our group,” head coach Fred Hoiberg said. ”But you've got to find a way to compete better than we did tonight on the glass.”
At the under-eight mark in the first half, the Huskers had only grabbed one offensive rebound in contrast to Southern’s 10.
“I thought they were more physical than us, especially in the first half,” Hoiberg said. “They were getting all of the loose balls.”
Nebraska’s struggles to score second-chance points were accentuated as the clock ticked down to halftime, as Southern U went on a 13-0 scoring run to get within striking distance.
The Huskers were able to counter by shooting 48 percent from the field, and they headed into the locker room with a 40-38 lead.
With 20 fresh minutes on the clock and only two points separating them, both teams emerged from the locker rooms ready to face a dog fight.
Southern came out firing, hitting its first five shots from the field to take the 51-46 lead, but Nebraska’s bench wouldn’t take it.
“I give our bench a ton of credit for coming out when they got the momentum I thought our bench was the one that came in and turned it around for us,” Hoiberg said.
Junior Thorir Thorjarnarson led the charge, providing a huge spark for Nebraska with back-to back threes.
"I coulnd’t take Thor off the floor,” Hoiberg said.
The momentum continued to swing back-and-forth, as the Jaguars went on a 7-0 run in a span of 43 seconds to take the lead.
Needing to reclaim the momentum, Green drew a foul and went to the line with an opportunity to take the lead. The junior college transfer went 1-of-2 to tie the game for Nebraska, but gave the ball back to Southern.
After a scramble at the other end of the court, the Jaguars missed the final shot to send the game to overtime, keeping Nebraska’s hopes of being .500 on the season alive.
The Huskers came out firing in overtime, dominating in all facets of the game. Nebraska shot 80 percent from the field while defensively limiting the Jaguars to three points.
Freshman Yvan Ouegraodo came off the bench to score the team’s first four points in overtime and added some free throws to give NU an 89-82 lead.
But it was Green who was the star of the night, as he led Nebraska’s scoring efforts with 22 points, including a wide-open three in overtime off a feed from sophomore guard Cam Mack to seal the game
“It felt great. As soon as I released it I said 'that's a bucket,'" Green said. "I made it and the rest is history."
Losing in double-overtime two weeks earlier, this win was especially sweet for the young team.
“When adversity hit us, I thought that we responded so much better this time around,” Hoiberg said.
Now, the Huskers will head to the Caymen Islands Classic to play Washington State on Monday.
"I'm looking forward to the beach," Green said. "Nah, we're just looking to get back on the floor. Obviously tonight was great and we just want to keep this winning streak going."
