No. 10 Spartans pull away in 79-67 win over Huskers

With the grind of Big Ten Conference play firmly underway, Nebraska had little time to feel sorry for itself following an overtime loss to Ohio State, as it traveled to face No. 10 Michigan State three days later on Wednesday.

Once again, the Huskers played well enough to stay within reach for most of the game, but they couldn’t keep up with the Spartans down the stretch in a 79-67 defeat.

Four NU players scored in double figures in the loss, led by a career-high 16 from junior forward Derrick Walker, who was 8-of-9 from the field. But MSU was plus-13 on the glass and turned 11 offensive rebounds into a 16-7 edge in second-chance points while hitting five of its eight 3-pointers in the second half.

Michigan State also overcame 19 turnovers, which included a season-high 12 NU steals, with the help of 21 points from freshman Max Christie.

With the loss, Nebraska fell to 6-9 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten and is now 1-25 in true road games under head coach Fred Hoiberg.

A hot shooting start by Nebraska paired with some sloppy ball handling by Michigan State led to the Huskers jumping out to a 17-12 lead after the first five minutes.

Walker scored 10 of his 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first half, as NU made its first seven shots with assists on its first four makes of the night. On the other end, the Spartans turned it over 11 times on their first 21 possessions.

Michigan State eventually settled down, and after 10 lead changes, went into halftime up 34-30. Both teams shot over 48 percent from the field in the first half while combining for 20 turnovers.

A steal and dunk by Bryce McGowens had NU down by five after the first six minutes of the second half. But the Spartans followed with a 9-2 run to take a 56-46 lead on a Gabe Brown dunk with 11:26 remaining.

That lead would grow to 70-56 with just over four minutes left to play after a 10-2 spurt by MSU. After a stretch of missing 10 of 14 shots, Nebraska’s shooting got going again in the final minutes, but it was far too little, too late.

After making three of their first five 3-pointers to start the night, the Huskers followed by missing 13 of their next 15 attempts from behind the arc. They also made just eight field goals over the final 14:23 of play.

McGowens finished with 13 points but was just 5-of-16 from the field and 1-of-7 from behind the arc with five turnovers. Kobe Webster had 13 points off the bench, while C.J. Wilcher scored all of his 10 in the second half.

1. Derrick Walker played a man's game

Based on how consistently productive and efficient he's been all season, you could make an argument that Walker is Nebraska's best player right now.

It's no coincidence that since Hoiberg decided to channel more of the offense through the former Tennessee transfer after the loss to Auburn, the Huskers have been noticeably more effective with the basketball.

But Walker isn't just helping facilitate the offense through the high post, which NU leaned on heavily toward the end of last season. He's also scoring at a career-best clip.

Wednesday night was maybe his best effort yet, as he matched his high with 16 points on an impressive 8-for-9 shooting line. Walker also added two assists, two steals, and a huge block in the first half.

The problem with running so much of the offensive volume through Walker is that it can make him more prone to turnovers, as he gave the ball away four times vs. MSU.

Even so, Hoiberg said after the game that he planned to continue to get the ball in Walker's hands as much as possible and wanted to create even more scoring opportunities for him going forward.

Given that Walker is now shooting .775 (62-of-80) from the field on the season, that seems like a good idea.

2. Nebraska has another Alonzo Verge situation on its hands

Alonzo Verge Jr.'s struggles continued on Wednesday night after hardly playing in the second half and not at all during overtime against Ohio State.

The senior point guard scored just five points on 2-of-10 shooting and had five assists to three turnovers in his 29 minutes of work. His -12 plus/minus was the second-lowest on the team, ahead of only Keisei Tominaga (-13).

Verge was hardly the only Husker who struggled offensively against Michigan State. Still, the more significant concern was how his poor shooting seemed to impact his effort and execution in other areas.

Whether it was jacking up transition 3-pointers with no teammates under the basket, throwing up baseline fade-aways with 14 seconds still on the shot clock, or jogging back on defense and watching his man drill 3-pointers - it was not a good night for Verge.

The problem for Hoiberg is that when Verge is good, he changes the entire dynamic of the team on both ends of the floor. But the pendulum swings so dramatically with Verge being in any given game that you never know what you're going to get out of him.

Getting Trey McGowens back later this month will be huge because it will give Nebraska another option along with Webster to spell Verge when needed.

But as long as Verge continues to see extensive minutes, his play and discipline will determine the Huskers' success and failure more than any other player.

3. Bryce McGowens has to play downhill

When McGowens puts the ball on the floor and takes the ball to the rim, good things generally happen for Nebraska.

When the heralded freshman becomes passive and settles for contested 3-pointers or long-range fadeaways, it usually always ends in a wasted possession.

A player who hit better than 40 percent from behind the arc in high school, McGowens has not found his perimeter shot all season. He went 1-of-7 on threes at Michigan State and is now 18-for-75 (24.0%) on the year.

On the flip side, McGowens is shooting 48% from inside the arc this season. He's also drawing a team-high 5.3 fouls per game (he drew six on MSU) and is shooting 82% from the free-throw line.

The recipe for him being a more consistent and productive scorer seems pretty straightforward.