Palmer leads NU to 80-57 statement win over Seton Hall

Nebraska faced its first real test of the season on Wednesday night when Seton Hall came to town as part of the annual Gavitt Tipoff Games series.

There were a handful of rough patches along the way, but the Huskers ended up passing with flying colors in an 80-57 victory.

Senior guard James Palmer Jr. started the game missing his first eight shots but rallied to drop a game-high 29 points while shooting 7-of-12 after his first make.

The Pirates (1-1) cut a six-point halftime deficit down to two with just under 14 minutes to play, but after a technical foul on head coach Tim Miles, the Huskers responded by out-scoring SHU 36-15 the rest of the way.

“I said on the pre-game stuff with radio and TV that I thought we’d play better as the game went on, and we did,” Miles said. “I thought what was evident was you saw Palmer make big shots and big plays; (Isaac) Copeland made big shots; Glynn (Watson) hit a big three; Nana (Akenten) hit a great pull-up that were really important plays, all of them.”

It wasn’t an ideal start for Nebraska, as Palmer couldn’t get anything going on offense and junior forward Isaiah Roby picked up two quick fouls in the first 5:20 of play.

But the Huskers were able to get through it with the help of Glynn Watson. The senior guard knocked down a 3-pointer with 14:26 left to spark a 12-3 NU run that eventually turned into a 20-10 lead.

Palmer finally got on the board with a three at the 3:48 mark, and he followed that by scoring nine points in less than a minute and a half to give Nebraska its biggest lead of the half at 31-22.

The Huskers would go into halftime with a 33-27 advantage despite shooting just 27.8 percent from the field. The main reason why was because of NU’s defense, which held the Pirates without a 3-pointer (0-of-6) and forced eight turnovers.

Nebraska appeared to take a 47-38 lead after a 3-pointer by Palmer with 13:44 left in the second half, but Roby was called for his fourth foul to negate the shot. Miles was then hit with a technical for arguing the call, and the series of events ended up resulting in a seven-point swing in favor of Seton Hall that cut the lead to 44-42.

But Palmer immediately answered with a 3-pointer and Watson found sophomore guard Thomas Allen with a no-look pass to the corner for another trey to push the lead back up to 53-44 with 11:26 to go.

“That was really a test for us,” senior forward Isaac Copeland said. “We hadn’t really experienced anything like that in the first two games. I think we really stayed together and made a push after that.”

Nebraska wouldn’t look back from there, as it eventually led by as many as 25 before settling on an 80-57 final. The Huskers ended up shooting 59.3 percent from the field in the second half and had 15 assists on 26 makes on the night. Guard Myles Powell led SHU with 24 points.

Copeland finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Watson had 14 points and eight assists.

Nebraska will hit the road for the first time next week when it travels to Kansas City, Mo., for the Hall of Fame Classic, where the Huskers will take on Missouri State on Monday night and then the winner of Texas Tech/USC on Tuesday.

“I thought the kids did a really nice job, and they should gain some confidence from this,” Miles said. “Now we’ve got a new challenge in front of us: quality teams going down to Kansas City, and we’ll need to win there, too.”

1. Palmer's persistence turned the night around

It looked like it just wasn’t going to be Palmer’s night through the first 16 minutes. But even after missing eight straight shots to open the game, Nebraska never lost confidence in its All-Big Ten senior.

That trust eventually paid off in a major way, as Palmer ended up posting the second-highest point of his career while shooting 58.3 percent from the field after his first make.

The 3-pointer wasn’t falling at all early, so Palmer did what did so often last season and created offense by attacking the rim. As a result, five of his seven made field goals were layups and he got to the line for 18 free throws, making 13.

Palmer got plenty of help from his teammates as he battled out of his cold start, but the rest of the Huskers know that he’s the type of player who is always going to get rolling at some point.

“He’s going to stay aggressive,” Watson said. “That’s what he does. He’s a scorer, so he’s going to stay aggressive, and we’re going to keep telling him to take his shots. Eventually, they’re going to fall.”

2. Nebraska's defense was the story

While Nebraska was able to break the game open with some clutch shots in the second half, it was its defense that controlled the game the entire night.

Powell, Seton Hall’s top scorer, ended up with 24 points, but did so on just 7-of-21 shooting and was 1-for-9 from 3-point range.

Only one other player scored in double figures, and the Pirates 35.6 percent from the field and had just three assists on 21 made shots.

Nebraska also held SHU to 2-of-16 shooting from behind the arc, moving NU’s opponent 3-point total to 6-of-48 (12.5 percent) on the season.

The Huskers have now held their last 29 opponents to less than 50 percent shooting from the field.

As much talk as there has been about NU revamping its offense this season, defense will always be the most important factor for success under a Tim Miles team.

3. Fouls remain a concern

If there were one lingering concern from an otherwise great night for Nebraska, it would have to be the continued foul trouble for guys like Roby and Watson.

Roby only played 17 minutes on the night after picking up two quick fouls early in the game and then another two in the opening minutes of the second half.

He still finished with seven points and four rebounds, but much of that came in what Miles called “the best 90 seconds of the night” to end the game.

Watson was able to play around three fouls for a big night, but like Roby, he was a player who struggled at times with picking up cheap, unnecessary whistles.

The competition will only continue to pick up as the season goes along, and the Huskers cannot afford to have Roby, Watson, or any other member of its “Core Four” watching from the bench with foul trouble.