2008 Woodie Awards
Huskers upset No. 22 Texas A&M
Michael McHale
Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Sports
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Their starting point guard was gone. Cookie Miller had been dragged off the floor with a shoulder injury.
Their faces were different. They wore grins instead of grimaces. Nebraska (16-9, 5-7 Big 12 Conference) had won a game on the road, knocking off No. 22-ranked Texas A&M, 65-59, for its second straight victory over a top-25 foe.
This was after losing two straight a short while ago.
"Isn't this a great sport?" NU Coach Doc Sadler said on his postgame radio show. "As good as we feel today, we felt this bad last week. You got to give our guys credit."
The Huskers dropped back-to-back games to Missouri and Iowa State earlier this month, falling toward the bottom of the league standings with seemingly no daylight ahead.
But after knocking off No. 25 Kansas State last Wednesday, NU traveled to Texas A&M this weekend with a little momentum. And players made use of it.
The Huskers sprinted out of the locker room and rarely looked back. They led for all but 23 seconds.
"I am so proud of them," Sadler said. "It was the first time I felt like we've gone on the road and understood what playing on the road means - taking a crowd out of it, passing up the first or second open shots."
Four Huskers scored in double figures, including sophomore guard Sek Henry and junior guard Steve Harley, who each finished with 11 points.
A&M didn't go away easily, though. Not with that ranking and home crowd.
And it started when Miller left. With just more than six minutes remaining in the second half, NU's freshman point guard went sprinting after a loose ball. Miller's right shoulder crunched into an oncoming Aggie, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.
It took NU's staff several minutes to peel him off the floor, and his status is not yet known. But the home team took advantage.
A&M's Dominique Kirk drained a 3-pointer with 5:32 remaining to tie the score at 50. Teammate Donald Sloan followed up with his own trey moments later, giving the Aggies a 53-50 advantage - their first lead of the day.
It lasted a matter of seconds.
On NU's next possession, senior center Aleks Maric caught the ball and disappeared into a mob of defenders. He kicked it out to Henry near the sideline, who hit only nylon with his 3-point attempt, tying the score and quieting the crowd.
"I was ready to shoot that mother," Henry said on the postgame radio show. "And I shot the ball and it went in."
Texas A&M's hopes of winning seemed to dwindle on the next play, where 6-foot-9 forward Bryan Davis picked off an NU pass and dribbled down the floor by himself. As the big man prepared to dunk the ball, his knee twisted and his ankle rolled, and he collapsed out of bounds in awkward pain.
His teammates tried to make up for the embarrassment, keeping pace with the Huskers during the next several minutes.
But Henry drained another long-range shot, this time a pull-up trey from the top of the key to give the Huskers a 60-57 lead with 1:22 remaining. The Aggies never got any closer.
After knocking off two ranked opponents in four days, Nebraska was feeling good last weekend.
"I felt like (Saturday) was really a day that our guys - I hope - took a big step in becoming a good basketball team," Sadler said.
michaelmchale@dailynebraskan.com
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
richie
posted 2/25/08 @ 12:18 PM CST
after watching my hawkeyes lose, i was prepared for even further defeat from the huskers. needless to say, i was pleasantly surprised, in fact i made my 5-year-old watch the final minutes of the game and we were really excited for the huskers. (Continued…)
Haythrower
posted 2/25/08 @ 4:06 PM CST
Huskers get upset at No. 22 Texas A&M? If they beat a ranked team, what were they upset about?
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