MBB: After upset, Huskers hope to continue winning

After the game expired in Nebraska's 70-69 victory against No. 11 Indiana you might expect Toney McCray to be storming the court alongside the Red Zone students and some of his younger teammates.

But the senior from Missouri City, Texas learned his lesson last season after the Huskers beat the No. 3 team in the nation.

"Last year when we beat Texas and they stormed the floor, somebody cut my lip," McCray said. "That's the first thing I thought about, so I tried to get to the side and shake (Indiana's) hands and get out of there."

But despite McCray's absence from the court for the upset victory, the win wasn't lost for the Huskers.

NU coach Doc Sadler wanted to give the students a chance to show off their fandom and celebrate a win rather than go home with their heads hung.

"I wish I could see them on the floor after every game," Sadler said. "That means everybody is happy, so that is pretty big. Let's be real. That is what it is about in college. They see other people do it so they want to do it, and I'm glad we gave them the opportunity to do it."

But the win wasn't all about the fans. Sadler praised his team during the week after practice and during the practice for its ability to stay positive. And the players were excited to see that work pay off.

"We really needed it," Bo Spencer said. "We knew coming into this game that these two games we have against Indiana and Ohio State will be two of our biggest home games of the year and we need to protect the home court."

And starting to win right now should be huge for NU, Spencer said, especially against a team as skilled as the Hoosiers.

But NU coach Doc Sadler didn't care about the quality of the opponent. All he wanted to see from NU was a win in the friendly confines of the Devaney Center after dropping games in Lincoln and on the road.

"You're supposed to win at home," Sadler said. "We have let too many home games go this year ... We have had two chances on the road to steal a couple but we didn't do it, and at some point we are going to have to do that now."

And those wins could still start something big for NU. However, Sadler refuses to get caught up in the hype surrounding a victory over a top-25 opponent. There's still a lot of basketball left to be played – something that could work out in Nebraska's favor.

"We don't need to get caught up," Sadler said. "I hated the 18-game schedule until we started 1-5 and now I'm glad we are playing 18 games in league. There is so much basketball left for this team and it isn't going to be easy."

But Sadler isn't worried about his squad. Despite opening Big Ten play 1-5, he contends the team never hung their heads and were always ready to practice and win basketball games.

But that doesn't make the 2012 Huskers unique.

"I've had unbelievable kids since I've been here," Sadler said. "Not everything has gone their way but they've always fought for each other and that's not any different."

So the question on every "Nebrasketball" fan's mind is will the Huskers keep up their winning ways?

Toney McCray thinks yes. After all, there wasn't much difference between the game plan of the Huskers for this game versus any other in Big Ten game.

"The ball just finally went in the basket," McCray said. "We've practiced the same way and didn't change anything, the ball just went in."

robbykorth@dailynebraskan.com