Men’s basketball falls 65-53 to Cyclones

The Nebraska men’s basketball team battled its way back from a 12-point halftime deficit Wednesday night against Iowa State but fell to the Cyclones 65-53 in Ames, Iowa.

With the loss, Nebraska falls to 11-4 (1-1 Big 12 Conference) while the Cyclones improve to 12-5 (1-1 Big 12 Conference).

ISU benefited from the Cornhusker’s ice-cold shooting performance during the first half.

NU shot 26 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3-point range while Iowa State shot 40 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range as they built a 32-20 halftime lead. Nebraska finished the game shooting 34 percent from the field.

“This is a game where I thought if we would have forced the issue from the get-go, then we’d have a chance,” said NU coach Doc Sadler. “But we were not the aggressor in the first half and we allowed them to get the basketball inside.”

A re-energized Nebraska used its trademark stingy defense to fight back in the second half, gradually trimming the lead and eventually tying the game after a Paul Velander 3-pointer made it 45-45 with 6:30 remaining.

The Huskers remained close for the next four minutes, but never regained the lead. After an Ade Dagunduro three-point play cut the Cyclones’ lead to 55-53 with 2:14 left in the game, the Cyclones would go on a 10-0 run to seal the victory.

Nebraska had 11 steals in the game and was able to force 17 Cyclone turnovers.

“I thought our guys came back in the second half and did a little bit better of trying to do what we wanted to do,” Sadler said. “It’s hard to push it every single possession and pick up full court every possession. But if we’re going to just try and play a half-court game, then we’re going to get down like we did in the first half.

“We didn’t take advantage of our strength in the first half like we did in the second half.”

Iowa State sophomore forward Craig Brackins came into the game as one of the Big 12’s leading scorers, averaging 18.4 points and nine rebounds a game. He filled that quota Wednesday night with a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Despite Brackins’ double-double, Sadler was pleased with how his team played against the 6-foot-10 sophomore but was disappointed with how they handled Lucca Staiger, who had 18 points – all off 3-pointers.

“If you would have told me we were going to hold Craig Brackins to 21 points, I would have said, ‘Hey, we’ll take that every time, but we’re not going to let the other guys score,’” Sadler said. “We allowed another guy to hit six threes on us and get 18 points, so now you’ve got problems. We can’t overcome that from two guys.”

Ade Dagunduro once again led the Huskers in scoring with 13 points while Cookie Miller added 11. Steve Harley scored 10 for NU.

Velander, who went scoreless in the first half, made three 3-pointers in the second half and was instrumental in Nebraska’s comeback.

“The problem is, we can’t have two guys playing well,” Sadler said. “It takes a team and when we’re going to have a chance to win the basketball game, everybody is going to have to do their part.”

lukenichols@dailynebraskan.com