2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Huskers open season with win
Michael McHale
Issue date: 11/12/07 Section: Sports
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Nebraska showed Presbyterian the ropes Saturday night inside the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Cornhuskers handled the Blue Hose in their first regular-season game, using a barrage of early 3-pointers to finish off the visitors 67-52.
Presbyterian looked stunned playing in its first ever-game as a D-I squad. When it finally seemed to realize the baskets were still 10 feet high, NU was comfortably in control.
"We're not going to shoot the ball that way and that well every game," NU Coach Doc Sadler said. "I do think that we can shoot it, but we can't get comfortable once we make a few shots."
The Huskers raced to 43-16 advantage in the first half before letting Presbyterian creep back in front of a crowd of 6,099.
In the opening period, Nebraska shot 69.6 percent from the field and went 8-of-12 from behind the 3-point arc. When the hot shooting chilled in the second half, Aleks Maric took over. The Nebraska senior center finished with a game-high 14 points.
Yet the outburst was somewhat unexpected from the Huskers, who had struggled to make shots during two exhibition games earlier this month. Any doubters were silenced when NU started Saturday's game on a 13-3 run.
"We just got back to work," said NU sophomore guard Jay-R Strowbridge. "(We) just kept working in practice. We really didn't know how great of an offensive night it was going to be, but we just got back to work."
Strowbridge ignited the offensive clinic, drilling three consecutive treys in the game's opening minutes.
That after clanking his first attempt off the rim.
"Some of my teammates just told me, 'Just keep shooting the ball,'" Strowbridge said. "They told me, 'Just be ready to shoot.' And they kept feeding me."
NU junior guard Ade Dagunduro said the offense was a product of good defense, as the Huskers honed in on Presbyterian's players the moment they touched the floor. The full-court pressure resulted in some early turnovers by the visitors and some easy baskets for Nebraska.
Yet, when the Huskers weren't scoring point-blank buckets or nailing long-range 3-pointers, they were still scrapping for the ball.
Midway through the first half, Dagunduro lunged toward a loose ball near Nebraska's bench. After tossing it behind his back to a teammate, he had to leap over the folding chairs and into the front row.
But his teammates were already on the other end of the floor. So Dagunduro sprinted behind the scorers table, hopped over an empty chair along Presbyterian's bench and caught a pass just as he landed inbounds.
"That was just instinct," Dagunduro said, smiling. "I was trying to make the hustle plays, the little plays. That helps gain momentum."
The Blue Hose seemed to imitate Nebraska in the second half, stealing a few lazy passes and burying 10 treys to spark a mini-comeback.
But the visitors were too far behind. Nebraska's offensive ambush gave Presbyterian a rude introduction to a new level of play.
"You can never get complacent," Dagunduro said, "because this is Division I basketball."
MICHAELMCHALE@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
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