2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
K-State's Beasley burns Huskers
Michael McHale
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Sports
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Not Nebraska senior center Aleks Maric. Not a slew of trick defenses. Not even a rolled ankle that left the freshman phenom with a limp.
Michael Beasley showed why he's considered the best player in college basketball on Wednesday night, scoring 35 points in Kansas State's 74-59 win over the Cornhuskers (13-7, 2-5 Big 12 Conference). The 6-foot-9 forward's authority in the paint helped spark the Wildcats' ferocious offense and left NU's players gasping for air.
"Beasley's going to be the No. 1 pick in the (NBA) Draft," NU Coach Doc Sadler said. "To me, he didn't force a thing. It just came to him. That's what a great player does."
Despite scoring 23 points in the first half, Beasley wasn't the only one who stood in the Huskers' way. Fellow freshman Bill Walker tacked on 17 total points of his own.
And others helped, too. The Wildcats pulled down 18 offensive rebounds in front of 9,174 purple-clad fans inside Bramlage Coliseum, leading to a number of second-chance points. Beasley snared five of those K-State misses and Walker added seven.
Even when they missed, they couldn't be stopped.
"It hurts bad," said NU sophomore guard Sek Henry, "because we were shutting them down."
Henry was referring to the Huskers' mini-comeback, when they turned a 45-30 halftime deficit into just 55-50 with 11 minutes, 23 seconds left in the game.
But then Beasley got in the way, yanking down a rebound here and jamming down a basketball there.
Even K-State's head football coach was impressed. From the front row, Ron Prince nodded his head and issued a golf-clap each time Beasley scored another point. Then again, he's used to it.
The Huskers weren't.
"You got to take your hat off to him," NU freshman guard Cookie Miller said. "What can you say? We tried, and he did what he do."
And he did it in bunches. After Nebraska took a 4-2 lead to open the game, Beasley scored 10 points in less than two minutes.
First he grabbed a K-State brick and powered up for an easy two-pointer. On the next possession, he leapt over Maric and floated the ball to the rim. Then he hit two consecutive 3-pointers, turning that 4-2 deficit into a 12-4 lead with 16:13 left in the first half.
The Huskers tried all sorts of things after that. They ran a box-and-one defense, leaving Henry to chase Beasley around.
They tried a triangle-and-one, letting Henry guard him on one side and Maric guard him on the other.
And they ran a zone defense - something NU has rarely shown this season.
"We did a nice job of it," Sadler said. "But we didn't finish off with the rebound."
After taking a 51-41 lead in the second half, the Wildcats were held without a field goal for more than four minutes.
The Huskers began chipping away at lead, and then Beasley rolled his ankle and went to the bench with just less than 12 minutes remaining.
Moments later, Henry answered by burying a trey and cutting the score to 55-50.
But that was as close as the Huskers got. K-State's standout returned to the floor and continued where he left off.
And he did it for no pay.
"He's probably the first pick (in the NBA Draft) this year," Miller said. "They're already talking about him going to Miami. He's a terrific player."
michaelmchale@dailynebraskan.com
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