Nebraska Basketball: View from the Cheap Seats – FSU Edition

Well, it certainly wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. And come next March when the NCAA selection committee looks down the list of “bad losses” this Florida State team won’t be on that column for Nebraska basketball.

No, instead Tim Miles’ bunch went to Tallahassee, grabbed an 18 point lead, saw it slip down to as low as three before closing out the game and getting a much needed 70-65 road win for the resume.

So, what did we take away from this game? Let’s take a view from the Cheap Seats:

– I hate to complain about officiating so early in this, but I believe the abomination the NCAA calls Karl Hess and his crew deserve mention here. 45 total fouls called turned this into a ref show. 28 of those were called on Nebraska. Coincidence that Nebraska finished with 11 more fouls than FSU with the same crew that tossed Tim Miles from the NCAA tournament game last season?….

– It was a strange outing for Terran Petteway. He only made eight shots, but connected on seven of his nine free throws to give him 25 points. He also contributed five rebounds prior to fouling out on a questionable offensive foul call.

The one criticism I have for No. 5 tonight was seeing him sometimes be a little too selfish. I seemed that more than once he could have looked to pass the ball rather than taking a bad shot. That said, he’s a scorer and playmaker and it’s hard to fault a guy for wanting to put the team on the back.

– ‘Mr. Reliable’ Shavon Shields was at it again scoring 21 points and nabbing eight boards. He’s performing at an All-Conference level. Petteway gets the press, but Shields is right there with him when it comes to performance.

Dec 1, 2014; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Shavon Shields (31) makes a jump shot in the first half against the Florida State Seminoles at the Donald L. Tucker Center. The Nebraska Cornhuskers won 70-65. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

– Foul trouble caused coach Miles to dig into the bench and give freshman post Jake Hammond four minutes he likely wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. Pitchford and Abraham both had early fouls. Hammond didn’t touch the ball much, but one play in particular stands out, as the youngster got a solid assist to Petteway who jammed the dunk home.

– Speaking of youngsters, Xavier Rathan-Mayes of Florida State is incredibly talented. The Canadian guard is a scorer and will be fun to watch grow and improve through his career if you’re a basketball fan.

– Out-rebounded again. 37-27 to FSU including surrendering 10 offensive boards to the Seminoles. Interestingly, Nebraska basketball’s ACC foes had three guys over seven feet tall. That’s incredible. Still, you’d like to see NU be able to match up better physically without committing all of the fouls (ticky-tack or not).

– I was wrong about Benny Parker coming off the bench. Tim Miles made the right call in starting the point guard from Kansas City. Quite simply, he’s a better option than Tai Webster right now. Webster was a liability on offense and ended up fouling out on defense in 16 minutes of work. Parker scored seven points, added four steals and three rebounds in his 35 minutes. Parker’s ability to create and defend could take this team a long way.

– Nebraska basketball has a third point guard and he is the freshman from New Jersey Tarin Smith. He played eight minutes and added just three points, but what a shot it was. With ice water in his veins and Nebraska up three, Smith drilled a three ball with 1:07 on the clock to put the lead at six and basically close the game. It was an amazing shot for the kid. He’ll be fun to watch in the future.

– Looking forward to Sunday…No Sit Sunday? It’s looking like it if the early Twitter push is any indication. We’ll see what the team and the coaching staff says this upcoming week. Either way, a packed Pinnacle Bank Arena will be a sight to see this weekend.