Nebraska Basketball: View from the Cheap Seats – MSU Edition

The Nebraska Basketball team picked up a big home victory against the Michigan State Spartans on ‘#AveryStrong Day’. 15,757 fans saw the Huskers get out to a big lead, then saw it dwindle to only 2 points before holding on for their 4th conference victory.

It was a high scoring affair at 79-77, including the Spartans scoring 52 in the second half alone, but the Huskers will take it. They led for 36 minutes and 51 seconds of the game.

A road win in East Lansing sparked a Husker run into the tournament, could this game be the same? Let’s find out how it looked from the Cheap Seats!

Photo via Andrew Bienka

– Walter Pitchford’s elbow rightfully earned him a flagrant two fouls and an ejection. In my opinion it was uncalled for and bush league. Coach Miles agreed and said in the post game press conference “That’s uncalled for. That’s not us.” He’s absolutely right. Nebraska basketball will be without Walter for the next game against Michigan on Tuesday.

Jan 24, 2015; Lincoln, NE, USA; Michigan State Spartans forward Matt Costello (10) reacts after being elbowed as Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Walter Pitchford (35) is ejected in the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Cornhuskers won 79-77. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

– Terran Petteway is a roller coaster on the basketball court. He’ll take you to the end, but prepare to go for a ride. And what a ride it was. His back to back 3s in a 15-second span with the score for Nebraska at 20-18 were absolutely crucial for this win. As No. 5 goes, this team goes and he went big time Saturday night. He totaled 32 points and played all 40 minutes. Kudos to him.

– It was unbelievably frustrating to watch the Huskers get absolutely dominated on the boards. On multiple possessions the Spartans would get more than one chance at an offensive rebound and they scored on it. The totals aren’t pretty: 48-26 for total rebounds and a mind-blowing 24-5 for offensive rebounds. That’s truly unacceptable. NU needs more from guys like Moses Abraham and Leslee Smith.

– It’s funny how fast depth disappears. David Rivers injured his knee and was unavailable for the game and the aforementioned Pitchford ejection compounded the issue. Great job to Leslee Smith for stepping in and playing 30 big time minutes while Moses Abraham added 17. It’ll be all hands on deck going forward.

– Finally, Nebraska basketball got some bench production! Tai Webster had as pretty of a crossover and three as you will ever see against MSU. He scored 13 points and Tarin Smith scored 4 to give the Husker bench 17 total, compared to Michigan State’s 7.

– Well done to the Red Zone for painting themselves gold in support of Avery Harriman. It was a great showing of support and it made me proud to be a Husker fan. Special shout out to Mike Riley, Darin Erstad, Harvey Perlman, and Shawn Eichorst sitting in the student section and supporting their fellow Huskers.

– Free throws did the Huskers major favors in this one. NU hit 29 of their 37 attempts while Michigan State hit 15 from 25. That is a recipe for success, especially when the Huskers were getting dominated on the boards.

Men are back in action Tuesday on the road at Michigan at 6pm on ESPN. GO BIG RED!!!