Nebraska Basketball: James Palmer is channeling his inner Eric Piatkowski

Hardcore Nebraska basketball fans will know the name Eric Piatkowski and this week, James Palmer is trying to carry the Huskers as Piatkowski did in 1994.

The last two days at the Big Ten tournament have been pretty special for the Nebraska basketball team. First, there was the Huskers rally over Rutgers and then, there was the upset of No. 21 Maryland.

For a team that was supposed to be dead in the water, Nebraska basketball isn’t playing like it and if the Huskers can win three more games, they would be the first team since 1994 to win a conference championship.

That 1993-94 Nebraska basketball team captured the hearts of Husker fans across the state and one player, in particular, stood out above the rest and that was Eric Piatkowski, the star that carried Danny Nee’s crew to an upset win over Missouri, as well as a win over Oklahoma State to win the Big 8 championship and reach the NCAA tournament.

The Huskers lost in the opening round to Penn, but still, that was a great run and even if the 2019 Huskers lose Friday against Wisconsin, their run will have been good too.

However, if James Palmer can play the way he has the last two days and like he did last Sunday against Iowa, there is no reason why it can’t continue.

During the first two days in Chicago, he has been nothing short of spectacular. First, in a come-from-behind win over Rutgers, he scored 34 points including 27 in the second half to lead the Huskers to a win.

Then, Palmer poured in 24 points today in the win over Maryland and in the process, he was 3-of-6 from downtown and 8-of-13 from the field overall. Simply put, for the third straight game, he was the best player on the floor and in those games, two against NCAA tournament teams, the Huskers are 3-0.

Now, comes the Wisconsin Badgers and Ethan Happ. The Badgers certainly have other talented pieces but Happ is what makes Wisconsin go and the Huskers are going to need a combination of guys to try and slow him down.

Palmer is also going to need another huge game. On top of that, Isaiah Roby will need to play big on both ends of the floor and Glynn Watson needs to continue to excel running the point.

The difference between that 1994 Nebraska team was that it only needed to win three games to win the Big 8. Nebraska has to win five but if the Huskers beat Wisconsin, then it gets real. Then Jim Nantz is calling your game in front of a national audience on a Saturday afternoon.

Even if the Huskers don’t win the tournament, that would be cool to see and if Palmer can keep playing the way he has so far in Chicago, it’s hard to bet against Nebraska.