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MikeKluck
Exhibition win
gives Huskers
needed boost
Naivety is great.
For example, there are many
times I believe I am a better punter
than Nebraska’s Jesse Kosch.
But then I watch Kosch work
out, and reality sets in. I realize my
10-yard punts don’t quite match his
booming 45-yard kicks.
And then factuality sets in, and
I realize what would happen if I had
to run 60 yards downfield after a
kick. I’d drop dead.
Right now, the Nebraska basket
ball team is enjoying being young
and naive.
Nobody told the youthful Husk
ers that Marathon Oil was 5-1 and
had defeated Georgia Tech of the
Atlantic Coast Conference by 29
nninfc
Along with that, nobody told
not suppb^"fer£a^e3-pointm If"
the buzzer look as easy as Nebraska
sprinter Tom Fish running the 100
meter dash.
But Belcher’s bomb with less
than one second remaininggave the.
Huskers an 82-81 victory Thursday
night.
“I was hoping I would get the
ball,” said Belcher, who hit all four
. of his shots from behind the 3-point
ate.
“We need to come together
more as a team right now. We just
have a few individuals. We haven’t
played together for very long. If we
just come together as a team, I think
we will be hard to beat”
Ahh, naivety.
Nobody told sophomore Larry
Florence that in his first game as a
Husker, he’s not supposed to make
a 3-pointer with 11 seconds remain
ing to tie the game. And he’s not
to Belcher for the zame-ilrihiier.
Thursday was the first time he’s
ever hit a shot like that, he said. It
was also the first 3-point attempt
of his college career.
“(This game) will give us a lot
of confidence,” Florence said,,
“knowing that (Tyronn Lue and
Mikki Moore) fouled out and our
young guys stepped up.”
And confidence may be die one
counter to naivety.
Once a team has confidence, it
goes from thinking it can win to
knowing it can win. And that’s
when it can become dangerous. ^
f, The young Huskers may not be
dangerous yet, but they are cer
tainly developing confidence.1
“Yeah, we’re ready for Texas,”
Florence said. ; '
The Huskers open their season
on Nov. 23 against the Longhorns.
Hey, who knows, the Huskers
may qualify for their seventh
straight postseason tournament —
and I may be able to run 60 yards
downfield after booming a punt.
8 puiy Neoras
HC
-
SjSSPF ■
*i.. -* ■ e- ■ •
Blackshirts hitting
stride as final stretch
approaches.
By David Wilson
Staff Reporter
Nine games into the season, the Ne
braska defense is prepared to lead the
Comhuskers through die stretch run of
the season.
Fifth
ranked Nebraska
(8-1 overall and 6
0 in the Big 12)
will travel to Ames
Saturday to face
Iowa State (2-7
and 1-5) at 1 p.m
at Cyclone Sta
dium.
Rush end
Grant Wistrom
said the Huskier defense, which has held
opponents to 10 points and 227.4 yards
per game this season, still has room for
improvment.
‘7 don’t think we’ve readied our
full potential yet,” Wistrom said.
lkllRELL FARLEY will lead Nebraska’s defense into Ames against Iowa State on Saturday
has played extremely well. But I don’t
think we’ve had a game where after we
walk off the field, everbody on our de
fense can say, 'I played great today.’ If
we can do that, then as a team we’re
going to play out of this world.”
The Cyclone attack is led by junior
Troy Davis, who leads the nation with
1,822 yards rushing, averaging 6.7
yards per attempt
Bat the Blackshirts have had little
trouble stopping the run this season,
allowing opponents just 1.9 yards per
Please see HSU on 8
Last-second
3-pointer ices
|
By David Wilson
otaff Reporter
With 0.9 sec
onds remaining'
true freshman
CookiC Belcher j
buried 4 high*
arching 3-pointer Belcher
as time expired to
ice the victory before 6,096 fans at the
Bob Devaney Sports Center.
“When I saw Larry (Florence)
throw it to me,” Belcher said, “I just
caught it and shot it I just tried to fo
cus on toe rim.”
Florence, who inbounded toe ball
cm toe last-second play, said his first
option was Bernard Gamer, who
wasn’t open. With Nebraska down 79
76, Florence—playing his first game
as a Husker — tied toe game, nailing
a 3-pointer with 11.1 seconds remain
ing.
After a timeout, Marathon Oil re
gained a 81-79 lead when guard Joe
McLean grabbed a rebound, turned
around and hit a field goal with three
seconds on toe clock.
Gamer’s full-court inbound pass
was tipped out of bounds, leaving 0.9
seconds on toe clock ami setting the
Please see HOOPS on 8
■ '4
By Vince D’Adamo
Staff Reporter
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