Walker leads Nebraska to 81-79 OT road win over Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS – In many ways, Saturday’s road game at Minnesota was a must-win situation for Nebraska’s postseason hopes.
After 45 minutes of back-and-forth play, the Huskers finished the job with an 81-79 overtime victory.
Derrick Walker had one of his best performances of the year. He posted a career-high 22 points, eight rebounds, and a personal-best seven assists in 40 minutes of work. That helped NU shoot 50.8% from the field with 18 assists on 30 made baskets while owning a +10 rebounding margin.
Nebraska nearly sealed the win in regulation, but a 3-pointer by Taurus Samuels with 4.8 seconds remaining tied it at 67-67 and sent the game to OT. But it was all Huskers in the extra period, though. They hit 8-of-10 free throws over the final 1:50 of play to finish the victory.
The first half was a game of runs on both ends. Minnesota got things started with a 10-2 spurt to go up 22-15. Then Nebraska answered with a 16-5 rally to take a 31-26 lead with 5:22 left in the half.
But the Huskers would score just two more points the rest of the way. That allowed UM to end the half on a 13-2 run and take a 39-33 lead into the break.
The Gophers shot 6-of-12 on threes and 50% from the field in the opening half, led by 15 points from Dawson Garcia. Despite a nearly five-minute scoring drought, NU still shot 51.9% and assisted on 12 of its first 14 made baskets.
Nebraska needed to get something going offensively in the second half. It responded by hitting seven of its first eight shots and using a 16-2 run to go up 54-47 with 12:39 left.
But Minnesota fired right back with a 14-4 answer over the next six minutes. The Gophers took a 61-58 lead on a bucket by Jamison Battle with 6:37 remaining.
The Huskers led by four with just under four minutes left after back-to-back baskets by Walker. A three by Battle cut it to one just inside two minutes. Then Samuels sent the game to overtime with his 3-pointer in the final seconds.
Walker scored seven on his 22 in OT, while Sam Griesel hit four straight free throws in the last 21 seconds to seal the win. Nebraska ended up 16-of-21 at the charity stripe on the day, including hitting 8-of-11 in overtime alone.
Juwan Gary had a season-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting with six rebounds. Griesel scored 17 with six boards and five assists. Battle led Minnesota with 20 points, and Dawson Garcia had 19 before fouling out in overtime. After scoring 15 in the first half, Garcia had four points over the second half and OT.
The Huskers will return to action on Tuesday night for an 8 p.m. CT home game against Illinois on Big Ten Network.
Walker was the MVP, but he says credit goes all around
It got to the point in the second half and overtime where it felt like Minnesota couldn’t guard Walker.
Whether they had Garcia, Pharrell Payne, or Joshua Ola-Joseph on him, the Gophers had few answers when Walker got the ball in the post.
Nebraska knew it, too. The Huskers controlled the game from the paint by feeding Walker on nearly every possession in his 40 minutes on the floor. He shot 53% from the field and led all players with seven assists in a game that saw 38 of them.
When all was said and done, the sixth-year senior became the first NU player to post a 20-8-7 line in a Big Ten game.
“I wouldn’t have my stats without my teammates,” Walker said. “They’re the ones that get me the ball; they’re the ones who tell me to go. As far as assists, they’re the ones that are cutting and finishing. Rebounding is something I’m supposed to do.
“Everything else, I just credit my teammates, man. They believe in me, and they know that I’m going to make the right play. I always credit my teammates for my personal success.”
Nebraska never lost confidence
Saturday’s win was a game full of runs and rollercoaster emotions. Yet even when Minnesota tied it up with a last-second 3-pointer at the end of regulation, Nebraska never lost faith.
Time and again, one veteran player after another stepped up and made critical plays when the Huskers needed them the most.
Griesel’s clutch free throws down the stretch. Emmanuel Bandoumel’s defense and layup to break the tie with three minutes left in OT. Gary’s put-back to take the lead for good with 55 seconds remaining. C.J. Wilcher’s steal on the baseline with 31 seconds to go and NU only up by two.
There are numerous other examples of how Nebraska found one way after another to do something it hadn’t done since joining the Big Ten – earn a conference overtime win.
The last time NU won a road game in overtime was back on Feb. 17, 2001, in an 87-82 victory at Colorado.
“This group, man, I don’t even have the words to say about them,” Gary said. “This group right here is a special group. This is my first year being here at Nebraska, and I feel like I’ve been here my whole career. We go out every day and play hard, and today proves a lot about how when adversity hits, we’re not going to fold.”
Hoiberg explains decision not to foul at the end of regulation
Plenty of Nebraska fans questioned the decision not to foul on the final play of regulation.
Leading by three and coming out of a Minnesota timeout with 20 seconds remaining, the Huskers decided to play out the possession. That obviously ended with Samuels getting an open look in the corner to tie it up.
After the game, head coach Fred Hoiberg explained his decision not to foul.
“There was 20 seconds when the possession started, and we worked on that exact situation last week…” Hoiberg said. “When they drove it with about six seconds left, they obviously made a great play getting that ball to the corner.
“Actually, we should’ve stayed home. We shouldn’t have helped when we did because that got us in rotation, and then give the kid credit for knocking down a big shot.
“But yeah, that is the exact situation we worked on, but with 20 seconds, I thought that was too much time.”
They said it
“It was just a whatever-it-takes type of game. We all have experience, we all know how to win, and most importantly, we all know how to play together… Collectively, we just knew we had to do the little things in order to come out with that win. No one is going to give us a game, and tonight, our experience really helped us win. We’ve got a lot of hard-nosed dudes, and we just came out and wanted it more. We knew we were going to have to do whatever it took to win.”
Senior forward Derrick Walker on the mentality Nebraska’s veterans had in the overtime road victory.
