Nebraska needed a “get right” game to close out the non-conference schedule. Luckily for the Huskers, Doane was available just down the road.
“It was an important game for a lot of reasons,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg. “I just thought 12 days between games was too much.”
Doane was added to replace the canceled Florida A&M game from earlier this season. The NAIA team shot battled superior size and settle for triples, shooting a Nebraska opponent record 46 3-pointers on the night, making just 13.
But Nebraska wasn’t dominant from the tip. The home team missed multiple shots in the paint as well as the first five attempts from 3. Then coach Fred Hoiberg’s squad woke up, to the tune of a 34-7 run to close out the first half and all but put the game away.
The Tigers used a 19-7 run to close the gap to as little as 25, but Nebraska’s size, strength, and depth were too much in the 110-64 victory.
All 11 Huskers that played in the game scored, including Trevor Lakes and Eduardo Andre in their Husker debuts. Lakes, who shot 4-of-5 on 3s for 12 points, was deemed eligible by the NCAA just this week. Andre had been in COVID-19 protocols up until this week, but managed to play 14 minutes, shooting 4-for-4 from the field, grabbing four rebounds, and blocking two shots.
“Hopefully with the two guys that we’ve added to the mix now, we’ll have guys fresher down the stretch,” Hoiberg said. “Two of our three losses, we were ahead with under 10 (minutes) to play.”
The all-around stats leader, as he has been all season, was Dalano Banton. The Canadian notched the second triple-double in Nebraska men’s basketball regular-season history with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.
“It’s all because of (my teammates) that I did get it,” Banton said. “For the accomplishment, thanks to them for being able to help and support me and being in the right spots for me to feed them and knocking down shots.”
He joins the triple-double club with Cam Mack, who achieved the feat against Purdue last December.
“It’s fun when you can have something like that happen,” Hoiberg said. “The guys were pumped up for him in the locker room. It’s a heck of an accomplishment. Dalano is just, it’s who he is. He’s been close a couple times already this season. That’s what he does. He’s a guy that has such a unique great all-around game with tremendous size.”
Yvan Ouedraogo earned his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Other scorers in double figures were Teddy Allen (16) and Kobe Webster (12).
Turnovers had been an issue for Nebraska the last few games, but only eight were committed Thursday. Hoiberg said the team watched all 76 turnovers they had committed over the past few contests.
“My biggest fear going into this season was taking care of the basketball,” Hoiberg said. “It was good to see us make those (right) plays today after struggling with it for three straight games.”
That ball control was complimented by 25 team assists, a season-high.
Nebraska begins the Big Ten schedule Tuesday at Wisconsin.
Game Notes from Nebraska Athletic Communications
*-Dalano Banton posted the second triple double in Husker men’s basketball history, finishing with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in 21 minutes of action. The other one was by Cam Mack against Purdue in 2019-20.
*-Banton’s 10 assists tied a career high set when he was at Western Kentucky against Wisconsin in 2018-19. Prior to tonight, that was his only career double-double and double-digit assist game in his college career. Banton has dished out five or more assists in five of NU’s seven games.
*-Tonight marked Nebraska’s second 100-point effort of the season (also 102 vs. McNeese State). It was the first time since 1995-96 that Nebraska had multiple 100-point games in a season.
*Nebraska’s 110 points was its highest output since scoring 115 points against Oregon on Nov. 25, 1995. It ranks tied for 12th in school history for single-game points.
*-NU hit a season-high 12 3-pointers, topping the previous season high of 11 at Creighton on Dec. 11.
*-Trevor Lakes made his Nebraska debut after being cleared by the NCAA earlier Thursday. He finished with 12 points, on 4-of-5 3-pointers and six rebounds in 26 minutes.
*-Yvan Ouedraogo posted his first double-double of the season and fourth of his career with a career-high 13 points and 13 rebounds in 18 minutes.
*-Eduardo Andre also made his Husker debut after missing NU’s first six games. Andre had nine points on 4-of-4 shooting, four boards and two blocked shots in 14 minutes.
*-Elijah Wood scored his first career points on a 3-pointer to beat the first half buzzer and finished with eight points.
*-Nebraska put at least five players in double figures for the third time this season (also McNeese and South Dakota), while four others had at least eight points.
*-Nebraska dished out a season-high 25 assists and had a season low eight turnovers.
*-Doane’s 46 3-point attempts broke Nebraska’s single-game record for opponent, which was 37 by Baylor on Feb. 14, 1998.
Feature Image Courtesy Nebraska Athletics Communications Office