Josiah Allick laments not getting job done for Nebraska fans

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Fred Hoiberg called timeout, and for the final time in their college careers, Keisei Tominaga and Josiah Allick exited the court.

Both stopped by Hoiberg for a long embrace and continued down the line of teammates and assistant coaches. Allick’s eyes glossed over. Tominaga was crying by the time he reached the end of the bench.

The coming days will offer time for reflection, Tominaga on his three seasons at NU and Allick on the final year in his hometown. But the moment was more raw than that. A winding season that culminated with a chance to do something NU had never done before reached its sharp conclusion.

“It’s just a lot of frustration,” Allick said. “Just with myself and just how we came out and laid an egg tonight. Obviously my heart goes out to Husker Nation. They’ve been supporting this team for decades now. And they came out and they made this a home environment. I mean, we didn’t get the job done.”

Texas A&M entered the night shooting 28.4% from 3-point range. On paper, shooting was a major advantage for a Nebraska team that takes and makes a lot of shots from deep. The Huskers came out firing, and the Aggies matched them, beating NU at its own game.

TAMU connected on 13 of 23 attempts from beyond the arc. The Huskers were 7 for 22. Wade Taylor IV knocked down seven treys, and NU couldn’t keep us as the Aggies stretched their lead into double digits and never allowed Nebraska back into the game.

“Ultimately you never know it could be anybody’s night,” guard C.J. Wilcher said. “It’s basketball. I’d be lying if I say we expected them to come out and hit those shots. We expected them to play the way they played, one-on-one style, attack downhill, offensive rebound and things like that, but they were stroking that thing today, and I think that kind of hit us back a little bit and stunned us a little bit.”

Jarron Coleman fell out of Nebraska’s rotation in December but established himself as a veteran leader on a team full of them. Throughout the season, Hoiberg pointed to the Ball State transfer as someone who provided guidance, even while playing sparingly.

“I just tried to help out, just see what I see,” Coleman said. “I’ve played for a while in college, so got a lot of experience in all type of games. Basically just wanted everybody to have fun, just enjoy the year like they did, but end up short obviously … I had fun when I was playing but I also had fun watching them have fun.”​