Nebraska basketball’s 20th win spells NCAA excitement

The Huskers are up considerably over the Golden Gophers and a chant breaks out from the student section behind the benches.

Woof. Talk about comedic irony and how things change in a year.

This time last February, the “what ifs” surrounded around if Nebraska would make the NIT and break even in the win-loss column. Spoiler: No to the NIT. Yes to going .500.

This time right now? The “what ifs” pertain to if Nebraska will make the NCAA tournament for the first time in 10 years and if the Huskers can secure a double-bye in the Big Ten tournament. No spoilers on that yet. I can’t predict the future.

But with the Huskers securing their 20th win on the season with their 73-55 win over the Golden Gophers, it feels like that elusive tournament bid could be on the horizon.

They’re trying not to think about that — “One game at a time. I know I use that stupid-ass cliche a lot, but it’s what it’s all about,” as Fred Hoiberg said — but they know it, too.

“We’re trying to do something very special here — make it to the tournament and win a couple of games,” forward Juwan Gary said last week. “Get that double-bye in the Big Ten tournament and stuff like that. So that mentality thing is never gonna change for us.

“… March is around the corner.”

Here’s what I loved, liked and loathed from Nebraska’s drubbing of Minnesota:

Eleven minutes remained in the second half.

CJ Wilcher, standing in the paint, saw Keisei Tominaga on the perimeter. Tominaga, one to take an open shot, made the extra pass to Juwan Gary in the corner.

Nineteen points for Gary. Nebraska’s largest lead of the game to that point: a 21-point difference.

Gary, who had four points and four rebounds in the first half, came alive in the second frame.

An offensive rebound that led to a 3-pointer from Brice Williams — one he assisted. A paint jumper of his own. A 3-pointer of his own. Made free throws. Another 3-pointer. Another offensive rebound. A block. Another offensive rebound. More made free throws. Another 3-pointer. Another, you guessed it, 3-pointer.

In three words? Lord, have mercy.

His 22 points were a career-high, besting the dominant outing he had earlier this season against Michigan State. Those four 3-pointers? Also a career-high.

As we watched Gary dazzle those at PBA on Sunday evening, I couldn’t help but think how lucky we all are that he was even in a position for this to happen. Remember Rutgers? And how we all — including Juwan — feared the worst?

Hard to imagine this team, at this stage, without him.

The football dunk contest

I don’t know who in the athletic department first thought, “Hey, let’s have a dunk contest between the football players” but, wooooo that was a resounding success.

The five participants were Jeremiah Charles, Thomas Fidone, Emmett Johnson, Kai Wallen and Heinrich Haarberg.

When I first heard that Fidone would be participating, I got a little nervous. The last thing he needs — or any of them, frankly — would be to tear another ACL doing this. Thankfully, no one appeared to sustain any injuries.

The clear winner was Charles, who might be one of the most athletic people Nebraska has on any of its rosters right now. Between his 360-degree slam or his bananas ball-through-the-legs acrobatic dunk, Charles put on a show.

Fidone made the finals, too — at one point nearly slamming home a dunk from the free-throw line.

My favorite attempt, though, was Johnson trying to dunk over Matt Rhule. I loved that Rhule was game for that and that Johnson even tried. Johnson was super close to pulling it off, too.

If Haarberg made the finals, the trick shot he had lined up would have been incredible. Sources indicate that Nebraska All-American outside hitter Harper Murray, Haarberg’s girlfriend, was going to set him the ball. But alas.

The whole event? I give it an 11/10. Can’t wait for next year’s edition.

The old-school look with both the throwback uniforms and the retro scoreboard? Love love love.

Honestly, I wouldn’t hate it if they kept the scoreboard like that moving forward. It’s a clean look.

Allick’s hustle and heart

There’s a play of Allick’s from the first half that defied physics.

With three to play in the first frame, the box score notes that Allick grabbed a “defensive rebound.” Which, that’s true. But there was so much more madness surrounding that play down low.

It felt like the ball came out two or three times before he snagged it — which ended up being one of his eight rebounds.

Another standout moment? The backboard-shaking dunk that gave Nebraska a 21-point lead with 9 minutes and 29 seconds to play.

Grit, toughness, defense in general

Nebraska, to borrow a favorite word of Hoiberg’s, got punked in Minnesota back in December. That wasn’t happening again if he could help it.

Nebraska set the tone early — with Allick once again grabbing two early and big offensive rebounds.

Nebraska’s defense was phenomenal.

Allowing Minnesota to score just 55 points? As Brice Williams astutely pointed out post game, that hadn’t happened this season for Minnesota. Before Sunday’s game, the Golden Gophers were averaging 76.73 points per game, ranking fifth in the Big Ten ranks.

If Nebraska can take this version of their defense on the road, there’s no stopping the Huskers as February comes to a close and March begins.

Williams’ coast-to-coast pick-6

Points were incredibly hard to come by in the first half of the first half, but Nebraska finally knocked the invisible lid off the basket with Brice Williams’ first 3-pointer of the game. But that’s not the play of his that stood out the most.

Near the end of Nebraska’s dominant 14-2 run, Brice Williams put on a show — snagging the ball away from Elijah Hawkins and racing down the floor to go coast-to-coast for the pick-6.

Props to Keith Mann and Shamus McKnight in the sports information department for this gem.

Nebraska’s 73-55 win over Minnesota gave the Huskers their fourth-straight conference victory by 15 or more points. The last time that happened for the Huskers in league play?

1911-12 when Nebraska was in the Missouri Valley.

The sluggish start offensively

Neither team hit the 10-point threshold until more than halfway through the first half.

Granted, it wasn’t entirely Nebraska’s fault for some of that.

The wide-open layup that Keisei Tominaga missed was bizarre. The miss Sam Hoiberg had was as if a ghost picked the ball back up out of the net before it fell all the way through.

Still. If you want a chance in March, you’ve gotta find ways to score.