Nebraska Recap

Game Recap

Well, for a couple of weeks now, we have pointed to this six-game stretch for the Aggies as one that would define their season.

You are now halfway through that stretch and you sit unblemished at 3-0.

The Aggies traveled north to Nebraska and avoided a stereotypical trap situation to return home with a 66-55 victory over the Cornhuskers on Saturday night.

The win over Nebraska was not overly flashy and was not going to make any national headlines, but anytime you earn a win by 11 points on the road in this league you will absolutely take it.

The Aggies were led by Josh Carter’s career-tying night where the sophomore Guard knocked down 8 three pointers (again)……

Carter finished with a game-high (and career high) 26 points and added 5 rebounds. Carter’s night came on 9-of-12 shooting which included 8-for-11 from behind the arc.

This is the third time this season that Josh has tied the school record for three point baskets made in a game.

The crazy thing is that Carter’s last basket came at the 12:45 mark of the second half.

I guess Doc Sadler finally decided to have someone guard him.

All kidding aside, it was about midway through the second frame that Sadler sent in Paul Verlander and told him to stick on Carter. No matter what defensive set the Huskers were in, Verlander was in Josh’s hip pocket.

From that point on, the only time Josh showed up in the box score was on one defensive rebound.

"How in the heck do you let Josh Carter get eight 3s?" Sadler noted after the game, "That's ridiculous."

I agree coach, but hey, thanks!

Acie Law was not his typical self, but the guard was still productive across the board in contributing 9 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

Acie struggled a little bit from the floor in only making 3 of his 7 field goal attempts.

Dominique Kirk also struggled shooting the ball in going 3-of-11 from the field. That being said, Kirk did manage to score 10 points while pulling down 4 rebounds and adding 4 assists.
The only other guard to play in the game was Donald Sloan who only saw 3 minutes off the bench and made his only attempt scoring 2 points.

The big guys inside were fairly limited in their production due to the 1-3-1 zone that Doc Sadler and the Huskers threw at them. (The same zone that allowed Josh Carter to go bonkers from downtown).

There were not very many possessions for the Aggies where fewer than three guys wearing red and white were not crowding the lane.

"With the size they have, you are either going to give up perimeter shots or you're going to give up the inside game." Sadler said.

Combined, Joe and AK were able to put up some reasonable numbers, but it was not pretty, that is for certain.

Joe managed to score 11 points and pull down 6 rebounds while AK added 8 points and 11 rebounds.

AK really struggled from the field only making 4 of his 12 attempts.

Bryan Davis saw 6 minutes off the bench and did not score. Pompey also saw 13 minutes and he too did not score.

The Aggie’s defensive effort was much better on Saturday night as they held Nebraska to only 37.5% on 21-of-56 from the field.

The only two guys from Nebraska that had any success were Aleks Maric (15 points) and Ryan Anderson (18 points – all of which came in the first half).

Quick Hits

- The officials called 29 combined fouls in the entire game (compared with 43 total in the Texas game).

- Nebraska only shot 3 free throws on the night (they made 2).

- The two teams combined to shoot 15 free throws (compared with 74 in the Texas game).

- Josh Carter was named Big 12 co-player of the week last week.
http://www.big12sports.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/021207aaa.html

- Brad Townsend from the Dallas Morning News wrote a great piece on Gillispie on Sunday; take the time to give it a read.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/
stories/021107dnspoagcoach.189240a.html


Looking Ahead

Payback will be in the air on Tuesday night when the Aggies host our friends from Lubbock.

The game is scheduled to tip at 6:00 and is televised nationally on ESPN2.

Texas Tech is coming in off of a double-overtime loss (91-93) in Stillwater on Saturday night. Since beating top 10 teams Kansas and Texas A&M in back-to-back games the Red Raiders have been on a downward spiral and have lost 5 in a row.

A Bob Knight coached team had not lost five in a row since 1972.

Here’s to hoping the Aggies make it 6 in a row on Tuesday night.

Aggie Hoops Report’s Big 12 Player of the Week

Josh Carter – Texas A&M

Carter had a monster week last week. Josh scored 25 points and grabbed a career high 10 rebounds in the Aggie’s 100-82 win over UT on Monday. Carter then came back and tied his school record (for the third time this year) with 8 three pointers on Saturday night as he scored 26 points against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in a 66-55 win.

Also considered:
Mario Boggan – Oklahoma State. Boggan had a huge week last week averaging 27.5 points and 12.5 rebounds as OSU split their games in losing at Oklahoma on Wednesday and then defeating Texas Tech in double overtime on Saturday afternoon.