ST. LOUIS — It’s difficult enough to win basketball games on the road without giving the home team a head start.

Then Nebraska went out and did it twice Wednesday night.

The Huskers survived a first-half surge from Saint Louis, but a bigger onslaught in the second half led to a 69-55 loss in front of a noisy crowd of 7,596 at Chaifetz Arena.

“It’s really frustrating,’’ said senior guard Sek Henry, who led NU with 14 points. “They played a lot tougher than we did. We got bullied, basically.’’

That’s not good news considering the opponent.

Saint Louis has the youngest team in America: Eight freshmen, four sophomores and one junior. The Billikens were picked to finish 12th in the 14-team conference that is still called the Atlantic 10.

“That’s really a nice win for our kids,’’ SLU coach Rick Majerus said. “We’re basically playing a varsity schedule with a frosh-soph team.’’

Nebraska brought eight newcomers to the game, too, but Henry said that’s no excuse for getting outworked.

“That was a wakeup call for us,’’ Henry said. “We have to learn to play more physical.

“I guess we thought we could start off the same way being an away game as at home. But it’s not the same.’’

Slow starts haven’t been unusual in recent times for Nebraska (1-1). So five turnovers in the first eight possessions and a 12-4 deficit after six minutes didn’t incite panic.

The Huskers methodically plowed back into contention, holding Saint Louis to 2-of-12 shooting in the final nine minutes of the first half. NU finally tied the game at 26, and entered halftime with momentum despite trailing 28-27.

Coach Doc Sadler said he thought things were ready to go NUs way in the second half.

The Huskers took the lead at 29-28 on the first possession on a set play that led to Ryan Anderson’s reverse layup.

But that was NU’s only lead. Saint Louis ripped off a 16-2 run to go up 44-31, and the Billikens (2-0) lead never fell below eight points after that.

“On three straight possessions,’’ Sadler said, describing the start of the second half, “we made two or less passes and tried to score. You’re not going to beat a team like that doing that.

“We’re not good enough right now and we have enough problems scoring that we better do what they do, and that’s grind people.’’

Nebraska’s athleticism on the perimeter got a test from Saint Louis point guard Kwamain Mitchell, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound speedster who led all scorers with 20 points.

Mitchell scored the game’s first basket. He scored the basket that put SLU ahead for good at 30-29 with 18:46 to play. He nailed the 3-pointer that gave SLU its first double-digit lead at 41-31. And he made the shot that gave the Billikens their biggest lead at 58-41 with 4:16 to go.

“That’s a concern,’’ Sadler said of such point-guard quickness. “He’s a good player.

“They set a lot of ball screens, and that’s how he got open a lot. It wasn’t just him getting by us without help. Our post guys didn’t do as good a job helping defensively as they are going to have to.’’

Sadler, who entered the game preaching patience, said he didn’t see it. Neither did Henry.

“We were on defense more than on offense,’’ he said. “We can’t win games on the road doing that.’’

The loss was the first this season by a Big 12 team in 27 nonconference games.

Contact the writer: 444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com

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