LAWRENCE, Kan. — It was fun while it lasted Saturday for Nebraska.

The 22-point underdog Huskers had No. 1 Kansas twitching and squirming in, of all places, Allen Fieldhouse.

NU led by four points with 15:47 left, leading KU coach Bill Self — who drew a first-half technical — to call time for the third time to try to organize his team.

Could Kansas' 54-game home winning streak be in jeopardy?

Not quite.

Kansas came out of that bench chewing and outscored Nebraska 28-5 on its way to a 75-64 win before a sellout crowd of 16,300.

“Nebraska played really, really well,'' Self said. “And we didn't play very well at all.

“We started the second half terrible. And then, for whatever reason, the light came on and we played great for about 10 minutes. We played about as well as we've played all year long for those 10 minutes.''

Nebraska senior Ryan Anderson came in having played in eight of NU's previous 14 straight losses to KU.

But for a time Saturday, he thought that the Huskers might shock the world.

“Yeah, we did,'' he said. “Man! Like Coach said, one mistake can just snowball. Against good teams like that, they capitalize. Within two minutes, it was like ‘Boom! Boom!' That's how fast it happened.''

Playing the nation's top-ranked team close doesn't help in the standings.

Nebraska (13-10, 1-7) remains alone in the Big 12 basement with losses to the teams that are 10th and 11th. Kansas (22-1, 8-0) remains alone at the top.

“The key plays that had to be made in the game,'' NU coach Doc Sadler said, “Kansas made them.

“That's why they're where they're at, and that's why we're where we're at. I challenged the team. Until we start making the plays that are 50-50 plays, then we're going to struggle. But the effort was as good as we can do.''

For much of the game, effort and execution came together for Nebraska. And contributions came from everywhere.

Freshman forward Jorge Brian Diaz floated in and around the lane on his way to 20 points and nine rebounds. Freshman forward Christian Standhardinger had eight points, three assists, two steals and at least twice shook rebounds loose that NU turned into baskets.

Freshman forward Brandon Ubel hit back-to-back 3s in the first half — his first from that distance since Jan. 5 — and Anderson hit 4 of 5 3-pointers.

To start the second half, a 3 from Anderson, another from senior guard Sek Henry and two inside baskets from Diaz allowed Nebraska to flip a 37-33 halftime deficit into a 43-39 lead.

So Self called time with this motive: “I let 'em have it a little bit.''

KU All-America guard Sherron Collins confirmed that.

“On that timeout, it wasn't milk and cookies for us, not at all,'' he said. “It was just a teaching point for us.''

Meanwhile, Sadler told his team that Collins would come out of that break looking to make a play.

Sure enough, he popped out of the huddle and drilled a 3, part of his 17 points. Then All-America center Cole Aldrich, who in the first half had no points or rebounds, scored six points in the next three possessions.

With Nebraska going 6:35 after that timeout without a field goal, the upset hopes vanished.

The loss was the Huskers' second straight to a ranked opponent. Next up are No. 20 Baylor, at No. 9 Texas and at No. 10 Kansas State.

Formidable, NU's Anderson said, but not impossible.

“I'm not giving up, man,'' he said. “I know it's hard right now. Stuff is looking foggy where we're at. But anything is possible in this league.'

Contact the writer:

444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com

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