LINCOLN, Neb.—Nebraska scored 90 points for the first time in more than three years under coach Doc Sadler in downing TCU 90-77 on Saturday.
But the defensive-minded Sadler wasn’t thrilled by the offense, and he certainly wasn’t happy with his team’s inability to stop the Horned Frogs.
“I know people will be talking about how many points we scored,” Sadler said. “The frustrating and scary thing is to know how hard we worked on defense, and that is all we got. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
But Nebraska’s defense clamped down at the end of the game, holding TCU to eight points in the final four minutes.
Nebraska (2-1) led 70-69 when Ryan Anderson hit a wide-open 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 4:04 remaining. Forty seconds later, Anderson’s two free throws put Nebraska up 75-69.
TCU (2-2) got a basket from Ronnie Moss with 2:38 left. But Anderson immediately countered with a short jumper that made it 77-71.
Nebraska made 11 of its 12 free throws in the final 2:13 to seal the win. TCU was 4 of 6 from the line in the last two minutes after Nebraska had stretched the lead to double figures.
Nebraska guard Sek Henry, who finished with 11 points and 11 assists, attributed the game-ending surge to “our conditioning and just grinding, trying to get the ball into the post.”
Pushing the ball inside led to just one field goal in the final two minutes, a layup by Jorge Brian Diaz with 16 seconds left that gave the freshman center a career-high 22 points.
“I’ve got to credit my teammates,” Diaz said. “My points were pretty much layups.”
Diaz played Saturday wearing a mouth guard after having two teeth loosened and his mouth cut during Nebraska’s 69-55 loss Wednesday at St. Louis.
“Brian missed practice Thursday with his teeth,” Sadler said. “It was great to have him back. He played really well.
Tied 44-44 at the half, neither team was able to take control through most of the second half. TCU’s biggest second-half lead was five, and Nebraska led by no more than three until the late surge.
Moss led TCU with 23 points. Neither TCU coach Jim Christian nor his players spoke to the media after the game.
