After a heart-wrenching overtime loss to archrival Kansas, Kansas
State blew off some steam against Nebraska.
Denis Clemente matched his season high with five 3-pointers
and scored 23 points to lead the No. 10 Wildcats to a 76-57 victory
over the overmatched Cornhuskers on Tuesday night.
It was Kansas State's most lopsided Big 12 road win since the
conference's inception in 1996-97 and its most one-sided win in
Lincoln since 1973.
The victory took some of the edge off Saturday's 81-79
overtime home loss to a Kansas team that moved from No. 2 to No. 1
in The Associated Press poll.
"It was a tough loss, and we've still got it in our system a
little bit," said Kansas State reserve forward Jamar Samuels, who
had 15 points and nine rebounds. "We felt we should have won that
game, so we came in here and won this one."
The Wildcats (18-4, 5-3) were far superior athletically to
the Huskers, who lost their first five Big 12 games before beating
Oklahoma on Saturday.
The Wildcats had a double-digit lead 9 minutes into the game
and never led by fewer than seven points the rest of the way.
Nebraska made a mini-run at the Wildcats, scoring seven
straight points to pull within 42-35 early in the second half.
After coach Frank Martin called a timeout, Clemente hit three
straight 3-pointers and K-State rebuilt its lead to 53-37.
"We were tentative a little bit and then we got it back under
control," Clemente said. "We controlled the game from the tipoff.
We controlled the whole game. That's what we've got to do every
game."
Martin said he didn't say much to his players during the
timeout, preferring to let them "police themselves."
"You have to trust your team," Martin said. "When you've got
upperclassmen who have been through it, they rebound. The best
elixir for a loss is another game. Our guys approached it the right
way. To their credit, they responded like champs."
Clemente came into the game shooting just 29.6 percent on
3-pointers but went 5 of 9 against the Huskers.
"I've been working hard this whole year," he said. "I don't
know why they haven't been falling. I kept believing in myself and
doing what I've been doing. Today was the day. I have to keep going
this way."
Jacob Pullen had 13 points and Curtis Kelly added 12 for the
Wildcats.
Jorge Brian Diaz had 13 points and Ryan Anderson 10 for
Nebraska (13-9, 1-6).
Nebraska lost for the 13th time in 18 games against ranked
opponents under fourth-year coach Doc Sadler. The Huskers play at
No. 1 Kansas on Saturday in the second of five straight games
against Top 25 teams.
The Huskers struggled mightily in the first half against the
more athletic Wildcats, missing five layups and a dunk and having
three other shots blocked.
"I think we missed some awfully easy baskets, and that's what
a lot of people are going to look at," Sadler said. "And the
defensive end was horrendous. They made us make mistakes that are
as basic as it gets. We're jumping out on the baseline screens and
giving up dunks. I've never seen that. Maybe we were trying too
hard."
Anderson shook his right fist in disgust after one of his
passes sailed out of bounds untouched because Christian
Standhardinger cut the wrong way, one of the Huskers' 16 turnovers.
Nebraska scored just one field goal in the 6½ minutes
before halftime, and that appeared to be by accident.
Standhardinger was preparing to rebound Brandon Ubel's short shot
when the ball glanced off his hands and went through the hoop.
While Clemente roamed mostly free behind the 3-point line,
Samuels and Sutton had their way inside.
They got behind Nebraska's press for a couple of easy
baskets, and they outmaneuvered the Huskers' big men for big dunks.
"We're eight games into a 16-game season," Martin said.
"We're happy with what we got done here today. The same way we
didn't attach ourselves to a hard loss Saturday, we're not going to
attach ourselves to a good road win today."
