Saturday’s game at Nebraska, set at the bye week’s end and a brief two days before a high-stakes matchup in Reed with arch-rival Texas, seemed the ideal set-up for a prototypical “trap game” for Texas A&M.
That was taken without considering that few teams consistently play as tough against the Aggies as the Cornhuskers, who pushed No. 11 A&M to its limit again and won 57-48 in Lincoln, Neb.
Center Jorge Brian Diaz scored 16 points with five rebounds and two blocks for Nebraska (15-5, 3-3 in the Big 12); teammates Brandon Richardson and Lance Jeter both contributed 10 points. The Cornhuskers shot 43% overall and only 20% from three-point range but swarmed the Aggies (17-3, 4-2) with a defensive effort disquietingly reminiscent of A&M’s recent past — Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler was an assistant on former A&M coach Billy Gillispie’s UTEP teams. Sadler’s squad hounded the Aggies inside and out and improved to 14-0 at home in front of a hungry crowd.
“We just weren’t tough enough,” A&M Head Coach Mark Turgeon said. “It was physical, real physical, and we didn’t respond. We’ve been able to in the past, but we didn’t today. That’s what it came down to. … That was the whole difference.”
The Aggies scored a mere 17 points in the second half, giving up a seven-point halftime advantage in the process, but the most telling story was in free throws. Though normally making 72.4% of its free throws, A&M missed eight of its 14 to top out at 42.9% for the game. Nebraska shot 17 free throws, banking 12.
Senior forward Nate Walkup scored 13 points and briefly carried the Aggies in the second half, opening the period with a dunk and later making a three-pointer. He also added three rebounds. A&M star sophomore Khris Middleton was held to just 12 points.
Also early in the second half, Nebraska’s Toney McCray inflicted a hard foul upon junior forward David Loubeau while Loubeau attempted to score in the paint. An intentional foul was whistled late, granting the Aggies two free throws and the ball. Loubeau, who was injured and unfit to take the foul shots, went to the bench while junior point guard Dash Harris took them in his place. Harris — finishing with four points, five rebounds and three assists, but four turnovers — missed both and A&M turned the ball over on the following possession, leading to Nebraska’s game-taking charge ahead.
Turgeon and Walkup both commented that the team failed to respond properly after the foul on Loubeau. It was emblematic of the larger problem the team suffered all day.
“I did a bad job coaching today,” Turgeon also added. “Just really couldn’t help us any, especially in the second half. [But] Nebraska’s got a good team, especially in this building.”
Senior guard Andrew Darko helped break open a seven-point Aggie lead late in the first half with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. A&M entered halftime with a 31-24 lead.
In falling to 2-2 in true road games this season, the Aggies won the rebounding advantage for the 19th time in 20 games but lost 14 turnovers to Nebraska’s seven.