Gallegos, Biggs return from suspension to lead Nebraska past South Carolina State

Story and photo by Andrew Ward

Deverell Biggs needed to tell Ray Gallegos something before the Nebraska men’s basketball team’s game against South Carolina State Sunday.

The junior transfer from Omaha and Gallegos, a senior guard on the team, both missed the Huskers’ first two wins of the season after being suspended for violating team rules.

And Biggs wanted to make sure Gallegos knew he was going to bring his A game Sunday.

“I just told him we needed to showcase our talent in front of everyone,” Biggs said.

Nebraska coach Tim Miles speaks to
 media members following Sunday's win. 

That talent was on full display Sunday afternoon in Pinnacle Bank Arena, as Biggs and Gallegos combined for 35 points in Nebraska’s 83-57 win against the Bulldogs.

Gallegos, last year’s leading scorer for Nebraska, led all players with 18 points, knocking down six 3-point jumpers. Biggs attacked the basket early and often en route to 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field. He also attempted 10 free throws.

Nebraska coach Tim Miles was pleased with his team’s overall performance, especially with the way Gallegos and Biggs played.

“It was nice to get Ray some shots he was comfortable with,” said Nebraska coach Tim Miles. “And Dev is just really clever with the ball.”

Gallegos and Biggs were just two of five Huskers to score in double figures Sunday. Leslie Smith, another junior college transfer, added 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench, while starters Tai Webster and Shavon Shields had 13 and 10 respectively.

Breaking away from a pesky South Carolina State squad proved difficult for Nebraska until late in the matchup. Huskers only led by eight with 15 minutes to go in the game and the Bulldogs cut the lead to five points at the beginning of the second half.

However, the Huskers were able to score 25 points off of 16 SCSU turnovers to help expand their lead. Nebraska only had five turnovers on the night and a season-high 11 assists.

Miles said those five turnovers may look low, but the Huskers took some bad shots that might as well be counted as miscues.

“We took some questionable shots today, and that’s something we have to get better at,” Miles said.

For Biggs, he didn’t care about some of the mistake him and his teammates made. He was just happy to be on the floor.

“I’m really blessed,” he said. “It’s been a long road for me. I’ve played at a lot of places. I’m just proud to be here and play for my home state.”

Here are the Tweets from today's game courtesy of Storify. 

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Expect heartwarming gesture from Huskers when they host UCLA in Top-25 matchup Saturday

Expect two things on Saturday when Nebraska hosts UCLA at Memorial Stadium. And both will most likely have little impact on who wins:

1.     Nebraska will wear the No. 36 on its helmets during the game to honor Bruin wide receiver Nick Pasquale, who was killed in a car accident early Sunday morning.

2.     Memorial Stadium will be silent for a brief instant to further remember the late UCLA walk on.

Nebraska football just can’t stay away from emotional situations, but it seems to turn those situations into special moments.

Remember Penn State two years ago? Back when Joe Paterno was the beloved coach that was forced to resign as head football coach after 45 years at the helm because his offensive coordinator turned out to be a sexual predator?

More than 100,000 Penn State fans stood silent that day, some wiping away tears off their cheek, as the Huskers’ running backs coach, Ron Brown, prayed in the midst of both teams on the 50-yard line, just days after Jerry Sandusky was charged with sexual abuse.

How about that kid in the No. 22 Husker jersey with a bobbling helmet on his head?

You know whom I’m talking about.

Jack Hoffman, the pediatric brain cancer victim who scampered his way into the nation’s heart with his 69-yard touchdown run in Nebraska’s spring game in April.

That touchdown run helped the kid raise more money for his disease than he or his father could ever imagine.

Playing in an emotional football game from unfortunate circumstances won’t be unfamiliar territory for the Huskers. Nebraska coaches have already made multiple statements regarding this weekend’s Top-25 matchup.

“That’s a lot bigger than any football game,” Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said in his weekly press conference Monday. “The thoughts and prayers of everyone associated with Nebraska are with Nick, Nick’s family, Coach Mora, the football team and everyone associated with UCLA in getting through this because obviously this has got to be a very difficult time for them.”

“It is hard to put yourself in their shoes with what they are going through.” Nebraska offensive coordinator Tim Beck said, “Obviously, it’s a little sentimental for them, you hate to see that happen.”

Nebraska can’t put itself in UCLA’s shoes right now. And slapping a number on the helmet or adding a moment of silence before the game may not do much either.

But from what Nebraska has done in the past, expect one more thing Saturday.

Goosebumps, and that fuzzy feeling inside your chest.