Iowa City, IA- Iowa forward Zach McCabe has the ball stolen by Nebraska guard Brandon Richardson at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday, January 26, 2012. Richardson had 25 points in the Huskers' 79-73 victory over the Hawkeyes. (The Daily Iowan/Ricky Bahner)
By Ben Schuff
benjamin-schuff@uiowa.edu
Brandon Richardson said he’d take an assist over a jump shot any day following Nebraska’s 79-73 defeat of Iowa.
His unselfish style could have been predicted from the scouting report, as he led the Cornhuskers with a 1.6 assist/turnover ratio.
What couldn’t have been predicted was that his biggest assist against the Hawkeyes would come in the form of a career-high 25 points and a shooting stroke that couldn’t be stopped.
Richardson torched the Hawkeyes seemingly at will, connecting on 6-of-7 3-pointers. The senior guard had made a total of three in Nebraska’s previous eight Big Ten games.
“He kept us in the ball game tonight offensively,” Nebraska head coach Doc Sadler said. “He’s been a guy for four years that is the only guy I know that a coach has to get on to about taking shots.”
Richardson finished the game 9-of-10 from the field. To say his scoring contributions came as a surprise would be an understatement. He had previously scored 20 points only once in his career — he tallied 20 against Texas Tech last season.
The 6-0 guard got off to a quick start, scoring five of the Cornhuskers’ first nine points, and posted seven of his own in the game’s first five minutes.
“Like coach told me going into the game and in practice, ‘Be more aggressive and look for your shot,’ ” Richardson said of his performance. “I’m being selfish if I don’t take the open shot.”
Two of his career-high six 3-pointers came during a 10-2 run to open the second half. The second gave the Cornhuskers their first lead at 41-40 after trailing Iowa by seven at halftime.
“Its something coach has told me since day one [to shoot more],” he said. “I’m talking about since five years ago when I first stepped foot on campus. It’s just the type of player I am.”
Even in the midst of his scoring binge — the starting guard had been averaging 6.5 points per game this year — he continued his unselfish ways by posting a game-high 5 assists.
Richardson was everything Nebraska needed him to be, and far more than Iowa could handle. The Hawkeyes allowed Richardson a handful of open looks — albeit opportunities he took advantage of — and played defense “about as bad as you can play,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said.
Hawkeye guards Devyn Marble and Matt Gatens, both of whom drew Richardson as a defensive assignment throughout the game, made no excuses following a crushing home loss that saw Iowa blow several leads.
“You don’t expect that [from Richardson], but he’s a Big Ten player and he’s capable of shooting the ball,” Gatens said. “The kid was feeling it and he had a big night. It doesn’t matter who you are, if you’re playing Big Ten basketball and a guard, you’re probably capable of shooting it. He got hot and it hurt us.”
Marble was a bit more self-reflective when asked about Iowa’s issues stopping Richardson.
“You just have to adjust and be a player,” Marble said. “The coaches did their job and let us know [scoring] isn’t his strength. But when he comes out and gets a little hot, we have to adjust as players. We didn’t do that.”
