The Nebraska basketball came into their game against the Clemson Tigers knowing they needed to win this game if they wanted to be taken seriously on the national stage. As has been the Cornhuskers tradition for years now, their early-season schedule was peppered with quite a few cupcakes. They've handled those cupcakes with ease. Unlike previous years, they've also mixed in some real competition in the form of Seton Hall, Texas Tech, and on Monday night (November 26), a Clemson team that was ranked No. 16 in the AP poll a week ago. There are five things that I learned when Nebraska beat Seton Hall.

I also have some takeaways of the loss to Texas Tech.

The Cornhuskers came into tonight ranked No. 15 in the new NET ratings. The NET replaced the RPI this season and show a team in good position to make the tournament, as long as they win games like the one Nebraska played against Clemson.

Nebraska basketball's stars played like stars

While he's been scoring a lot of points, James Palmer Jr has been having a rough shooting early season. He entered the game hitting just 17 percent of his three-point shots and 38 percent overall. On Monday night, he shook off a slow start and began looking like the James Palmer Jr we saw a year ago. Monday night, Palmer finished with 20 points and nine rebounds.

14 of those points came in the second half. Isaac Copeland showed up big, as well. After two shaky games to start the season, he's scored 20 points or more in two of his last four games and went for 16 points and six rebounds against the Tigers.

Nana Akenten is looking like the real deal

In the last two seasons, Tim Miles has had no problems letting true freshman see real minutes for the Nebraska basketball team.

This year, Nana Akenten is the beneficiary. The guard came into the game averaging eight points per contest and had some big-time contributions on both ends of the court tonight. In 13 minutes, Akenten scored five points, two rebounds, and an assist. If he can contribute in conference play, the team simply has better depth.

Late game composure still not there

The Nebraska basketball team had a seven-point lead with 1:29 to go in the game. Clemson then managed to score five points in about 30 seconds. Even inbounding the ball was a bit of an issue, when all the Huskers had to do was inbound the ball. The good news is they got a big win on the road. The bad news is that there is still something about this team that causes them to start to panic late in even remotely close games.
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