Huskers Stomp No. 25 Sooners for Third Straight Win

Norman, Okla. -- Senior center Venson Hamilton had 19 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots Wednesday night as Nebraska beat No. 25 Oklahoma, 96-81, ending a six-game losing streak in Norman.

The Huskers (11-7, 3-2 Big 12) never trailed, built a 20-point halftime lead and owned a 25-point bulge with 9:09 to play, before finishing off their third straight league victory. They shot a season-high 66 percent (33-of-50), including a 13-of-18 performance from the floor in the second half in defeating OU in the Lloyd Noble Center for the first time since a 111-99 win in the 1990-91 season. The win is only Nebraska's second in Norman since 1981.

"We shot the basketball well tonight," Nebraska Coach Danny Nee said. "Venson (Hamilton) had some good looks inside early and we were able to feed off of it. I really thought our bench played well tonight.

"This a difficult place to win," Nee said. "We got off to a real quick start and Oklahoma was off its game early. I was proud of our effort tonight. We now have to turn our focus towards Saturday's game against Colorado.

The win broke a six-game losing streak against ranked teams, dating back to the 1996-97 season, and marked the eighth time in the past nine seasons the Huskers defeated a ranked team.

Hamilton's performance was his eighth double-double of the season and his 19 points moved him into 15th place on NU's all-time scoring charts.

Hamilton, who was last week's Big 12 Player of the Week, helped frustrate Ryan Humphrey, the Sooners' second-leading scorer, who finished with two points on 1-of-5 shooting and fouled out with 5:15 left.

Eric Martin led Oklahoma (13-5, 4-1) with a career-high 27 points off the bench, including eight-of-10 3-pointers. Eduardo Najera scored 20, but the other four starters combined to total only 24.

Nebraska opened a 10-2 lead early, then used a 13-0 run to go in front 25-9 at the 10:40 mark of the first half. When Larry Florence fired in a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, the lead was 48-28. Florence finished with 21 points, tying his career high against Creighton last December. The senior also had six rebounds and led NU with three assists.

Nebraska shot 62.5 percent (20-of-32) from the field in the first half, while the Sooners were 10-of-26 (38 percent) and were outrebounded 23-11.

Oklahoma cut the lead to 51-38 about 4 1/2 minutes into the second half, but Nebraska answered with a 13-2 run to again take control.

Nebraska's 96 points was its best offensive output of the season, topping the Huskers' previous best of 95 against Washington State in November.