Huskers Roll to Fourth Straight Win

LINCOLN (AP) -- Venson Hamilton scored 15 points and got 13 of his 16 rebounds on the defensive end as Nebraska won its fourth straight, beating Colorado 72-55 on Saturday.

The Cornhuskers (12-7, 4-2 Big 12) put the game out of reach early in the second half by holding Colorado (10-9, 1-5) scoreless for almost four minutes.

Colorado (10-9, 1-5) trailed 31-22 at halftime, but cut Nebraska's lead to 32-26 on Will Smith's free throws with 19:17 remaining. That's when Nebraska's defense took over.

The Huskers scored 13 unanswered points and got the crowd of 9,407 involved when Andy Markowski put down three dunks during the span and Cookie Belcher got another.

Nebraska led 45-26 after Belcher's 14-foot jumper with 15:43 remaining.

Colorado never got within 14 points the rest of the way, and the Huskers stretched the lead as big as 68-40 with 4:05 remaining.

"They have all the ingredients to be one of the top teams in this league," Colorado Coach Ricardo Patton said. "We haven't seen everybody yet, but on tape I haven't seen anybody any better.

"Inside, they have one of the best centers in the league in Venson Hamilton. Outside, they've got some shooters. They've got experience. And Danny Nee is known as the kind of coach who gets his team going at the right time."

Nebraska used a trapping zone and aggressive man-to-man defense to stifle the Buffaloes. Colorado hit just 29 percent (19-of-64) from the field and had 23 turnovers -- 15 of them on Nebraska steals.

With Hamilton leading the way on the boards, Nebraska also outrebounded Colorado 51-37.

Larry Florence led Nebraska with 17 points and added seven rebounds. The Huskers also got 10 points each from Belcher and Markowski, who also had eight rebounds.

Kenny Price scored 19 points to lead Colorado but shot 7-of-22 from the field and was 4-of-14 from 3-point range. Smith scored 10 points for the Buffaloes.

"I'm disappointed in the number of turnovers, but pleased with the win," Nebraska Coach Danny Nee said. "This day and age, winning a couple in a row in the conference is a real positive."

The Huskers return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 27, when the Huskers play host to Big 12 leader Kansas at the Devaney Center at 7:05 p.m.