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Sunrise, Fla. - Steffon Bradford scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, as the Nebraska men's basketball team improved to 4-3 on the season with a 72-64 win over Miami (Fla.) at the Orange Bowl Classic Saturday afternoon
Playing in front of nearly 25 of his family and friends who came from nearby Clewiston, Bradford was 9-of-10 from the floor and tied a career-high four steals for the Huskers (4-3), earning Orange Bowl Classic MVP honors. It was Bradford's second 20-point performance this season and the first since scoring 26 against Oral Roberts in the season opener.
Trailing 30-28 at halftime, Bradford triggered a 15-5 Nebraska run, scoring eight of his 11 second-half points, as NU built a 47-38 lead with 13:20 remaining. The Hurricanes (4-3) closed to within 59-55 after a pair of free throws by Leroy Hurd with 4:03 left, but could not get within a basket, as Bradford and reserve guard Kevin Augustine scored seven straight points over a two-minute span, giving the Huskers a 66-55 lead with two minutes remaining.
Augustine, who had played just two minutes all season, gave the Huskers a big spark off the bench, scoring all 11 points in the second half, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Playing for the first time since suffering a groin injury against Winthrop on Nov. 27, the 6-0, 185-pound point guard finished with 12 points and four assists in 29 minutes.
The win was the Huskers' first win away from Lincoln since a 61-52 victory over Northwestern on Nov. 27, 1999, at the Hoop and Quill Classic, and the 200th in the coaching career for Husker Head Coach Barry Collier, who grew up in Miami. Collier is now 200-135 in 12 seasons at Butler and Nebraska.
The Huskers turned in a solid performance on both ends of the floor, shooting 52 percent (25-48) from the floor, including 7-14 from 3-point range, while holding Miami to just 42 percent from the field. Nebraska also enjoyed a 36-28 advantage on the boards.
John Salmons led Miami with 14 points and six rebounds, while Joe Gordan chipped in 11 points, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range. NU held UM's leading scorer, freshman Darius Rice, to just nine points, seven below his season average, on 3-of-10 shooting.
The Hurricanes held Nebraska's top two scorers, guard Cookie Belcher and center Kimani Ffriend to just 19 points, nearly 20 points below their combined average this season. Belcher finished with 12 points, and four steals, while Ffriend, who was in foul trouble for most of the second half, was held to a season-low seven points.
Nebraska returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 20, as the Huskers take on Iona in the first round of the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico.
Postgame Quotes
Nebraska Coach Barry Collier
Overall
We played as well as we have at any time this season on both ends. We are excited and very fortunate to win today.
On Holding Darius Rice to just 8 points
Rodney Fields really did a good job guarding him. Rodney probably weighs as much as Rice, and was able to be physical with him and to stay with him on defense. We wanted to play a physical game without putting them on the foul line.
On Steffon Bradford
He powered the ball well inside and he was able to get his shot up over their taller inside players. He was strong enough to get good position inside and is a good enough athlete to score. He was disappointed in his play last weekend, and really wanted to play well down here."
On Kevin Augustine
He is our only true point guard who suited up for us today. He is a good ball handler and really hit some big 3-pointers in the second half for us, especially when the shot clock was going down. He was able to make others better and that is what you look for in a point guard.
Game Notes
*- The win was the Huskers' first win away from Lincoln since a 61-52 victory over Northwestern on Nov. 27, 1999, at the Hoop and Quill Classic. Nebraska now leads the all-time series with Miami 2-1.
*- The win was the 200th for Nebraska Coach Barry Collier, who improves to 200-135 in 12 seasons at Butler and Nebraska.
*- Steffon Bradford finished with a game-high 21 points, marking the third time in his career he scored 20 or more points in a game (at Oral Roberts in 2000-01 and vs. Oral Roberts last season). Bradford narrowly missed his fourth double-double of the season with nine rebounds and has grabbed eight or more rebounds in six of the first seven contests. He also tied a career high with four steals (also vs. Arizona and Monmouth last season).
*--Kevin Augustine returned to the lineup for the first time since Nov. 27 with a groin injury. Augustine scored a season-high 12 points, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and dished out four assists in 29 minutes. Augustine had played only two minutes all season before today's game.
*--Freshman forward Brian Conklin made his first two 3-pointers of the season vs. Miami, going 2-of-2 from 3-point range as he tied his career high with six points. Conklin, who added three assists and two rebounds in 16 minutes today, had missed his first seven 3-point attempts entering today's game. In fact, prior to today's game, only two Huskers, Cary Cochran and Cookie Belcher, had hit a 3-pointer in Nebraska's first six games.
*- The 23 points by Nebraska's bench is the most by the Husker reserves this season. NU's previous best was 13 against Alaska-Fairbanks on Dec. 9.
*-Nebraska was 7-of-14 shooting from 3-point range, marking the first time that NU had connected on 50 percent or better from 3-point range in back-to-back games since December of 1999 (vs. Pittsburgh and Arizona).
*- Nebraska shot 50 percent or better for the sixth time in seven games this season.
*- With his 12 points today, Cookie Belcher moved into 16th place on NU's all-time scoring charts, passing Brian Carr, who compiled 1,182 points from 1984 to 1987. Belcher now has 1,190 career points. Belcher, who also passed Tyron Lue for eighth place on NU's career minutes chart, had four steals and needs only 10 more to become the 25th player in NCAA history to record 300 steals in a career.
*- Kimani Ffriend was held to a season-low eight points, marking the first time all season he has been held to less than 16 points in a game this season.
*- Nebraska improves to 1-4 on the season when trailing at halftime. It was the first time since Feb. 26, 2000 (vs. Colorado) that Nebraska overcame a halftime deficit.
*--Cary Cochran's streak of 13 games with a 3-pointer ended today, as he was 0-2 in three-point attempts against Miami