Bradford Sets Career High as Huskers Win, 81-80, Over Iona

San Juan, P.R. -Steffon Bradford scored a career-high 28 points, as Nebraska held off Iona, 81-80, in the first round of the San Juan Shootout Wednesday afternoon in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Huskers (5-3), who have won three straight games for the first time in nearly a year, will face Kent State, a 67-58 winner over Northwestern, in Thursday's second semifinal at 4:15 p.m. (CST).

Bradford was 11-of-13 shooting from the floor and 6-of-11 from the foul line in eclipsing his previous career-high of 26 against Oral Roberts in the season opener. It was Bradford's second-straight 20-point performance, as the 6-foot-6 forward from Clewiston, Fla., is 20-of-23 shooting (87 percent) from the floor in the last two contests.

The Huskers needed of Bradford's points, as Iona nearly rallied from a nine-point deficit in the final four minutes of the game, falling short as Courtney Fields' 3-pointer at the buzzer skipped off the front rim.

Trailing 78-69 after a pair of Rodney Fields' free throws with 4:00 remaining, the Gaels scored the next seven points, to close to within 78-76 on a Courtney Fields' lay-up with 2:29 left. Cookie Belcher and Bradford each split a pair of free throws to give NU an 80-76 advantage, but Iona's Dyree Wilson made two foul shots to cut the NU advantage to 80-78.

On the Huskers' next possession, Belcher, who finished with nine points and a season-high six steals, made one of two shots from the charity strip to push the Husker advantage to 81-78, but the Gaels trimmed the lead to 81-80 on a driving lay-up with Earl Johnson with 21 seconds remaining.

Forcing the Huskers to win at the foul line, Bradford missed a pair of foul shots, but Cookie Belcher grabbed the offensive rebound. Belcher also missed both shots, giving Iona one final opportunity for the victory in the final 10 seconds.

In all, Nebraska missed six of its final 10 shots from the foul line, but set season high in both made free throws (21) and free throw attempts (38) in the victory.

NU turned in another strong performance from the field, shooting a season-high 60 percent, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range, and out-rebounded Iona, 31-22. In the second half, the Huskers were 13-of-17 shooting from the floor (76 percent), and have shot 50 percent or better from the floor in seven of the first eight games.

Bradford was one of three Huskers to finish in double figures, as Kimani Ffriend added 15 points and eight rebounds and point guard Kevin Augustine added 10 points and four steals in his first career start.

Iona (6-3), which saw its five-game winning streak come to an end, will play Northwestern in the consolation round Thursday afternoon. The Gaels have lost their three games by a combined total of six points. Wilson led Iona with 22 points, on 8-of 12 shooting and six rebounds, and was one of three Iona players to finish in double figures. Johnson finished with 17 points, while Phil Grant added 10 points in a losing effort.

The Huskers held Iona's leading scorer, Nakiea Miller, to just six points, 11 points under his season average, and zero rebounds in the victory. Miller entered the game ranked 24th nationally in rebounding, averaging 10 rebounds per game, but was in foul trouble for most of the contest.

The Huskers used a strong inside attack in the first half, as Bradford and Ffriend combined for 25 of Nebraska's 41 first-half points, as the Huskers took a 41-39 halftime advantage. In the second half, Nebraska trailed 56-55 before the Huskers used a 16-6 win over the next 4:46 in building a 71-62 advantage on a Bradford jumper with seven minutes remaining.

Nebraska Postgame Notes
*- Nebraska ends Iona's five-game winning streak, while Nebraska won three straight games for the first time since Dec. 22, 1999 - Jan. 2, 2000 (vs. Oral Roberts, Minnesota and Pacific).

*- Steffon Bradford's 28 points was a career-high, topping the 26 he had at Oral Roberts in the season opener. Over the last two games, Bradford is 20-of-23 (.870) from the floor.

*- Kevin Augustine made his first start at point guard, finishing with 10 points, two assists and four steals in 35 minutes.

*- Cookie Belcher recorded six steals vs. Iona, and has 296 in his career. He needs four more steals to become the 25th player in NCAA history to record 300 or more steals in a career.

*- Nebraska shot 50 percent from the floor for the seventh time in eight games, shooting a season-high 59.6 percent from the floor. The Huskers were 13-of-17 from the field in the second half. Iona became only the second NU opponent to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor, connecting on 30-of-54 shots. Oral Roberts shot 56 percent in the season opener.

*- Nebraska shot 50 percent from 3-point range for the third straight game, finishing 4-of-8 from beyond the stripe.

*- Nebraska out-rebounded Iona, 31-22, marking the sixth time in eight contests that NU has out-rebounded an opponent.

*- NU set season highs in free throws made (21) and attempted (38) in the victory.

Nebraska Coach Barry Collier
On the final minutes
"They played aggressively and we played into their hands by missing free throws and not getting back on defense. Fortunately, we got a couple of rebounds off missed free throws. We had control of the game and lost it down the stretch. Iona did a very good job of stretching the game out but they ran out of time. We shot almost 60 percent, but we nearly lost today by not playing good enough defense. In a game like this, it is boils down to small things like lost balls out of bounds, missed free throws and rebounds."

On Nebraska's rebounding and inside players
It was a physical game. I thought Bradford had a good game. He scored inside and pulled some rebounds down and Kimami and Cookie both rebounded well. We were very fortunate to win. We have great respect for their program Iona is a good program and has averaged 22 wins a year for the past five seasons.

On switching to a zone defense
They kept driving effectively, and we switched to a zone. That helped switch the momentum in the second half.

Staffon Bradford
On establishing control on the inside
"We wanted to get the ball inside and establish an inside game so they had to double team and we could kick it to our perimeter shooters. The outside game opened up the inside for us. That was coach's gameplan. We get enough touches. It is not an offense that forces the ball inside. We have players who are reliable post players who can score inside on teams."

Iona Coach Jeff Ruland
On Courtney Fields' final shot.
"We wanted to get a shot up before they were able to set up on defense. We had a good shot. He was open and that's more than you can ask for in that situation.

On Nebraska's Execution
"We worked for the last five days on Nebraska's pick and roll, and we still had some players who didn't understand. You have to give them (NU) credit. The executed well, especially in the second half.