Huskers Open Exhibition Season vs. UAF

Game Matchup: Alaska-Fairbanks vs. Nebraska (exhibition)
When: Monday, Nov. 10, 7 p.m. (CST)
Where: Devaney Center (13,595)
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network (Randy Lee, play-by-play Matt Davison, color analyst)
TV: None
Live Video: HuskersNside
Internet: Huskers.com (radio, live stats)
Series: Tied 1-1 (regular season)
Coaches: NU--Barry Collier, 234-182; UAF--Al Sokaitis, 231-195

Huskers Open Exhibition Season vs. UAF
Lincoln -- The Nebraska men's basketball team tips off the 2003-04 season at home when the Huskers take on the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Monday, Nov. 10, at 7:05 p.m. The game will be the first of two exhibition contests for the Huskers before they begin regular-season play on Saturday, Nov. 22, against Fairleigh Dickinson at the Devaney Center.

The game can be heard live on the Pinnacle Sports Network and on Huskers.com, with Randy Lee returning to call the action while first-year color analyst Matt Davison joins the Pinnacle broadcast team. Live stats are also available on Huskers.com.

The Huskers have faced Alaska-Fairbanks twice in school history, with both games coming during the regular season. NU is 1-1 against the Nanooks, with Nebraska taking an 84-55 victory in the 2000 Husker Classic in Lincoln, while UAF won last year in Alaska.

Playing in front of a home crowd at the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska, the Nanooks earned a three-point victory, 64-61, over Nebraska. It was one of three straight wins over Division I teams, as UAF became the first Division II school to win a Division I exempted, eight-team tournament. UAF also downed UW-Green Bay, 78-55, in the first round, and defeated Weber State, 77-65, in the title game.

Guard Jake Muhleisen nearly pulled the game out for the Huskers as he dominated the Nanooks from nearly every spot on the floor. The Lincoln native chipped in a career-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field, including nailing 5-of-8 attempts from three-point range. He also added five rebounds and three steals, but NU was unable to overcome the Nanooks' 47.1 percent shooting from floor. Muhleisen's effort helped him earn all-tournament honors.

Muhleisen's return to the court provides a significant lift to the Huskers. Not only is he a two-year captain as a junior this season, but Muhleisen is one of Nebraska's best shooters. Before going down with a season-ending hip injury (fractured hip socket) in the conference opener, Muhleisen averaged 11.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists from the point guard spot. He hit 57.5 percent from two-point range (46-of-80) while starting all 14 of the games he played.

Nebraska will rely on Muhleisen's effective shooting touch, but he will not be the only Husker counted on for scoring this season.

The Huskers also return their top two scorers in senior forward Andrew Drevo (13.9 ppg) and guard Nate Johnson (13.3 ppg), two of the top scoring transfers in NU history. Juniors John Turek (7.8 ppg) and Corey Simms (7.4 ppg) also provide a solid offensive punch, and the Huskers look for senior forward Brian Conklin (3.5 ppg) to return to the form that helped him hit 65 three-pointers in 2001-02 to set an NU sophomore record. Overall, NU returns 89.9 percent of its scoring from last year, along with 78.8 percent of its rebounding, 79.4 percent of its assists and 98.9 percent of its blocked shots.

Along with the returnees, the Huskers also have some capable newcomers who will add depth and make the competition fierce this year, especially in the backcourt. Nebraska has a pair of newcomers at point guard in transfer Marcus Neal Jr. and freshman Charles Richardson Jr., while freshman James Reynolds, a late summer signee, can provide a solid scoring threat from long range for the Huskers. The addition of Neal, Richardson and Reynolds provides NU with tremendous depth at the 1, 2 and 3 guard spots, while another pair of freshmen, swingman Shuan Stegall and center Bob Kempf, look to bolster the frontcourt depth.

Scouting the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks
Nebraska begins the season against an Alaska-Fairbanks team that returns seven letterwinners from last year's 20-8 squad. The Nanooks averaged 79.1 points per game while hitting 44.3 percent from the floor on the season and went on to win a conference regular-season title.

UAF returns its leading scorer from last season in junior guard Brad Oleson. The North Pole, Alaska, native averaged 17.2 points per game and hit 53.9 percent from the floor last season while adding82 assists and a team-high 80 steals. Oleson picked up right where he left off, scoring 27 points to lead the Nanooks to a 109-49 victory in their season opener over Southwestern College on Nov. 6.

Along with Oleson, the Nanooks again have the services of point guard Chris Smith. The 5-8, 165-pounder from San Bernardino, Calif., averaged 11.0 points and 4.5 assists per game in 2002-03. He added nine points, five assists and two steals off the bench in UAF's season opener.

Alaska-Fairbanks is coached by Al Sokaitis, who is in his eighth season with the Nanooks. The Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year last season, Sokaitis helped the Nanooks to 20 wins last season after finishing with just four victories the previous year. Overall he owns an 85-104 record at UAF and is 230-195 overall at the college level.

Doling out the 'D'
Nebraska was one of the top defensive units in the rugged Big 12 Conference in 2002-03 and looks to continue that trend this season.

The Huskers finished last year ranked first in the league in three-point field-goal percentage defense by allowing opponents to hit just 30.2 percent (193-of-639) from behind the arc. The total was a Nebraska single-season record, breaking the previous mark of 30.3 percent (154-of-508) set by the 1992-93 squad.

Nebraska held 25-of-30 opponents under 40 percent from outside the arc, including 14 to less than 30 percent from downtown. Five opponents were held to less than 20 percent shooting from outside. Kansas State shot an opponent season-low 9.1 percent (1-of-11) from three-point range, as NU snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 68-61 home victory.

The overall defensive effort by the Huskers was also outstanding. Nebraska limited opponents to just 40.8 percent shooting from the field for the season to rank seventh in the league statistics. The top six in the conference were also among the top 30 nationally.

The total was the third-lowest at Nebraska since 1960-61, which is the last time the Huskers limited their opponents to less than 40 percent from the field for a whole season.

Nebraska held 13 opponents to less than 40 percent from the field in 2002-03, including six to less than 35 percent. Nebraska’s first opponent of the season, Centenary, felt possibly the toughest defense of the year, as the Huskers limited the Gents to just 20.0 percent shooting (10-of-50) for the game.

Tremendous Transfers
Seniors Andrew Drevo and Nate Johnson made their mark on the Nebraska basketball program in their first year with the team in 2002-03. This season, they will each look to etch their names among the greatest two-year players at Nebraska.

The two transfers ? Johnson from Penn Valley CC and Drevo from Division II Morningside College ? finished the season ranked first and second in scoring (Drevo, 13.9; Johnson, 13.3) for NU; second and third in free throw percentage (Johnson, 72.8; Drevo, 67.3); first and third in three-pointers (Drevo, 48; Johnson, 18); third and fourth in field-goal percentage (Drevo, 41.1; Johnson, 40.6); first and fifth in rebounding (Drevo, 7.3; Johnson, 3.8); second and fourth in assists (Johnson, 63; Drevo, 38); and second and fifth in steals (Johnson, 30; Drevo, 21).

Johnson and Drevo, who both ranked among the top 25 in overall and league-only scoring, put themselves among elite company in their first year with the Huskers. Only 10 of the top 60 scorers in NU history were two-year players after transferring into Nebraska’s program. While Johnson and Drevo did not make it onto the NU career list in 2002-03, they are set up nicely to reach it this season. In fact, if Drevo records another season like he did in his first year (402 points to lead the team), he would break Bernard Day’s mark for a two-year player at Nebraska, which stands at 802 points.

Drevo and Johnson finished 2002-03 ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in scoring average among first-year transfers at Nebraska, respectively. Day, who ranks 39th on the NU career scoring list (802 points, 12.7 ppg over 63 games in 1985-86 and 1986-87), previously held the highest scoring average for a first-year transfer with 13.1 points per game (392 total) in 1985-86, while only two others on the NU career list have averaged at least 12.0 points per game in their first year with the program (Derrick Chandler, 12.3 ppg in 1991-92; Kimani Ffriend, 12.0 ppg in 1999-2000). Tony Farmer, who averaged 12.4 points in 1990-91, would have likely also made the career list, but only played one season at Nebraska.

Hitting 100
One of the most prolific long range shooters in Nebraska history, forward Brian Conklin looks to get back on track in his final year in Lincoln in 2002-03. The 6-11, 240-pounder finished second on the squad with 22 treys last year although he hit just 25.9 percent from three-point range.

Despite the sub-par performance, Conklin became just the ninth Husker in history to record at least 100 career three-pointers last season. He finished the year with 110 career treys and enters this season ranked seventh on the NU career list, just 37 three-pointers shy of moving into the school's top five. Cary Cochran owns the NU career mark with 268 three-pointers in his four-year career.

Conklin surpassed the 100 mark against Oklahoma State, when he recorded three triples. Two weeks later, Conklin hit a season-high five three-pointers against Baylor. The five treys tied the team season high, which Jake Muhleisen established in the second game of the year against Alaska-Fairbanks.

While Conklin hit 25.9 percent (22-of-85) in 2002-03 as opponents keyed on him outside the arc, he still finished the year ranked sixth in the NU record book for career three-point field-goal percentage at 38.9 (110-of-289). Conklin set the NU sophomore record when he drained 65 treys while helping NU set the school record with 267 three-pointers. He also ranks seventh on the NU freshman chart with 23 in 2000.

Lead Blockers
Junior forward John Turek returns for this third year in the lineup after leading the team in blocked shots each of the past two years. Turek could become just the fourth player to lead Nebraska in blocked shots for three straight seasons, and only one Husker (Dave Hoppen) has ever had at least a share of the team lead for four consecutive years. Turek ranks sixth in the NU record book for career blocks with 91, making him only the second sophomore in NU history to have at least 90 blocks.

Last season, Turek recorded 52 of Nebraska's 96 blocked shots and ranked sixth in the Big 12 Conference for blocked shots with 1.73 per game. Overall Nebraska returns 98.9 percent of its blocked shots from last season, including those from Andrew Drevo (19) and Corey Simms (8).

Home Sweet Home
When the Huskers open the regular-season home slate against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 22, Nebraska will be looking for its 23rd straight victory in a home opener. The last time NU lost its first home contest of the year came in the 1980-81 season, when NU fell to Wyoming, 62-59, in overtime. Included in that streak was a 71-69 upset of No. 5 Michigan State in 1990-91.

Nebraska has been outstanding at home since moving into the Bob Devaney Sports Center in the 1976-77 season. The Huskers hold a 317-100 (.760) record at home during that span, including 21 seasons (of 27) of at least 10 home wins. Last year, Nebraska went 9-6 at the Devaney Center, including a pair of three-game winning streaks in the non-conference season. Nebraska has defeated a ranked team at home 21 times during that span, including once in each of the past three seasons under Coach Collier.

Tough Schedule Ahead
Nebraska’s schedule will again be one of the toughest in the nation, as it has been the past three years when the Huskers ranked among the top 60 nationally in schedule strength. NU will face a slate of teams that posted a 407-280 record last year, including 12 teams that reached postseason play (eight NCAA, four NIT).

The Huskers' non-league slate is normally set to help Nebraska get ready for the Big 12 season, and this year will be no different. Nebraska plays teams from some of the top leagues in the nation in non-conference play, including teams from the Big Ten, Pac-10, Southeastern and Missouri Valley conferences, and Conference USA.

NU begins its eighth season in the Big 12 Conference in 2003-04. Nebraska has a 107-109 overall record since the start of Big 12 play, including a 47-65 mark against league foes. Nebraska has defeated eight ranked league opponents since the start of Big 12 play, but has not been ranked in the top 25 since joining the Big 12. The league has sent two teams to the NCAA Final Four in each of the past two years, with Big 12 teams producing a 500-299 record during that time.

Huskers Succeed On and Off the Court
Forward John Turek and center Tony Wilbrand were among 15 student-athletes named to the 2003 academic All-Big 12 Team last spring, something that is becoming a common site for the Husker basketball team. Turek, who became the 33rd Husker to be named to the academic all-conference first team, was the third Husker to be selected to the first team under coach Barry Collier, joining Cary Cochran and Brian Conklin who earned the honor in 2002. Over the previous 10 years, only five Huskers had been named to the first team.

Behind Turek and Wilbrand’s effort, the Huskers succeeded in the classroom as the team held a cumulative grade-point average above 3.0 through the spring. Eight Huskers were named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for their academic achievement in the 2002 fall and 2003 spring semesters, including one with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Overall, six Huskers have accounted for 23 honor roll certificates over the past four years.

The academic all-conference team was made up of student-athletes who competed in at least 60 percent of their team’s games and held at least a 3.2 GPA (cumulative or the past two semesters) for the first team and between a 3.0 and 3.19 for the second team.