Huskers Soar to 67-59 Win over Eagles

Lincoln ? John Turek scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the first half, as Nebraska used a stifling defensive effort to down Eastern Michigan, 67-59, in front of 6,376 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Saturday evening.

Nebraska (2-0) held the Eagles to just 17.9 percent shooting from the floor in the first half, as the Huskers built a 35-16 halftime advantage before withstanding Eastern Michigan’s frantic rally in the final 10 minutes. In all, the Huskers held the Eagles to just 31.7 shooting, but nearly saw a 27-point lead evaporate in the waning minutes.

Turek put together his second strong effort of the season, hitting 7-of-15 from the floor, while hauling down eight rebounds and blocking two shots. The 6-9 junior from Council Bluffs, Iowa, was one of three Huskers to finish the night in double figures, as Corey Simms chipped in his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high tying 10 rebounds, while Jake Muhleisen added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor.

The Huskers, who never trailed, took command from the start, using a 10-0 run early in the contest to turn an 11-8 lead into a 21-8 advantage. NU then continued to take advantage of the Eagles’ (2-2) offensive woes, extending the cushion to 19 points, at 31-12, as EMU went 9:44 without a field goal.

The Huskers’ continued to clamp down on Eastern Michigan, as NU held the Eagles without a field goal for the first 5:12 of the second half, using an 11-3 run to extend their lead to 46-19 on a Muhleisen layup with 15:30 remaining in the game. Nebraska led 50-23 on Andrew Drevo’s jumper with 12:56 remaining, but EMU began its comeback.

Behind the play of forward John Bowler, who scored six of his team-high 16 points, EMU used a 9-0 run over the next 2:19 to close to within 50-32 with just over 10 minutes remaining. The Eagles continued to claw back into the contest, getting to within 62-55 on Rick Cottrill’s basket with 49 seconds remaining, but could not get closer.

Bowler and Michael Ross tied for team-high honor with 16 points apiece to lead three Eagles in double figures.

The Huskers continue the homestand this Wednesday, Dec. 3, when they play host to Arizona State at 7:05 p.m. The game will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network, while video streaming will be available on HuskersNside.

Nebraska Postgame Notes
* The win gives NU a 2-0 record on the season, and extends its home-court winning streak to four games dating to last year. NU has now won its first two home games in each of the four years under Coach Barry Collier.

* A pair of Huskers made their first career starts tonight against Eastern Michigan, as sophomore forward Bronsen Schliep and freshman point guard Charles Richardson Jr. were both in the opening lineup. Also in the starting lineup for the first time this season was sophomore guard Corey Simms, who started 26 games last season.

* Schliep scored off the opening tip, earning his first two points of the season after playing in only the first exhibition game of the year. He finished with four points after scoring just two all of last season, and added two assists. Schliep played 23 minutes tonight after seeing 20 combined minutes of action in 11 games last season.

* Junior forward John Turek finished the night with 16 points, his second double-figure scoring effort in two games this season. It is just the second time in his career that he reached double-figure points in back-to-back games, but has now hit for at least 10 points in five of the last seven games dating to last season. Turek is currently averaging a double-double with 20.0 points and 10.5 rebounds through the first two games.

* Corey Simms tied a career high with 10 rebounds, also set at South Florida last year. It is his second double-figure rebounding effort of his career, and the second straight game Nebraska had at least one player with double-figure rebounds. NU held a 41-39 advantage on the glass, marking its second straight game of outrebounding its opponent.

* Simms also recorded his first career double-double by adding 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor. The last time a guard had a double-double for Nebraska was against Baylor last season when Brennon Clemmons grabbed 12 points and 10 rebounds. Nebraska has now had at least one player with a double-double in each of the first two games, with John Turek gaining 24 points and 13 rebounds against Fairleigh Dickinson.

* Sophomore forward Wes Wilkinson picked up his third steal of the season, equaling his total in 30 games last season. NU finished with seven steals as a team, but were forced into 18 turnovers leading to 12 steals for the Eagles. NU had just 11 turnovers in the season opener.

* NU's defense held the Eagles to 17.9 percent shooting in the first half and just 16 points. It was only four points off the Devaney Center opponent record low of 12 points for any half, set by Arkansas against NU in the 1987 NIT. EMU came back to cut a nearly 30-point deficit to just eight during the second half, scoring 43 points in the period.

Nebraska Coach Barry Collier Quotes
Opening Statement
"I thought that the game was really hard fought, especially on our end. Eastern Michigan, to their credit, turned up the intensity and were more aggressive, particularly on the boards in the second half. It's a good thing that we played so well in the first half and spotted a big lead.

On John Turek fouling out during Eastern Michigan's comeback
"They had started to come back before he fouled out, but we need John. Clearly he's one of the best interior defenders that we have. I thought that we did a good job guarding Austin. As the game went on, their inside guys hurt us.

"John is becoming more confident with his opportunities both offensively and defensively. He's still aggressive and a good rebounder for us. He's active and a very improved player. He brings it every day in practice. He plays hard."

On changing the lineup and the effect it had
"In the first half, our defense was outstanding. I think it (the lineup change) had more to do with what Bronsen and Charles did this week in practice more than what someone didn't do.

Sophomore forward Bronsen Schliep
On news he was starting for the first time in his career.
"I found out I was starting on Friday. It was exciting, but I tried to approach every game the same and try not to get too excited just because I'm starting. I try to play every game using the principles that coach teaches us."

On the team's aggressive defense.
"Defense will carry us throughout the season. If we use coach's principles we'll be tough to beat. A good defense will beat a good offense any day."

Freshman guard Charles Richardson
On his defensive intensity in the first half.
"Defense is my first priority. Defense gets the team started and it sets the tempo. We worked on defense probably 90 percent of the time in practice this week. Our main priority was to improve our defense this game and we did a great job of it in the first half in holding them to 16 points and 18 percent shooting."

Junior guard Corey Simms
On NU's defensive play
"That was a big focus for us this week because we did not play that well or hard the last game. We worked on it a lot in practice this week and wanted to do the same in the game."

On stopping Markus Austin, the Eagles' leading scorer
"I had a pretty good idea of what he would do after watching tape on him this week, and I was able to get into good position. I had a lot of help from my teammates and he was not able to do all that he wanted to."

Eastern Michigan Head Coach Jim Boone
Opening Statement
"First of all you have to give a ton of credit to Nebraska. They came out in the first half and were more physical and aggressive than we were. In terms of execution, they did a better job than we did. We didn't carry our game plan onto the floor, especially in the first half. In the second half we played a lot better and executed better. As we all know that when you build a big lead like Nebraska did a team tends to let up a bit. Overall, I'm really pleased with the way our team came back."

On First Half Shooting Problems
"Nebraska aggressiveness made it difficult to get the ball inside to our post players. They couldn't recognized the openings when Nebraska doubled the post. We were getting pushed off the block and not getting the ball where we wanted to. Nebraska also made us run or offense a little wider than we liked to. Nebraska was just hungry and welled prepared

On John Turek
"John is a very good athlete. He has a shot that is really going to pay off and that is a 12-to-15 foot jump shot. That shot makes him pretty special. He's quick and athletic, along with being able to get to the rim good."