Wilkinson Leads Huskers to Win over Delaware State

Lincoln ? Wes Wilkinson scored a career-high 13 points, as Nebraska tuned up for Wednesday’s showdown at Creighton with a 68-39 rout of Delaware State Monday evening at the Devaney Center.

The Huskers, who improved to 5-0 for just the third time in seven seasons, blistered the net in the first half, shooting 72 percent from the floor, including a remarkable 80 percent from 3-point range, to build a 44-22 halftime lead.

Wilkinson, one of three Huskers to finish in double figures, came off the bench to set career highs with 13 points, on 6-of-10 shooting, and eight rebounds. The 6-foot-9 sophomore from Grand Island topped previous career highs of seven points and seven rebounds against Centenary in last season’s season opener.

Marcus Neal, who scored 10 points and added three assists, keyed the Huskers’ decisive 20-8 spurt with a pair of 3-pointers, as the Huskers turned a two-point lead into a 16-point cushion with 7:49 remaining in the first half. The Huskers were 8-of-10 from long-range in the first half as the outcome was never in doubt after the Huskers’ first-half surge.

Andrew Drevo was the third Husker to finish in double figures, scoring 10 points in just 20 minutes of work, as all 15 players who dressed played in the second half. Nebraska shot 56 percent from the field and also enjoyed a 34-23 advantage on the glass against the Hornets.

Aaron Matthews led Delaware State with eight points, as the Hornets (1-3) were held to 31 percent shooting from the field.

The Huskers will set their sights on Wednesday night, when they travel to Omaha to face Creighton at the QWEST Center Omaha. A crowd of over 15,500 ? the largest crowd in the state’s history - is expected to see the matchup between the undefeated Huskers and the Bluejays, who are 4-0. The game will also be televised on KM3 News and carried state-wide on the Pinnacle Sports Network.

Nebraska postgame Notes
* The Huskers improved to 5-0 for the second time in three years, and the second time since 1997-98. The Huskers increased their home-court winning streak to seven straight dating back to last season.

* NU's 29-point victory marked its second straight 20-plus point victory, after defeating South Florida 75-52 on Saturday. The last time NU won by at least 29 points was in 2001, when the Huskers defeated Texas A&M, 97-69. The last time NU won back-to-back contests by at least 20 points was Nov. 16 and 19, 1997, when NU defeated UNC Greensboro 75-51 and Western Illinois 86-57, respectively.

* The 39 points scored by Delaware State tied the Devaney Center record low point total of 39 set by Nebraska in 1984. It was also an opponent all-time low in the Devaney Center, breaking the previous record of 41 points by Kansas State in 1984 and Delaware State in 1995.

* Junior forward John Turek picked up his 100th career blocked shot in tonight's game. Turek blocked a shot at the 14:07 mark of the first half to pick up No. 100 of his career. Turek finished with four blocked shots and now has 102 in his career, just the sixth Husker in history to top the 100 plateau..

* Sophomore forward Wes Wilkinson recorded a career-high 13 points, finishing the night 6-of-10 from the floor. Wilkinson tied his previous career high of seven points just 11 minutes into the game, as he hit three of his first four shots from the field, including a one-handed dunk off a steal and a three-pointer. Wilkinson's made field goals and attempts were both career highs as well, surpassing his previous highs of three and nine.

* Wilkinson continued his stellar night by adding a career-high eight rebounds. Senior Brian Conklin added a season high six rebounds.

* Nebraska's 44 points at the intermission were the most in any half since NU scored 44 in the second half against Colorado on the road last year (3/8/03). The last time NU scored at least 44 points in the first half was Feb. 9, 2002, when the Huskers put up 49 points in the opening period at home against Kansas State in a 99-82 victory.

* The Huskers have lead by double figures at halftime in every game this season, including a season-high 22-point lead tonight against the Hornets.

* Nebraska has outrebounded its opponent in every contest this season. The Huskers took a 34-23 rebounding advantage over DSU but had their fewest rebounds of the season. NU came into the game averaging 42.2 rebounds per game.

* Nebraska shot 70.8 percent (17-of-24) in the first period, the highest percentage of any half this season. The last time NU hit 70.0 percent from the field in any half was Dec. 20, 2000, when NU hit 13-of-17 from the field in the second period against Iona College in the first game of the 2000 San Juan Shootout.

* Nebraska tied its season high with five blocked shots on the night, matching the mark NU had against Eastern Michigan.

* The Huskers hit a season high 56.5 percent from the field for the game. NU also set a season high by hitting 56.3 percent from three-point range.

Nebraska Coach Barry Collier Quotes
"I thought our guys executed pretty well offensively. When you shoot the ball as well as we did in the first half, whatever you are doing looks pretty good. We shared the ball well again and took care of it pretty well tonight. I thought it was a good effort. This team plays you differently than a lot of teams with their matchups, mixing man-to-man defensively. All in all I thought we handled that pretty well."

On shooting the ball so well
"We made the comment before the second half that you would have thought that we should have had the three-pointers and the free throws switched, eight-of-10 and two-of-five. We got some open looks. They were trying to pack it in and sag in and that gave up the basketball to open people on the perimeter to shoot it. I think we've got some good shooters on our team. There will be nights it doesn't go in, so we will take it when it does."

On the play of Wes Wilkinson
"Obviously Wes is playing with more and more confidence. He has certainly come a long way from a year ago, but that is just a time issue. You can't make freshmen into experienced players any other way than to play them. I think going through that year really helped him. At this point though, he is gaining confidence each week. He has been one of our best players in terms of what happens for our team when he is in the game. Whether he is scoring, rebounding or shooting the ball at all, our team has played well when he has been in, so that has been a big bonus."

Nebraska Player Quotes
Sophomore Wes Wilkinson
On his play of late
"I've been getting the open shots and taking them. The confidence is there, and I've been able to get the rebounds."

"I'm still nervous, but I'm confident and ready to go and play my hardest."

On NU's first half shooting
"We just cut well and got open shots. I knew that we could shoot that well, and I hope we're able to on Wednesday."

On Creighton
"I'm definitely looking forward to it. I want to go out and play my hardest and go after it. It's going to be a packed house and we're just trying to go out and have fun."

Delaware State Head Coach Greg Jackson
On six straight road games
"It's tough, but we try to develop character in our players. Life is all about adversity and situations."

On the game
"We played a good team tonight in Nebraska. They are tough, but I thought that we showed a lot of character and got better in the second half."

"They shot 80 percent from three-point range in the first half and were 1-6 in the second, so we were able to try to get back, but it was too tough."

"They came out with a lot of energy, and they were able to dictate the tempo early. We were able to comeback in the second and shut them down and keep it close, 24-17. I really thought that we did an excellent job defensively in the second, but we weren't able to shoot the ball."

On Nebraska versus Creighton
"They both have excellent shooters and both pressure the ball really well. I think that they both play extremely well on defense, so it should be an interesting game."