Dourisseau Helps Huskers Cruise Past Lipscomb, 75-52

Lincoln, Neb. -- Sophomore guard Jason Dourisseau scored a career-high 21 points and the Huskers forced 21 turnovers with their pressure defense, as the Nebraska men's basketball team improved to 8-1 on the season with a dominating 75-52 victory over Lipscomb Saturday at the Devaney Center.

Dourisseau, who was coming off a then-season-high 14 points on Saturday against Bethune-Cookman, shot lights outs from the floor, hitting 8-of-11 attempts, including 2-of-2 from three-point range. The Omaha native had missed his first six attempt from downtown this season before converting twice against the Bisons. Dourisseau  added six rebounds, two steals and an assist in 27 minutes.

Along with Dourisseau, forward Andrew Drevo (14) and guards Jake Muhleisen (12) and Nate Johnson (10) each scored in double figures for the Huskers, who topped the 70-point plateau for the third straight game. Drevo added a career-high seven assists and two steals.

Nebraska returns to action next Monday, when it makes its second road trip of the season. The Huskers will face Minnesota in Minneapolis on Dec. 29. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be heard in Lincoln on Kool 105, as the Huskers' normal network will be airing the Nebraska football team's bowl game (Alamo Bowl vs. Michigan State).

Nebraska postgame Notes
** The Huskers improved their home winning streak to 10 games dating to last season, the third-longest since 1993-94.

** Nebraska held Lipscomb to just 18 points in the opening period, and led by double-figures at the intermission for the eighth straight game at home this season. The 75-52 victory marked NU's fourth victory by at least 20 points this season.

** The Huskers hit 50.0 percent from the floor for the game, their second-highest total of the season. NU's 45.0 percent from three-point range was also the second highest of the year.

** Nebraska allowed LU to hit an opponent season-high 53.8 percent from the floor, although the Huskers limited the Bisons to just 52 points. NU came into the game allowing 52.9 points per game.

** Nebraska's 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the free throw line tonight was the highest since Nov. 26, 1995, when the Huskers hit 95.2 percent (20-of-21) against Minnesota. It was also the first time NU had hit at least 90.0 percent from the charity stripe since Jan. 6, 2001, at Missouri, when the Huskers hit 9-of-10 free throws.

** Senior forward Andrew Drevo had a career-high seven assists in the contest, recording nearly half of NU's 16 total assists. Guard Corey Simms tied his season high with four assists.

** Nebraska forced Lipscomb into 21 turnovers on the night, marking the second straight game NU has forced at least 20 turnovers.

** Sophomore guard Jason Dourisseau scored a career-high 21 points to lead four Huskers in double figures. Dourisseau hit a career high eight shots from the floor on 11 attempts. It was his second straight double-figure scoring night after scoring more than six points just once in NU's first seven games.

** Nebraska topped the 70-point plateau for the third straight game and the fifth time this season. Nebraska reached 70 points in just six games last season.

** The Huskers outrebounded their opponent for the seventh time this season, taking a 31-16 advantage on the glass. The 31 rebounds are a season low for the Huskers.

Nebraska Head Coach Barry Collier quotes
"I thought in tonight's game we had an excellent start and a very good first half. It was kind of the reverse of that in the beginning of the second half, until late in the game when we stretched the lead back out. We knew that Lipscomb was a very good shooting team and that proved to be true. Our advantage came with getting a big lead in the first half off of pressing and turnovers and a good shooting night as well."

On Boost From First Half
"Obviously we think the mental side of competition is the most important and maybe the most difficult. It simply allows you to use your physical skills if you are focused. Give the other team credit, they made a lot of extra plays. I thought our guys played physical in the first half, anticipated well in the half court and the full court defensively. They packed in their defense again and we had to try to beat them over the top, which in the end we were able to do a decent amount. There was a stretch in the second half where all we got were jump shots, and not many offensive rebounds. The start of the game I think is an indication of what our guys are able to do. We have not been able to do that for 40 minutes." 

NU Player quotes
Sophomore guard Jason Dourisseau
On his first three-pointer being waved off
"It was a little frustrating, I'd been waiting all year for it to go in and I don't shoot those very often."

On gaining confidence
"When I got in the flow of the game, the shots went in.  I felt really good about the first few shots."

On the team's intensity
"It's coming from our staff and players.  Tonight we hit a wall second half and they made a run.  We don't want to get into that situation again, especially against Big 12 schools."

On going into Christmas break with 8-1 record
"It feels good to go home for Christmas with that record, but not too good, we still have half of the season left.  We just have to realize where we are in the season."

Junior guard Jake Muhleisen
On pregame talk at center court
"It's a little different each game, but basically the same concept.  I try to set the tone, but change it up a little so it doesn't get redundant, but basically the same thing.  Tonight the emphasis was getting a great start.  We pressured them, we played intense and they got frustrated with each other and we got some turnovers."

On flow of the game
"We usually play well in the first half, but sometimes there's a little bit of a let down in the second half.  In that situation we need to just keep getting the easy baskets and think of it as 0-0 again. They came out and played more aggressively in the second half and we let them dictate.  They got some confidence and we needed to take that away."

On going into Christmas break with 8-1 record
"I can't complain, we're 8-1 which is better than previous years.  We still have work to do, but we're headed in the right direction.  We just need to keep playing hard every night."

Lipscomb Head Coach Scott Sanderson
On the game
"You can't turn the ball over on the road and win against a team like Nebraska. We played better in the second half when we limited the turnovers. I wished we had played better in the first half to give ourselves a chance."

On Nebraska's trapping defense.
"Nebraska was holding opponents to 34 percent shooting coming into the game, and I was hoping they would trap us so we might be able to get some good looks. In the first half, they did trap us, but we didn't respond well and had too many turnovers. We did a much better job in the second half of beating the trap and it led to some quick scores. We were 4-of-13 behind the arc and we've been shooting 40 percent from the year, so we needed to make more."