Huskers Run Past Minnesota, 77-60

Minneapolis -- The Nebraska men’s basketball team turned a tight game into a rout Monday night, as it exploded for 46 second-half points while on its way to a 77-60 victory over Minnesota in Minneapolis. The win helped the Huskers improve to 9-1 on the season and marked NU’s first true road victory since the 2002 campaign. Minnesota dropped to 6-3 on the year while suffering its first home loss.

A pair of seniors came off the bench to power the Huskers’ attack, as guard Nate Johnson and forward Brian Conklin combined for 42 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals. Nebraska’s bench, which had more than doubled its opponents’ scoring totals entering the game, scored 56 of the Huskers’ 77 points, coming up just four points shy of Minnesota’s team total.

Johnson was hot from the minute he entered the game, attacking the Golden Gopher defense and scoring 10 points in the first half. All 10 of his points came in a six-minute span, including a pair of conventional three-point plays. Johnson’s effort helped Nebraska stay in the contest, as the Huskers went into the intermission trailing by one, 32-31. It was just the second time this season NU trailed at the break, with both coming on the road.

In the second period, Nebraska blew the game open with a hail of three-pointers. The Huskers hit 6-of-10 three-point attempts in the second frame, and finished with a season-high 11 treys on 20 attempts.

Johnson hit back-to-back three-pointers just 33 seconds apart to give NU a 56-47 lead with 10:10 to play. The six points were part of an 18-6 run that put NU ahead 65-49. All 18 points in the surge came on three-pointers, with Conklin draining three trifectas in the run including the last two. The Hubbard, Ohio native was nearly perfect from beyond the arc, as he hit 5-of-6 three-point attempts before finishing with a season-high 17 points.

With NU ahead 67-53, Johnson then iced the game by hitting 7-of-8 free throws in the final 2:34. Johnson, who now leads the team with a 11.4 points-per-game average, finished with 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-2 from downtown, with six boards, three assists and two steals in a team-high 31 minutes.

The Huskers’ offensive explosion, which helped NU to its fourth straight game scoring at least 70 points, was the perfect mix with Nebraska’s play on the defensive end. The Huskers limited the Gophers to just 33.3 percent shooting (21-of-63), including 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from three-point range. In contrast, the Huskers hit 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the field, including 53.6 percent (15-of-28) in the second half.

Nebraska finished the game with 19 assists against 18 turnovers, although NU had just five turnovers in the second half as it routinely broke the Gophers’ press. On the boards, NU grabbed a 40-33 advantage, including a 28-14 margin on the defensive glass. Johnson, Corey Simms and John Turek each finished with a team-high six rebounds, including five offensive boards by Turek. The junior from Council Bluffs, Iowa, added eight points and three blocked shots despite playing just 14 minutes because of foul trouble.

Senior Andrew Drevo also found himself in foul trouble, and finished with just five points and three rebounds. In their absence, sophomore center Tony Wilbrand played a career-high 21 minutes, adding four points and two boards.

Freshman sensation Kris Humphries led the Gophers, picking up 21 points and 10 rebounds. The Minnesota native came into the game ranked among the top five players in the nation in scoring and rebounding and has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week twice in the first six weeks of the season. Guards Maurice Hargrow and Ben Johnson added 14 and 11 points, respectively, while no other player scored more than five points.

Nebraska returns to action next week, when it rounds out the non-conference slate with a contest against St. Francis (Pa.) at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Huskers, which carry a 10-game home winning streak into the game, will tip off against the Red Flash at 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard live on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com.

Nebraska Head Coach Barry Collier quotes
"We shot very well in the first half. The problem we had was I thought that their pressure bothered us a lot more than it should have. We were turning the ball over way too easily and we were hurt by foul trouble. At one point in the first half, I thought all 12,000 people would walk out because both teams were turning the ball over so much."

"The second half was a different story for our team. We made the adjustment to go to a zone to open the half to help stay out of foul trouble and to cut off their drives to the basket. They did not shoot well in the first half, but they really hurt us with their penetration."

"We did a great job of forcing them into tough shots in the second half and that really helped us pull away. Despite our foul trouble, we played a lot more poised in the second half and had far less turnovers. Our bench also came up huge for us."

"We made some really tough shots in the second half. To shoot like we did on the road in a tough place like this really gives us a confidence boost for the rest of the season."

"We try not to make any game we play monumental, but I do have to say that I am really happy with the type of game we played tonight and how well we shot on the road. We also limited a team that was shooting over 40 percent from behind the arc to a 5-of-24 shooting night. You can’t ask for much more."

 Minnesota Head Coach Dan Monson quotes
"We talked about this week being a week where we are going to find out a lot about this team. And we have found out that we have a lot of issues to address."

"The first half we scrapped and got to the loose balls. I thought we play hard and stayed tough. But then in the second half we fell asleep on the inbound plays and got outplayed for four to five straight minutes. They just outplayed us. It is that simple. They got all the loose balls and made the plays they needed to win. That is disheartening and isn’t going to be easy to fix."

"They got into a flow and did what they needed to finish the game off. This is a coaching issue and we have to do a better job as coaches to get out guys better prepared and ready to come out and play. We didn’t show much poise when we got behind."

"We were forcing things in the second half and weren’t shooting the ball very well. We have to get our good shooters shooting the ball better. We don’t have a starter shooting 50 percent."

Nebraska postgame notes vs. Minnesota
** Nebraska won for the fourth time in the last seven meetings with Minnesota, and just the fifth time ever at Minneapolis. The Huskers’ win was the largest against the Gophers in Minneapolis since a 41-24 victory in 1935. The Huskers now trail in the series 47-15, but hold a two-game winning streak over the Golden Gophers, both by double figures.

** The win marked the first true road victory for Nebraska since an 82-72 win over Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, on Feb. 20, 2002. Nebraska had lost 11 straight true road games, but did pick up a pair of victories away from the Devaney Center during that span (68-45 over Centenary at 2003 Top of the World Classic; 60-57 over UC Santa Barbara at 2003 ASU Hoops Classic).

** The Huskers’ 17-point road win marked the Huskers’ biggest margin of victory away from the Devaney Center since a 75-58 win over Texas A&M on Feb. 11, 1998.

** The Huskers are now 9-1 on the season, their best start since opening the 1994-95 campaign with an 11-1 record. Nebraska’s nine victories in the non-conference season are the most in four years under Coach Barry Collier, and just two wins less than last season’s total (11-19 overall record). NU won seven non-league games in each of Collier’s first two years and won eight contests before Big 12 play last year.

** Nebraska held Minnesota to just 33.3 percent (21-of-63) shooting from the floor marking the sixth time this season the Huskers have held their opponent to less than 35 percent shooting. The Golden Gophers also hit just 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from behind the arc, the sixth NU opponent to shoot less than 25 percent from three-point range. NU has now held seven of 10 opponents to five or fewer three-pointers in a contest.

** The Huskers scored 46 points in the second half to put away the Gophers. It marked the second-highest point total for any half this season, trailing only the 47 points NU scored in the second half against Tennessee.

** Nebraska outrebounded the Gophers 40-33, the eighth time in 10 games this season that NU has outrebounded its opponent. The Huskers now hold a 39.2-31.0 advantage on the glass this season, and are 8-0 when outrebounding opponents.

** Nebraska finished the game hitting 12-of-16 attempts from the free throw line, its fifth game connecting on at least 75.0 percent from the foul line this season. NU was just 2-of-2 in the first half before hitting 10-of-14 attempts from the charity stripe in the second period. Senior Nate Johnson hit 7-of-8 attempts in the final 2:34 to ice the contest.

** The Huskers hit 51.9 percent from the field to mark their third contest this season shooting at least 50.0 percent from the field, and second straight. It was the second-highest field-goal percentage for Nebraska this year, trailing only the Huskers’ 56.5 percent shooting against Delaware State.

** Nebraska hit 55.0 percent from three-point range, the second-highest mark by the Huskers this year. NU’s only better contest from beyond the arc came against Delaware State, when NU hit 9-of-16 (56.3 percent). The Huskers’ 11 three-pointers against Minnesota were a season high, and were the most since hitting 13 against Baylor on Feb. 27, 2002. The last time NU hit at least 11 three-pointers away from Lincoln was Feb. 16, 2002, when NU hit 14 treys at Iowa State.

** Nebraska finished the game with 19 assists, its most since recording a season-high 22 in the season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson. Six players had multiple assists, including four with at least three assists. Freshman Charles Richardson Jr. had a team-high four assists with no turnovers in 18 minutes.

** The Huskers scored at least 70 points for the fourth straight game after reaching 70 points just twice in their first six games. The last time NU scored at least 70 points in four consecutive games came in 2002, when NU scored 70 or more points in six straight games from Feb. 9 to Feb. 27. Last year, NU scored at least 70 points only six times all season, and just once in back-to-back games.

** Senior Nate Johnson tied his career high with 25 points to lead all scorers. Johnson, who came off the bench, hit 7-of-12 attempts from the floor while adding six rebounds, three assists and two steals. He was perfect from three-point range (2-of-2) and hit 9-of-10 free throws. On the season, Johnson is now hitting 87.5 percent (28-of-32) from the charity stripe.

** Senior Brian Conklin scored a season-high 17 points off the bench, including a season-high five three-pointers on six attempts. Conklin, who added five rebounds and three assists, helped Nebraska to a 56-7 advantage in bench scoring. NU’s bench has now outscored its opponent’s bench by a 308-127.

** Conklin hit 5-of-6 attempts from three-point range against Minnesota. He now has 15 treys in 10 games this season, after connecting on just 22 treys in 30 games last year.

** Conklin played a season-high 24 minutes against the Golden Gophers, while sophomore center Tony Wilbrand played a career-high 21 minutes, filling in for John Turek and Andrew Drevo who were in foul trouble much of the game. Wilbrand, who tied his career high with four points on 2-of-2 shooting from the floor, more than doubled his previous career high of 10 minutes against Texas last season.