Huskers Drop Heartbreaker at Texas

Austin, Texas ? Nebraska rallied from an eight-point deficit twice in the second half behind forward Andrew Drevo’s 23 points before a last-second shot came up just short as No. 18/16 Texas held on for a 63-61 victory.

Nebraska led by three with a minute to go when Brian Boddicker hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 61-61 with 59 seconds to play. NU’s Brian Conklin then got free on a set play after a timeout, but his three-point attempt was on track but came up short to give the Longhorns a chance to take back the lead it held the majority of the game. Texas’ Royal Ivey did just that, as he hit a soft jumper with 2.4 seconds to play to give UT the final two-point margin.

The Huskers didn’t go out without a fight. Following a timeout, Jake Muhleisen was on the receiving end of a nice inbounds pass and got off a shot before the buzzer. Muhleisen’s game-winning attempt looked good but was just off the mark, allowing Texas to squeeze out its 25th straight home victory.

Nebraska (10-4, 0-3 Big 12) put itself in position for a chance to win by battling back in the second half, especially on the defensive end.

NU fell behind, 52-44, with 9:09 to play, but the Huskers clamped down and held Texas (11-2, 2-0 Big 12) without a point for nearly seven minutes until Brad Buckman hit a jumper with 2:17 remaining in the game to pull UT within two. During NU’s defensive stand, in which Texas missed 14 straight shots, Nebraska reeled off 12 straight points to forge a 56-52 lead.

Following Buckman’s traditional three-point play that cut NU’s lead to 56-55, Drevo again came up big by hitting his fifth three-pointer of the game to extend Nebraska’s advantage back to four points. Drevo finished the game with a season-high 23 points while going 8-of-14 from the floor, including a career night beyond the arc, where he hit 5-of-7 attempts. He added six boards, two blocked shots and one steal in 30 minutes.

The Longhorns finished the day hitting just 39.0 percent from the floor, but held NU at bay by draining 45.5 percent from three-point range. Texas entered the game first in the nation in scoring, averaging 90 points per contest. UT also held a slight, 33-30, advantage on the boards, although it outrebounded NU 17-8 on the offensive end.

In the first half, Texas took control early behind a 10-4 run to open the game capped by a Kenny Taylor three-pointer with 15:48 before intermission. Taylor helped UT hit 10 treys on the day, and finished tied with Ivey for the team scoring lead with 13 points.

NU responded with a 12-5 run to gain a one-point lead, 16-15, on Nate Johnson’s three-pointer with 8:57 left in the opening frame. A quick 9-0 Texas run in less than two minutes put UT back on top, 24-16, but again the Huskers chipped away to get the lead down to one, 28-27, on Jason Dourisseau’s layup with 2:21 left in the opening frame.

Texas freshman P.J. Tucker, who has been named the league’s newcomer of the week three times this season, was held in check, as he had just two points on 1-of-6 shooting from the floor. Tucker added a game-high eight rebounds with three assists, while Jason Klotz had nine points on 3-of-3 shooting.

The Huskers’ frontcourt led the way, with Drevo leading all scorers while John Turek added 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor and hitting 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Muhleisen added nine points with four assists and no turnovers, while Johnson and Conklin each pitched in six points. Conklin hit 2-of-5 from three-point range, and has now connected on 13 of his last 20 from downtown.

Nebraska returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 21, when the Huskers take on Baylor at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Tip off is set for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com.

TEXAS HEAD COACH RICK BARNES
On today’s game "
"Nebraska was terrific and they are only going to get better. Coach Collier’s guys played hard, but our guys showed a lot of character and we were able to make big plays at the end of the game. We knew that Royal (Ivey) was going to take the final shot because he had done a good job throughout the game making it into the lane with his penetration. We worked hard, played hard and were fortunate to get it done at the end. It was a great game and both teams played really good basketball."

JUNIOR GUARD KENNY TAYLOR
On his performance "
"Nebraska made some big shots toward the end of the game. When we got down, I just wanted to keep my composure and make plays for the team. The key to my game is to make the open shot, which is often the three, so if I am open I am going to take it."

On the performance of Royal Ivey "
"Royal has been great for us this year. He is playing great defense and making a lot of shots. He was relaxed and played his game."

SENIOR GUARD ROYAL IVEY
On today’s performance "
"Nebraska hit their shots and played great team defense. They knew what they had to do to make this a game. When you don’t have a great shooting night, you must rely on your defense and that is what we did. Toward the end of the game, Nebraska pulled ahead but we were able to counter their shots. If it wasn’t for the baskets made by Kenny (Taylor) and Brian (Boddicker), I wouldn’t have been in the position to make the shot I did."

NEBRASKA HEAD COACH BARRY COLLIER
On the loss to Texas "
"I told my guys that they have to play like that all the time. We deserved to win just as much as Texas did, but only one team can win. We played good defense and they had to make shots which they did, even the shot with Ivey was tough and he should get credit for it."

On the play of Andrew Drevo"
"Andrew had command offensively and I thought he battled hard defensively. He was a constant outlet for us and I think it helped to do a little more substituting than in the past because it kept him fresh. He only played 30 minutes, which is better than 38."

SENIOR FORWARD ANDREW DREVO
On his team’s play"
"We’re a good defensive team and we played well. We forced (Texas into) shots and didn’t give up anything easy and I thought we rebounded well too. We’re a good defensive team, so to play well we had to play good defense. We’re not the kind of team that would score 80 or 90 points. We got the shot we wanted at the end and I thought it was going in."

On his performance"
"I tried to be aggressive and if I was open for a shot, I took it. Coach tells us to attack the hoop and I wanted to force them to play defense."

Nebraska Postgame Notes
** Nebraska held Texas to just 39.0 percent shooting, only the third time this season UT has been limited to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor.

** The Longhorns' 63 points were were two off its season low of 61 in a 28-point loss to Duke. UT came into the game averaging 90.0 points per game, the highest scoring average in the country.

** NU's defense limited super freshman P.J. Tucker to just two points on 1-of-6 shooting in 27 minutes. Tucker had scored 20 or more points in three of the past five games, and led the team with 15.4 points per game this season.

** Forward Andrew Drevo scored a season-high 23 points to go with six rebounds, two blocks and one steal in 30 minutes. Drevo hit 8-of-14 field-goal attempts, including 5-of-7 from three-point range. The five three-pointers were a career high for Drevo and equalled the highest output from long range. Brian Conklin also had five three-pointers in a game this season at Minnesota.

** Nebraska recorded a team season low three steals, while UT had an NU opponent season-low five turnovers, including just one in the second half.

** The Huskers were outrebounded for just the fourth time in 14 games this season. UT held a 33-30 advantage on the glass, including a 17-9 margin on the offensive board.

** NU had just 10 turnovers in the contest, and is averaging only 12.0 turnovers per game in league play, more than two turnovers fewer than its season average.

** Nebraska hit 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the free throw line, the eighth time this season NU has hit better than 70.0 percent from the charity stripe, and sixth time in the past eight games. Nebraska is second in the league in free throw shooting, hitting 71.1 percent on the year.