Huskers Bounce Back with 76-47 Victory

Lincoln ? Sophomore Jason Dourisseau took advantage of his first start of the season, scoring a game-high 18 points, as Nebraska broke a three-game losing streak with a 76-47 victory over Baylor Wednesday evening at the Devaney Center.

Dourisseau, a 6-5 sophomore from Omaha Burke, hit 7-of-12 shots from the floor, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. It was his best offensive performance since a career-high 21-point effort against Lipscomb on Dec. 22.

The win was the Huskers’ first in Big 12 play after a pair of heartbreaking losses, as Nebraska improved to 11-4 on the year and 1-3 in league play. The Bears (5-11, 0-3 Big 12) remained winless in conference play.

The Huskers put together a balanced attack in leading wire to wire against Baylor, placing three players in double figures while 11 Huskers broke into the scoring column. Senior Brian Conklin and Nate Johnson added 11 points apiece, as the Huskers shot 54 percent, including 11-of-18 from three-point range.

The Huskers, who were coming off a two-point loss at No. 16 Texas last Saturday, took much of the suspense out of the game early, holding Baylor without a field goal for the first 13 minutes in building a 12-1 lead. The Bears missed their first 13 shots from the floor, and shot 24 percent in the half against a NU defensive that is fifth nationally in field-goal percentage defense.

The duo of Johnson and Dourisseau nearly outscored the Bears in the first half, as the Huskers took a 26-17 lead into the locker room. Dourisseau scored eight points, including two three-pointers, and grabbed four rebounds, while Johnson added seven points off the bench. The Huskers built a 14-point lead on three occasions in the first period, the last being at 26-12 after Dourisseu’s three-pointer with 2:48 in the half. BU closed the half by scoring the last five points to get within nine on Will Allen’s three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining in the half.

Baylor whittled Nebraska’s lead to seven points in the opening minutes of the second half before the Huskers erupted for a 13-2 run, extending the margin to 39-21 with 15:38 on a dunk by Dourisseau. The Bears made one last spurt, closing to within 39-26 after Terrance Thomas scored five straight points. Conklin put the game out of reach, scoring nine of his 11 points ? all from three-point range ? during a 13-0 spurt and the Huskers cruised during the final 10 minutes. Conkin has hit 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) three-pointers against the Bears in his Husker career.

Thomas led Baylor with 16 points and nine rebounds, and was the only player in double figures for BU, which shot just 31 percent from the floor.

The Huskers travel to Columbia, Mo., to take on the Tigers this Saturday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m. from the Hearnes Center.

 

Nebraska Head Coach Barry Collier
"Obviously I thought that if we could play physical and keep fresh bodies coming at Baylor and we played great defense in the game, we would have an advantage. Defensively, both halves were very good, but we weren't as strong at times as we wanted to be. We shot the ball well in the second half."

On Picking Up Conference Win
"We certainly don't look backward at wins, and we don't look back at losses. We just take it game by game. We feel we can win every night that we play. I do think our guys were physical today and that made a huge difference."

On Jason Dourisseau
"I think he's been a good shooter. He has gained strength in his time here at Nebraska. He had excellent coaching in high school and he had readied himself. He got thrown into the fire with a lot of minute last year as a freshman. I don't think we are a finished product. We still have to bring it every day. They all continue to get better."

 

NU Player Quotes
Brian Conklin
On defense
"All week we've been working and stressing on defense. We've made some changes, minor changes, in the defense and it's been successful for us. But we need to realize that when we play well on defense, then we need to convert that over to offense."

On his own shooting
"I feel comfortable out there right now and that came from spending time in the gym. When you have the fundamentals to rely on, you don't have to worry about whether or not it's going to go in."

Jason Dourisseau
On playing against a zone defense
"Any team that plays against a zone has to hit outside shots to soften up the middle. We just knocked down the shots and when you do that, penetration in the middle opens up."

On starting
"I like to start because you get into a flow, into a rhythm. But whatever role coach needs me to play, I'll do that.

 

Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew
On the game
"We felt somewhat fortunate to be in the game at halftime, but at the same time we didn't give Nebraska enough possession in the first half to really take a big lead. We played good defense and limited them to 24 possessions in the first half, and in the second half Nebraska had nearly double that. We need to do a better job taking care of the basketball and keeping the clock moving."

On the first half shooting struggles.
"We had the tempo where we wanted it. The pace of the game was good, we just missed some shots. Our defense kept us in the game, only going into halftime down 26-17. A nine-point deficit on the road isn't too bad."

On a more offensive second half.
"Offensively we tried to speed up the game in the second half. Sometimes you get a false hope that you can run, but this year we definitely need to keep the clock moving and slow down the game."

 

Nebraska postgame Notes
**Nebraska improved to 9-5 in the all-time series against Baylor and 6-0 at home in Lincoln against Baylor. The home team has won the past five regular-season meetings, while the win snapped a two-game BU winning streak.

** The Huskers equalled their win total from 2002-03, as they picked up their 11th victory in 15 games this year. The win was also the 10th at home this season, as NU has a 10-1 record at the Devaney Center. It marks the 22nd time in 28 seasons in the BDSC that the Huskers have won double figure games.

**Sophomore guard Jason Dourisseau made his first start of the season and fourth career start. Dourisseau had a combined 12 points and seven rebounds in his first three starts, before coming out with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting and five rebounds tonight. It was his third double-figure scoring night of the season and first since Dec. 22 when he scored a career-high 21 vs. Lipscomb.

** Nebraska, which has one of the stingiest defenses in the nation, held Baylor without a single point until the 12:51 mark of the first half when R.T. Guinn hit the third of three free throws. BU was held without a field goal for the first 12:52 of the game, until Matt Sayman hit a three-pointer with 7:08 left before halftime. The Bears were 0-of-13 from the field to start the game.

** The Huskers have led at halftime of every home game this season, including leading 9-of-11 games by double figures. The only times NU has not led by double figures at the break this year is in Big 12 play (one-point lead vs. Colorado; nine-point advantage vs. Baylor).

**Nebraska, which ranks 20th nationally in rebounding margin, outrebounded BU 39-25, including 20-14 in the first half. Thirteen Huskers finished with a rebound, including eight with at least three boards.

** NU held Baylor to 17 points in the first half, the seventh time this season NU has held its opponent to fewer 20 points in a period, including five times in the opening period.

** Jake Muhleisen had a career-high five steals against Baylor, setting a Husker season high. Corey Simms and Wes Wilkinson each had four steals in a game for the previous high.

** Freshman Charles Richardson Jr. had six assists against the Bears, his second-highest single-game mark this season. Richardson now has 21 assists and zero turnovers in the past six games combined and leads the Huskers with 47 assists (against 18 turnovers) for the season.

** The win was NU's first in conference action this season, as the Huskers improved to 1-3 on the year against Big 12 play.

**It was the fewest points NU has allowed in a conference game since giving up just 43 to Oklahoma in Lincoln on Jan. 18, 1998, and was the largest margin of victory for the Huskers in a conference game since winning by 39 against Colorado on Jan. 8, 1994.

** NU held BU to just 30.8 percent shooting for the game, including 24.0 percent in the first half. It was the eighth time this season NU held its opponent to less than 35.0 percent shooting from the floor.

** Nebraska's 29-point victory was its ninth of the year by double figures, as the Huskers now own a 9-1 mark this season in games decided by 15 points or more. NU is 2-3 in games decided by 14 or fewer points.