Nebraska Returns Home to Face Baylor

The Nebraska men's basketball team returns to Lincoln for its second home league contest of the season when it plays host to the Baylor Bears at the Devaney Center on Wednesday, Jan. 21. Tip off is set for 7:05 p.m. and the game can be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network with Randy Lee calling the action and Matt Davison adding color analysis. The game can also be heard on Huskers.com, where live stats and streaming video are available.

The Huskers and Bears are each looking for their first conference victory this season. Baylor comes into the contests on a four-game losing streak, including a nine-point setback Saturday at home against nationally ranked Texas Tech. The Bears will be searching for their first road victory of the season.

Nebraska enters the matchup coming off a near upset of No. 18/16 Texas on the road. NU used a relentless defense to slow the Longhorns, but came up just short in a 63-61 loss Saturday.

The Huskers will try to pressure the Bears on defense, as BU enters the week averaging a league-low 66.5 points per game. Nebraska ranks first in the league in scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense.

NU also hopes to keep playing smart and efficient basketball on offense.

At Texas, NU had its best shooting game against league competition since 2002, as Nebraska connected on 47.8 percent from the floor. The Huskers, who rank second in field-goal percentage in the Big 12 this season, have hit at least 45 percent from the floor in two of three league games in 2004, after hitting above 40 percent just four times in 16 league games last season.

Following the Baylor game, NU travel to Columbia, Mo., on Saturday, Jan. 25, to face Missouri at 5 p.m. at the Hearnes Center.

About the Huskers
Nebraska returns home to the friendly confines of the Bob Devaney Sports Center for the second time in conference play when it takes on Baylor on Wednesday. NU dropped its first home contest of the season last week in its first Big 12 home game, a 68-60 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes.

Despite that loss, Nebraska enters this week's matchup with a positive attitude after executing its game plan nearly to perfection in a near upset against No. 18/16 Texas on the road Saturday. Nebraska led by three points with one minute remaining only to see the Longhorns score the game-winning basket with 2.4 seconds left. The tremendous effort had NU in position to win its first road game over a nationally ranked team in five years, since NU defeated No. 24 Kansas, 64-59, in Lawrence in 1999.

Nebraska's defense led the way against UT, helping the Huskers to a 12-0 run in the second half. NU held the Longhorns, the top scoring team in the nation, without a point for nearly seven minutes.

On offense, Nebraska hit 47.7 percent from the floor, its best mark in a road conference game since 2002. Overall, the Huskers are hitting 48.3 percent from the floor this season, which ranks second in the Big 12 and 17th nationally. If NU continues shooting at its current pace, it would mark the second time in four years under Coach Collier Nebraska had hit at least 48 percent for a whole season. The Huskers connected on 48.7 percent of its shot attempts in 2000-01, which ranked 11th in the country.

Senior Nate Johnson leads Nebraska with 12.6 points per game on 55.7 percent shooting. Johnson has been in the starting lineup just two times this season, but as NU's most explosive and creative scorer, has averaged 24.2 minutes per game to rank second on the team. Johnson is the only player in the Big 12 Conference to rank among the top 10 in the league standings for field-goal (55.7, eighth), free throw (87.0, first) and three-point field-goal (59.3, first) percentage.

Along with Johnson, senior forward Andrew Drevo is averaging 11.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game this season, but has turned up the intensity in league play. Against Big 12 teams, Drevo has averaged 14.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game to tie for 15th in each category.

Who's Hot?
The Huskers have played with a team-first attitude all year, and that has shown through the box scores. Nebraska has just two players averaging double figures, although six are scoring at least six points per game. Three of those six players are hitting at least 50.0 percent from the floor, with the other three hitting at least 47.0 percent.

**Nebraska's defense this season has been one of the best in the nation, as NU has allowed just 57.4 points per game on 36.8 percent shooting. The scoring defense is the best in the Big 12 and among the top 10 in the nation while NU's shooting defense ranks second in the league.

The Husker defense shut down Texas' high-flying offense Saturday, limiting UT to just 63 points after the Longhorns had averaged a nation-leading 90.0 points per game through its first 12 contests. It was the second straight game NU shut down a league foe, as CU scored just 68 points with junior center David Harrison recording just seven points and six rebounds with seven turnovers.

**Senior Andrew Drevo lit up the scoreboard Saturday, recording a season- and game-high 23 points in the two-point loss to No. 18/16 Texas. Drevo hit 8-of-14 attempts from the floor, with six rebounds and two blocked shots.

Drevo, who is second on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg), rebounding (4.5 rpg) and assists (2.2 apg), also hit 5-of-7 attempts from behind the three-point line. His five three-pointers were a career high, while his three-point shooting percentage improved to 40.0 percent on the season, which now ranks 10th in the league.

**Senior forward Brian Conklin, a 6-11, 240-pounder, paces Nebraska with 23 three-point field goals, one more than his total all of last season. Conklin has been nearly flawless from behind the arc the past five games, as he has hit 13 of his last 20 three-point attempts. Conklin ranks second in the league in three-point field goal percentage by hitting 51.1 percent (23-of-45) this season, and is ninth in the league standings with 1.64 treys per game. Only teammate Nate Johnson has hit at a higher rate from beyond the arc, where he is connecting on 59.3 percent of his long-range attempts.

**Junior forward John Turek is hitting 61.1 percent from the floor in league play while averaging 9.0 points and 5.7 rebounds. Turek, who entered the season a career 42 percent shooter from the free throw stripe, has hit 71.4 percent in at the line league action.

**Freshman Charles Richardson Jr. leads the squad with 41 assists (2.9 apg), and has been nearly flawless the past three weeks running the offense. During the past five games, he has recorded 15 assists with no turnovers in 19.0 minutes per game. Richardson is on pace to become just the fourth freshman in NU history to record at least 80 assists in his rookie campaign.

Scouting the Bears
The Baylor Bears enter Wednesday's contest looking to snap a four-game losing streak. The Bears own a 5-10 record overall and 0-2 mark in Big 12 action after dropping a 79-56 decision at Texas and a 75-66 contest against Texas Tech.

Baylor has not defeated a team ranked in the top 175 of the RPI, according to collegerpi.com's rankings through Jan. 18. The Bears opened the season with a 3-2 record, defeating Texas Southern, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Midwestern State, before dropping eight of their next 10. BU's only victories in that stretch were against Louisiana-Monroe in two overtimes and Northern Illinois.

Despite the recent setbacks, the Bears have continued to play hard and now have two of their top scorers back in the lineup. On Jan. 16, Terrance Thomas and R.T. Guinn were reinstated via a waiver by the NCAA after initially being ruled academically ineligible.

Thomas is the Bears' leading scorer this season, averaging 18.8 points per game on 43.8 percent shooting. He leads Baylor with 27 three-pointers this season, but is ony hitting 35.1 percent from beyond the arc. Thomas also leads BU with 7.5 rebounds per game and is second with 45 assists, while averaging a team-high 35.5 minutes per game.

Guinn has provided BU with a solid inside presence, as he leads the team by hitting 53.4 percent from the floor while averaging 10.7 points per game. He gives BU a different look by also being able to step outside the arc, where he has hit a team-high 35.5 percent (11-of-31) of his three-point attempts. Guinn adds 5.1 rebounds and leads the Big 12 Conference with 2.25 steals per game.

Along with Terrance Thomas and Guinn, Harvey Thomas has come on this season to average 16.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while Matt Sayman pitches in 7.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

Overall, the Bears are averaging just 66.5 points per contest while allowing 69.2 points per game. BU has hit 43.9 percent from the field as a team and just 30.9 percent from three-point range. Opponents have been opportunistic against the BU defense, hitting 46.0 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc. Baylor holds a plus-2.2 rebounding advantage (34.9-32.7) but is averaging just 12.6 assists against 16.7 turnovers per game.

Baylor is coached by Scott Drew (Butler, 1993), who is in his first season at Baylor and second season as a head coach. Drew, who worked with the Butler program under Coach Collier as a student, owns a 25-21 career record as a head coach. Last season, Drew, the son of long-time coach Homer Drew, led Valparaiso to a 20-11 record and NIT berth.

Series History
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Baylor by an 8-5 mark. The teams first met in 1949 in Lincoln, and played three more contests in the 1980s before starting league action in 1996-97.

The series is one of six against conference foes that the Huskers lead, and is the second-shortest series vs. a league opponent. Only the Huskers' series against Texas A&M (11 games, NU leads 8-3) has totaled fewer games.

Nebraska won seven of the first nine meetings, but Baylor has come back to win three of the last four contests. Nebraska has history on its side, however, as the Huskers own a 5-0 record against the Bears in Lincoln. NU has won by an average of 12.4 points (67.6-55.2) at home, where Baylor has not scored more than 56 points in five tries. The home team has won each of the past four regular-season meetings.

The last time Baylor ventured to Lincoln, the Huskers were less than gracious hosts, as they put up a 75-55 victory in 2002 behind the hot hand of NU's best long-range marksman, Cary Cochran.

Cochran led NU with 27 points by hitting 8-of-13 three-pointers, while collecting seven rebounds. The eight treys set a school single-game record from behind the arc. Jake Muhleisen added 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field as the Huskers' only other double-figure scorer. It is the only game of Muhleisen's career that he has not started, as NU's five seniors were in the opening lineup on Senior Night. John Turek added seven points, nine rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots in the win.

Last year, Muhleisen did not get the chance to face the Bears, as he was sidelined with a fractured hip for the last 15 games of the conference slate. Without his leadership, the Huskers fell to BU, 78-64, on the road. Brian Conklin came off the bench to hit 5-of-8 three-point attempts and lead the Huskers with 15 points. Andrew Drevo added 13 points and six boards while Nate Johnson had 10 points. Brennon Clemmons just missed a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.