Huskers Roll to 93-49 Victory

Lincoln ? Nebraska tuned up for Saturday’s Big 12 opener at Iowa State by blitzing St. Francis (Pa.) with a 21-4 run over the first nine minutes before cruising to a 93-49 victory Tuesday evening at the Devaney Center.

The Huskers’ 10-1 start equaled Nebraska’s best-ever start after 11 games and marked the first time since the 1994-95 season that NU opened a season with a 10-1 record. The Huskers have now won 11 straight at the Devaney Center dating back to last year

Nebraska, which has won five straight since a seven-point road loss at No. 23 Creighton on Dec. 10, followed the successful pattern they have employed throughout the season, using a stifling defense and a balanced offensive attack in extinguishing the Red Flash.

The Huskers, who are second nationally in field-goal percentage defense (35.1) and fourth in scoring defense (53.5), held St. Francis to 28 percent shooting from the field. On the other end, Nebraska shot 66 percent from the floor, its highest shooting percentage under Barry Collier, topping the 66.1 against Kent State on Dec.21, 2000. NU’s 93 points was also a season high and the most by a Husker team since a 99-point outburst against Kansas State on Feb. 9, 2002.

Nebraska took control from the onset, as Drevo scored five of his 14 points in a 10-0 run to open the contest, while the Red Flash (3-7) missed their 13 shots from the floor. The Huskers continued to extend the lead, as Jake Muhleisen and Nate Johnson connected on three-pointers, pushing NU’s cushion to 17 points just nine minutes into the game.

Johnson scored a team-high 19 points, on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor, as Nebraska placed five in double figures. Drevo finished with 14 points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes, while John Turek, Marcus Neal Jr. and Wes Wilkinson all chipped in 10 points, as 13 of the 14 players who saw action broke into the scoring column.

Nebraska, which led by at least 25 for the final 18 minutes, dominated inside with a 52-12 advantage in the paint, while the taller Huskers posted a 39-19 advantage on the glass. NU also received another strong performance from its bench, getting 52 points from its reserves.

Darshan Luckey, who was held to one field goal in the first half, scored a game-high 22 points for St. Francis, while Rahsaan Benton chipped in 15 points, on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range, for the Red Flash. Benton, who scored 12 points in the first half, connected on four of St. Francis’ seven field goal attempts, as the Red Flash was held to just 27 percent shooting before halftime.

The Huskers travel to Ames, Iowa, this Saturday, Jan. 10, to take on the Cyclones. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Nebraska Postgame Notes
** Nebraska scored a season-high 93 points while hitting 66.1 percent from the floor. It marked just the third time under Coach Barry Collier topped 90 points (3-0 record), and the field-goal percentage was a Collier-era high. It was the highest field-goal percentage by the Huskers since shooting 72.3 percent against UNC Wilmington on Dec. 5, 1997.

** Nebraska is 10-1 on the season, its best mark since the 1994-95 season when NU started 11-1. NU has had at least a 10-1 record a total of 10 other times in school history including 1994-95 (11-1); 1991-92 (12-1); 1990-91 (16-1); 1977-78 (12-1); 1970-71 (10-1); 1919-20 (10-1); 1915-16 (13-1); 1913-14 (10-1); 1912-13 (17-1); 1911-12 (14-1).

** The Huskers started the game on a 10-0 run over the first 6:05 before Darshan Luckey hit a pair of free throws at the 13:55 mark of the opening period. Nebraska held the Red Flash without a field goal until the 12-minute mark when Joey Goodson hit a jumper on a fast break. SFU was 0-for-13 before the basket and trailed 15-2.

** Nebraska led 45-24 at the intermission, marking the ninth straight home game this season the Huskers have led at the break. The Huskers

** Nebraska recorded its season high for points in a period on two occasions Tuesday, first recording 45 points in the first period and then 48 points in the second period. The season-high 48 points in the period easily surpassed the prevoius high of 43 points scored by NU in the first period of the season opener against Fairleigh Dickinson.

** The Huskers hit 62.1 percent (18-of-29) from the floor in the first half and then 70.4 percent (19-of-27) in the second frame. The second-period field-goal accuracy was the second-highest mark of the season, trialing only the 70.8 percent (17-of-24 attempts) NU hit from the field against Delaware State.

** Nebraska's 44 point victory margin matched its season high, after gaining a 70-26 win over Bethune-Cookman in December. It tied for the largest margin of victory at home since 1984-85, and the fifth-largest margin of victory at the Devaney Center ever.

** Junior guard Marcus Neal Jr. tied his career high with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor while adding two assists, one steal and his first career blocked shot. Neal previously scored 10 points against Delaware State.

** Nate Johnson set a career high with four three-point field goals, going 4-for-4 from behind the arc. Johnson has hit his last eight three-point attempts over the past three games combined. He finished with a team-high 19 points and averaged 22.0 points off the bench in the past two games.

** Freshman Charles Richardson Jr. came off the bench to record five assists against no turnovers in 19 minutes of action. Richardson, who leads the team with 35 assists this season, has now had nine assists and no turnovers in the past two combined games.

** Senior Brian Conklin tied his career high with a game-high three steals, while adding eight points, three boards, two assists and one block in 13 minutes of action.

** Nebraska's 11-game home court winning streak dating to last season ties for the 11-longest in Husker history. The last time NU won at least 12 straight at home was 1993-94 to 1994-95. The school record is 20 straight wins from 1964-65 to 1966-67. It was NU's first undefeated home slate in non-conference play since 1997-98.

** Nebraska placed five players in double-figures for the first time since 2002, when it accomplished the feat against Kansas State.

** The Huskers' bench has outscored opponents 109-22 over the past two games, and 360-142 on the season.

Postgame Quotes
Nebraska Head Coach Barry Collier
"I thought we got off to a really good start. We shot the ball well and defended early and got an early lead. We had a lot of time to work on fundamentals, skill development and our shooting, and that was very good tonight. I think we took advantage of the days we had off to prepare."

On Opening Big 12 Play
"We are looking forward to our next game now. Iowa State is our opener on the road. We are just looking a single game ahead and we know the league is tremendously strong and Iowa State had a great start. They played a couple of games on the road lately, and they play tomorrow night at Missouri. We are looking forward to the beginning of the league and our first game. I think we have done some good things that have given us some reasons to have some confidence. We know there is a battle ahead and we are looking forward to it."

On Nate Johnson's Play
"He's doing a really good job and I think he has found a comfort level with his play and what we are doing. I thought he made some excellent closeouts on defense. On the other hand, he is shooting the ball extremely well and obviously we will need that."

Senior Guard Nate Johnson
On tonight's shooting
"It all starts in practice. We get a lot of reps, which in turn shows up during the game. We need to continue to focus on the main things like getting our feet set and getting good looks coming off the screens."

On the team’s Confidence
"We are confident but not too confident. We need to focus on one game at a time, just like putting pants on, you need to do it one at a time. That's what has been carrying us all year. We just need to continue to practice hard and execute in games."

On his Three Point Shooting
"It felt pretty good to get out there and shot the ball well."

Junior Guard Marcus Neal
On This Win
"This gives us a lot of confidence going into Big 12 play. You can say it’s a swagger, but it’s also because we believe in ourselves and the team. We feel that we can beat anybody any night."

On the Team's Shooting
"We just need to continue to execute in practice and that will then show up in the game. Tonight we had a lot of easy shots and made some of the hard ones."

St. Francis (Pa.) Head Coach Bobby Jones
On Nebraska's Defense
"Nebraska is a much-improved team from last year. Obviously they are one of the best defending teams in the county this year. You have to give credit to Barry. He has done a fantastic job getting those guys to buy into his system and they're much improved. We knew coming in, based on their first 10 games that they could defend. We were overmatched playing a very good Nebraska basketball team tonight."

On Nebraska's Offense
"Nebraska pulls you away from the basket and hits a three and then they pound the ball inside and have guys that can finish around the basket. In the Minnesota tape, I knew they were very capable of shooting, and you expect them to shoot better at home. They're a good basketball team."