Huskers Ready for Battle with Jayhawks

Lincoln -- The Nebraska men's basketball team returns home to start a two-game home stand when it plays host to No. 12/13 Kansas on Sunday, Feb. 15.  The game will tip off at 12:30 p.m. and can be seen on ABC throughout much of the Midwest and Rocky Mountain region (see Huskers.com for broadcast coverage map). Dave O'Brien will handle play-by-play duties while Fran Fraschilla will add color analysis. Nebraska basketball contests can also be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com, with Randy Lee calling the action and Matt Davison adding color analysis.

A "Red Alert" was issued by the athletic department earlier this week, encouraging fans to wear red in support of the Huskers. Fans will also see the Husker football coaching staff's first public appearance at halftime.

The Huskers enter their second Sunday matinee of the season riding a two-game win streak after defeating Texas A&M 83-77 on the road Wednesday. The game is the first sellout of the year at the Devaney Center, but standing-room only tickets are still available.

The matchup will be Nebraska's third against a ranked opponent this season. NU is 0-2 against ranked teams, although the two games were decided by a combined four points. The Huskers fell on the road at No. 18/16 Texas, 63-61, on Jan. 17 when Royal Ivey hit a jumper with 2.4 seconds remaining to give the Longhorns a victory. Nebraska then rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit against No. 25/25 Oklahoma to take a brief lead with less than four minutes remaining before falling 52-50.

Following Sunday's contest against the Jayhawks, NU will face Kansas State in a rematch on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at home. The game will tip off at 7:05 p.m.

About the Huskers
The Huskers enter the matchup against the Jayhawks looking to extend a two-game conference winning streak. The last time NU won three straight in Big 12 action came in the 1998-99 campaign, during a four-game winning stretch.

Nebraska has already equaled last season's league win total with seven games remaining. The Huskers' 13 victories are two more than NU garnered last season and ties for the second-most under Coach Collier. After going 11-19 last year, NU needs one more victory to guarantee a winning regular season.

NU comes into the weekend riding high after picking up its first conference road victory of the year with an 83-77 win over Texas A&M. The victory snapped NU's 13-game road losing streak in league play, as NU had not won a Big 12 game away from Lincoln since defeating the Aggies in College Station, Texas, in 2002.

Nebraska played well against A&M, hitting 50.0 percent from the floor and 85.6 percent from the charity stripe (32-of-37). The Huskers were nearly flawless at the line down the stretch, hitting all 12 free throw attempts in the final two minutes and 28-of-32 overall in the second period.

That victory came on the heels of a solid 78-62 victory over Missouri at the Devaney Center Feb. 7. Nebraska built a large second-half lead before winning by double figures for the 10th time this season. NU is 10-3 in games decided by 10 or more points, and 3-4 in games decided by nine or fewer points.

Nebraska has been outstanding at home this season, earning an 11-2 record in the Devaney Center. The Huskers have had double figure home wins 22 time in 28 seasons in the building, including twice under Coach Collier.

The Huskers have hit 47.9 percent from the floor at home, including a sizzling 43.9 percent from three-point range, while averaging 71.9 ppg at home. Nebraska ranks second in the league and 16th nationally in three-point field-goal percentage by hitting at a school-record pace (40.2 percent) in 2003-04.

Opponents have been limited to 35.4 percent shooting overall and a paltry 28.7 percent from beyond the arc. NU has held opponents to just 53.2 points per game at the BDSC. NU ranks first in the league and 14th nationally in scoring defense (59.6 ppg) on the season.

At the free throw line, NU is hitting 72.5 percent in 2003-04 to rank second in the league after placing 11th in the conference last year (64.9 percent). Senior Nate Johnson ranks third in the league in free throw shooting at 86.5 percent (64-of-74) after hitting 72.8 percent in 2002-03.

Who's Hot?
*- Senior forward Andrew Drevo had one of his best games of the Big 12 season Wednesday, scoring 18 points with a season-high tying nine rebounds in 31 minutes. The 18 points marked his fifth game in double figures in Big 12 action, but just the second in the past six games. Drevo's point total came despite missing the final minutes of the contest with a bloody nose.

Drevo finished the game hitting 5-of-11 from the floor, but went just 1-of-5 from three-point range. The Lincoln native hit 7-of-8 free throws, both season highs. Drevo ranks second on the team in scoring (11.0 ppg), rebounding (4.5 rpg), three-pointers (26), assists (42), steals (23) and blocks (15) in 2003-04.

*-  Junior forward John Turek has had the team's best improvement at the free throw line this season, and possibly in NU history. Turek entered the season a career 41.9 percent shooter at the charity stripe but has hit 74.3 percent (52-of-70) this season to rank fourth on the team. Turek has connected on 76.5 percent of his free throws in Big 12 play this season, ranking second on the team in attempted (34) and made (26) free throws.

*- Junior transfer Marcus Neal Jr. has averaged 12.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game over the past three games. Neal has connected on 13 of his 33 made field goals during that span, including nine of his 14 three-pointers. Nebraska has earned a 2-1 record in those games and is 7-2 overall with him in the starting lineup.

*- Senior Brian Conklin has been unconscious from long range this year, as he leads the league in three-point shooting at 55.9 percent. He has hit 38-of-68 attempts from beyond the arc this season, including 21-of-33 attempts (63.6 percent) in nine league games.

Conklin is on pace to crush the NU and Big 12 Conference single-season records for three-point accuracy. No Husker has hit better than 48 percent from three-point range for a season, while only one player in league history has topped 50 percent (Kirk Hinrich, Kansas; 50.5 percent, 2000-01). Conklin now ranks fifth on the NU career list with 148 treys, and is second on the Huskers' career three-point field-goal percentage chart (41.4).

*- Junior guard Corey Simms, who is considered the team's defensive stopper, has started to come out of his offensive slump in the past two games. Simms has hit 5-of-9 field-goal attempts in the past two games, after going 3-for-19 over the previous seven games. The slump started with a 1-for-17 stretch over the first four Big 12 contests this year.

*- Nebraska holds a +4.9 rebounding advantage in 2003-04 to rank among the league and national leaders. The mark would rank as the third-best rebounding advantage in NU history, as only four Husker squads have had at least a +4.0 rebounding advantage since 1953. NU's 31.0 rebounding defense is the program's best since 1986.

Scouting the Jayhawks
Kansas heads into this weekend's matchup ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press poll and No. 13 in the USA Today/Coaches poll with a 15-5 record, including a 7-2 mark in league play.

The Jayhawks are 4-2 in their last six games (NU is 3-3), including an 80-60 loss at No. 10 Oklahoma State on ESPN's Big Monday, Feb. 9. KU has not lost back-to-back games this season, but has lost its last two conference road games. KU is just 3-2 in league road action.

The Jayhawks have hit a solid 45.7 percent from the field, but have had a lack of perimeter consistency. KU has hit just 31.7 percent from three-point range this season.

Kansas has made up for any offensive letdowns by playing solid defense. The Jayhawks have held opponents to just 38.0 percent shooting from the floor and 31.6 percent from beyond the arc. KU also owns a +2.7 rebounding margin while outscoring its opponents by an average of 9.3 points per game (74.8 to 65.5).

The Jayhawks have three players averaging double figures with forward Wayne Simien leading the charge. Simien, a junior who missed much of last season with a separated shoulder, has recorded 16.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, both team highs, while hitting 53.1 percent from the floor. Simien is second on the team with 18 blocked shots and has hit an impressive 78.9 percent from the charity stripe. KU ranks third in the league in free throw shooting, hitting 71.1 percent from the foul line as a team.

Along with Simien, junior guard Keith Langford has added 15.9 points per game while hitting 49.1 percent from the field. Langford is second on the team with 65 assists, 21 steals and 26 three-pointers while ranking third on the team with 4.6 rebounds per contest. One of the top playmakers in the Big 12 Conference, Langford has hit 39.4 percent from three-point range to lead the Jayhawks.

Freshman guard J.R. Giddens is KU's third double-digit scorer by recording 10.3 points per contest on an impressive 47.0 percent shooting from the floor. The talented rookie leads the team in three-point shooting by connecting on 42 treys this season. More than 65 percent (107-of-164) of Giddens' attempts this season have been from three-point range.

Junior point guard Aaron Miles has continued to run the Jayhawk offense in 2003-04. Miles has gained 9.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and a league-high 7.4 assists per game. Miles has hit just 39.4 percent from the field and 28.8 percent from three-point range but has recorded a team-high 39 steals to rank among the league leaders.

Freshman David Padgett, a 6-11 center, has contributed 7.4 points and 5.2 rebounds over 18 contests while senior forward Jeff Graves has hit 57.8 percent from the field and is averaging 5.4 points and 4.3 rebounds.

Kansas is coached by Bill Self, who is in his first season guiding the Jayhawks and 11th season as a head coach. Self owns a 222-110 record as a head coach.

Series History
The Huskers and Jayhawks will be meeting for the 224th time in the series that dates back to the 1899-1900 campaign when NU handed Kansas its worst loss ever, a 40-point setback, 48-8, in Lincoln. The Jayhawks quickly turned things around and now own a 153-70 series advantage, including handing the Huskers their worst loss ever, 102-46, in Lawrence in 1958.

More recently, the Jayhawks have won nine straight over the Huskers since 1999. It is not the longest winning streak against NU, as KU has twice won 12 consecutive against the Huskers, in 1939-45 and 1950-55.

Last season, Nebraska dropped two games to the Jayhawks, but lost more than just the game in the first contest. Guard Jake Muhleisen, the Huskers' captain as a sophomore last year, saw his season come to an abrupt end just eight minutes into the Big 12 opener at Lawrence when he went in for a layup before being inadvertently knocked hard to the ground.

The result was a small fracture in the left hip socket and another in the pelvic region that forced him out of action and onto crutches until early March. Muhleisen has made a complete recovery this season, but the Huskers were not as lucky last year, falling to 3-13 in league play without their primary ball handler and team leader.

Nebraska's losing streak to the Jayhawks was nearly snapped in Lincoln twice in the past three years before KU pulled out last-minute victories. In 2001, the Huskers came back from a double-figure deficit in the second half to cut KU's lead to three points in the final minute before falling 78-74. In 2002, Nebraska staged what would have been the biggest upset in college basketball that season, as the Huskers led the No. 1-ranked Jayhawks by four points with just under two minutes remaining before Keith Langford's three-pointer in the final 40 seconds sealed an 88-87 KU victory. NU stayed close behind a three-point barrage, as the Huskers hit a school- and then-conference record 18 three-pointers in the game.