Huskers Fall at Colorado, 78-75

Boulder, Colo. -- Senior Brian Conklin hit his third three-pointer of the game with 20 seconds remaining and tied the contest at 75-all, but Colorado hit three free throws down the stretch and hung on for a 78-75 victory over Nebraska at the Coors Events and Convention Center Saturday.

Nebraska trailed by five, 73-68, with 3:15 to play before the Huskers made a charge.

Andrew Drevo and Jake Muhleisen each hit a pair of free throws to cut into the CU lead before David Harrison's basket with 1:48 to play put the Buffaloes ahead by three, 75-72. After Drevo's three-point attempt came up short, the Buffs looked to extend the lead, but Michel Morandais missed a jumper and Marcus Hall was fouled after Colorado picked up the offensive board. Hall then missed both free throws, setting up Conklin's game-tying shot.

Colorado looked to win the game at the end, as Blair Wilson drove into the paint. Wilson was fouled on the play and the senior hit the first free throw and missed the second, which was rebounded by CU's Lamar Harris. Harris missed the first of two free throws after being fouled but put Colorado ahead by two, 77-75, before NU turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play. Harris then capped the scoring by hitting one of two free throws with two seconds remaining as the Buffs improved to 7-1 at home in league play.

Harris finished with a game-high 13 rebounds, including a pair of offensive boards in the final minute. CU outrebounded the Huskers 41-38 on the game, as Morandais added eight boards while Harrison picked up seven rebounds. Harrison led all scorers with 24 points while Morandais added 23. Harrison, who leads the Big 12 in field-goal percentage, hit 10-of-12 shots from the floor and added two assists and two blocks.

The frantic finish was set up as the Huskers rallied midway through the period. CU opened a nine-point lead, 49-40, with 13:33 to play, but the Huskers would not go away. NU cut the lead to five and the Buffs increased the lead back to eight points with less than 10 minutes to play.

Nebraska then used an 11-3 run over the next three minutes to tie the score at 61-all. Corey Simms started the run with a three-pointer, just his second of the season, and Jason Dourisseau added a layup before Wilson's three-pointer put the Buffs' lead at 61-55. Simms then added a conventional three-point play before Conklin's three-pointer tied the score. Simms finished with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting, all in the second half, while Conklin had 11 points and tied his season high with seven rebounds.

John Turek led all Huskers with his second double-double of the season, pitching in 19 points and 11 rebounds. He hit 5-of-13 from the field and 9-of-12 from the free throw line. Turek missed his first two attempts from the charity stripe before hitting nine of 10 the rest of the game.

Turek kept NU in the contest in the first half, recording eight of NU's nine points during one stretch. He finished the opening frame with 11 points and eight rebounds, both above his season averages.

Along with Turek, Neal helped pull the Huskers within five, 33-28, at the break. Nebraska trailed 22-14 with 6:19 left in the first period before Neal started a 7-0 run with a layup and three-pointer. Nate Johnson, who finished with 13 points, added a layup to pull NU within one, 22-21, with 4:31 left before intermission.

With NU leading 28-25 on a Conklin jumper at the 2:01 mark, Morandais took over the rest of half, hitting a pair of free throws and two treys for an 8-0 run to give the Buffaloes the advantage at the break.

Nebraska returns to action on Thursday, March 11, at the Big 12 Tournament in Dallas. The Huskers will be the No. 10 seed and face No. 7-seed Oklahoma at 6 p.m. at the American Airlines Center. The game can be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com, and will be seen on ESPN Plus.

Nebraska Head Coach Barry Collier
GENERAL: "We just ran out of time at the end, and we tried to come down the stretch with more possessions by putting the right guy on the line as much as possible. I think rebounds and missing shots were a critical problem. (Michel) Morandais and (David) Harrison had a great game. Harrison dominated on the inside, and Morandais came out in the first half on a roll with shooting, which put Colorado in good shape."

ON JOHN TUREK'S FOUL TROUBLE: "John played a lot of minutes, and had foul trouble throughout most of the game. We didn’t lose him until late, and we needed to finish strong, but it didn’t happen. I thought he (Turek) had a good game, and rebounded the ball well, but we didn’t have an answer for (David) Harrison on the other end of the court."

ON NCAA TOURNAMENT BID: "I think it is possible if we play a little bit better. We tried to keep the season alive for the NCAA run, and we may have a shot. It happens every year, and somebody has to do it so it may as well be us."

Colorado Head Coach Ricardo Patton
GENERAL: "That was a great ball game. I think all the fans got their money’s worth. We knew coming into the game that Nebraska would come in and play hard. They’re a very good team, and I told you that when we beat them there. We were fortunate to win that one (on the road). The guys hung in there and we were fortunate to squeak out the win.

ON THE KEY TO VICTORY: "Having the lead late and then getting a couple of key stops and the rebound that Lamar got off the free throw. That (rebound) was huge because they have so many people who can shoot it, you’re at their mercy if they get it.

ON NCAA HOPES: "I just believe that there’s no doubt about it when you finish No 4 in the Big 12, unless they only take three teams, we’re going to be in.  Anything is possible, but we’ve done what we can to put ourselves in position."

ON IMPROVEMENT THROUGH THE SEASON: "Sometimes we look alright and sometimes we don’t. This is a group that I think got better. You look at the losses against Richmond and Utah and our only league loss here against Kansas and I think we’ve gotten better. That was a time when some in the media, and the fans wrote us off after we lost three straight here. We didn’t write ourselves off though."

ON BLAIR’S SECOND-CHANCE THREE: "I thought he had a better chance of hitting it because he was wide-open. On the other shots he took there was always a defender to the side of him or putting extra pressure on his shot and it makes you a little tentative. I was glad to see David (Harrison) get it back out. When he has a wide-open shot, he’s pretty good."