Huskers Open Big 12 Tournament Against Sooners

Lincoln -- The Nebraska men's basketball team begins its run at the Big 12 Tournament against Oklahoma on Thursday, March 11, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The game will tip off at 6 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN Plus with Dave Armstrong handling play-by-play duties and Paul Splittorff adding color commentary. All of Nebraska's games at the league championship will also be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com, with Randy Lee calling the action and Matt Davison adding color analysis.

Nebraska (16-11) enters the conference tournament as the No. 10 seed after ending the regular season in a tie for ninth place in the league standings with Kansas State with 6-10 conference records. The Wildcats earned the No. 9 seed through a tiebreaker after sweeping the Huskers in head-to-head action this season.

Oklahoma, the three-time defending league tournament champion, enters the week as the No. 7 seed after finishing Big 12 play with an 8-8 mark (18-9 overall). OU was also the tourney runner-up in 2000.

NU looks to earn a split in the season series with the Sooners, as OU outlasted Nebraska, 52-50, in Lincoln on Feb. 1. The Sooners were ranked No. 25 nationally when the teams first met, one of three NU loses by four points or less against ranked teams this season.

The Huskers are 2-8 on the road this season, but Thursday's contest will mark NU's first game on a neutral court in 2003-04. Two of Nebraska's last three road games have been decided by four points or less, including a 78-75 setback at Colorado in the regular-season finale.

The winner of the NU-OU contest advances to take on No. 2 seed Texas on March 12.

Nebraska Travel Plans
The Huskers will depart Lincoln via charter airplane on Wednesday, March 10. Once in Dallas, the Huskers will practice at the American Airlines Center from 3-4 p.m. on Wednesday and will meet with media from 4-4:30 p.m. in the interview room. Coach Collier and two players will be available in the interview room while interview requests for other coaches and student-athletes should be directed to Assistant SID Jerry Trickie (cell 402-540-0269).

The American Airlines Center is located at 2500 Victory Avenue in Dallas (214-222-3687). Practice sessions at the AAC on Wednesday for the Nos. 6-11 seeds will be open to the public. Admission is free.

NU's Conference Tournament History|
Nebraska will be looking to earn its first Big 12 Tournament title when it heads to Dallas this week.

The Huskers own a 2-7 record in the conference tournament since the Big 12 was formed in 1997, but has lost its first game each of the past four seasons. NU's last victory in the league tournament came in 1999, when No. 6 seed Nebraska defeated No. 11 seed Texas Tech, 69-50, in the first round. The Huskers then fell to No. 3 seed Kansas, 77-53, in the second round.

Nebraska and Oklahoma will be meeting for the first time in Big 12 Tournament play when they face off Thursday. NU and OU met five times in Big Eight Tournament play, with Nebraska holding a 3-2 advantage.

The last time the teams met in the conference tournament came in 1994, when the Huskers defeated OU, 105-88, in the first round. Nebraska went on to win two more games and take the Big Eight Tournament title, its only conference championship since the Big Eight began postseason tournament play in 1977.

Nebraska has only faced two South Division teams in Big 12 Tournament play since 1997. The Huskers hold a 1-0 record over Texas Tech (1999) and a 1-1 mark against Baylor (1998, 2000).

Quick Season-in-Review
Coming off an 11-19 campaign, the Huskers jumped out of the gates and ran to a 10-1 non-conference record, including a perfect 9-0 mark at home. Adding in two wins at the end of last season, Nebraska's home-court win streak reached 11 games before being snapped by Colorado in the first conference home game of the season. It tied for the fourth-longest home win streak in school history.

Nebraska used strong performances on both ends of the court early in the season while defeating teams from some of the top conferences in the country. The Huskers made up for losses last season with wins over Arizona State (from the Pac-10) and South Florida (from Conference USA). Nebraska also dismantled Tennessee (from the SEC) while getting off to the program's best start since 1994-95.

League action would prove to be a bit tougher as the Huskers dropped five of their first six to open Big 12 play. Four of the five losses came after Nebraska had led or tied the game midway through the second half, including a 63-61 heartbreaker against No. 18/16 Texas in Austin and a 52-50 loss to No. 25 Oklahoma at home. Nebraska led in the last three minutes of each game, but the Longhorns and Sooners each made contested shots down the stretch to win the game.

Following a road setback against Kansas State, the Huskers looked to turn things around as they went on a three-game win streak starting with a 78-62 victory over Missouri, which had defeated the Huskers by 21 points just two weeks earlier. NU added its first conference road win in two years at Texas A&M and handed No. 12/13 Kansas a 74-55 loss before KSU dashed the Huskers' momentum with a win in Lincoln.

The Huskers bounced back from the loss by taking league champion Oklahoma State to overtime before falling 87-83 in Stillwater just three days later. NU then won its last two home games to move to 14-3 at the Devaney Center by crushing No. 25 Texas Tech, 72-44, and coming from three points down in the final 50 seconds to win 68-65 over Iowa State.

In the final week of the regular season, NU pushed a pair of tough teams on the road before falling by 11 at No. 21/18 Kansas, 78-67, and by three at Colorado, 78-75.

About the Huskers
Nebraska looks to end a two-game losing streak when it starts Big 12 Tournament play. The Huskers enter the tourney as the No. 10 seed after securing a 6-10 record in league action, a three-game improvement over last season. The mark also tied for the Huskers' second-best record in conference play since 1998-99.

Overall, the Huskers own a 16-11 record on the season, a five-game improvement in the win column over last year. The 16 wins are the most for the Huskers under Coach Barry Collier and guarantee Nebraska its first winning season since NU went 20-13 in 1998-99, also the last time NU earned a postseason berth. Nebraska went 1-1 in the NIT that year, defeating UNLV at home and falling to TCU on the road.

Much of Nebraska's success this season came from its play on the defensive end of the court. The Huskers led the league in scoring defense by allowing just 60.9 points per game through the regular season. NU also paced the conference in field-goal percentage defense by allowing opponents to hit just 39.3 percent from the floor, including 31.1 percent from three-point range. Overall, NU held its opponent to under 70 points 20 times and under 40 percent shooting 13 times.

Along with its defensive improvements, Nebraska saw solid advances on offense, where it averaged 70.1 points on 46.8 percent shooting. Nebraska's field-goal percentage ranked among the conference leaders and was its second-highest total since 1996, while its scoring average was seven points higher than last season. The Huskers hit at least 48 percent from the floor 10 times this year, and scored at least 70 points 15 times after reaching 70 points just six times in 2002-03.

Senior Nate Johnson was a consistent contributor for the Huskers again this year. The Kansas City, Kan., native led Nebraska in scoring in the regular season with 13.3 points per game while hitting 48.7 percent from the floor and 86.5 percent from the charity stripe. Johnson scored in double figures 20 times, including 14 times in 16 league games.

Along with Johnson, senior Brian Conklin was amazing in his consistency, although in a different way. Conklin averaged just 7.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, but came up big when the Huskers needed him by hitting a league-leading 56.8 percent from three-point range, including 66.7 percent (14-of-21) against nationally ranked teams. The 6-11, 240-pounder, who is on pace to crush the Big 12 and NU single-season three-point field-goal percentage records, hit at least three treys in nine games and scored double figures for the Huskers in three of the last four regular-season games.

Conklin has been proficient from long range no matter where the Huskers are playing. At home, he has hit 53.9 percent (41-of-76), while on the road, Conklin has connected on 58.3 percent (21-of-36). Overall, the Huskers have played well away from Lincoln by averaging 68.6 points per game on 45.7 percent shooting. NU has hit 35.8 percent from outside the arc and 74.3 percent at the free throw line away from the Devaney Center.

Who's Hot?
*- Guard Nate Johnson led the Huskers down the stretch, averaging 16.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game over the past five contests. Johnson hit 50.9 percent from the field in that span, including 59.1 percent (26-of-44) inside the arc, and has converted on 87.0 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe.

Johnson recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds in a 72-44 thumping of No. 25 Texas Tech. He added a second straight double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds in NU's exciting 68-65 victory over Iowa State Feb. 28.

Johnson leads Nebraska with 13.3 points per game in 2003-04, while hitting 48.7 percent from the floor. He ranks third in the league in free throw percentage (86.5) and fifth in three-point field-goal (43.3) percentage, while ranking 15th in field-goal percentage (48.7).

Johnson was the only player to finish the regular season ranked in the top 15 in the league in field-goal percentage, free throw percentage and three-point field-goal percentage.

*-  Forward Brian Conklin is on pace to shatter the Big 12 Conference and Nebraska school records for three-point field-goal percentage by hitting 56.8 percent (54-of-95) from beyond the arc this season, including 61.7 percent (37-of-60) in league-only games. Only one player in league history (Kirk Hinrich, Kansas; 50.5 percent, 2000-01) has topped 50 percent beyond the arc for a whole season.

Over the past nine games, Conklin has hit 63.9 percent (23-of-36) from three-point range. At one point, Conklin connected on 13 straight three-point attempts over four home games from Jan. 21 to Feb. 15, including 2-for-2 against Oklahoma on Feb. 1.

*- Junior forward John Turek ended the regular season in high style by grabbing his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds at Colorado. The 6-9, 240-pounder had 11 points and eight boards in the first period before being strapped with foul trouble midway through the second frame.

It was Turek's first double-double since the season opener, when he had a career-high 24 points to go with a season-high 13 rebounds against Fairleigh Dickinson. It was Turek's fifth career double-double, and the third in four games for the Huskers, as Nate Johnson recorded double-doubles against No. 25 Texas Tech and Iowa State.

Turek ranks third on the team with 9.5 points per game and leads the squad with 5.8 rebounds. He also paces NU with 37 blocked shots and 109 free throw attempts. Turek's improvement at the free throw line has been amazing, as he hit 72.5 percent from the foul line in the regular season after entering the year a career 41.9 percent free throw shooter. He made more free throws this season than his first two years combined (62).

*- Nebraska's three-point defense has been outstanding the past eight games, as the Huskers have held opponents to just 29.5 percent shooting (33-of-112) from outside the arc. Only three teams have hit better than 30 percent in that stretch.

On the season, Nebraska ranked second in the Big 12 in three-point field-goal percentage defense by allowing just 31.1 percent. NU held opponents to below 30 percent from downtown 12 times this year, including four times under 15.0 percent.

Scouting the Sooners
Nebraska enters the Big 12 Tournament facing an Oklahoma squad that finished the regular season with an 18-9 overall mark. The Sooners were 8-8 in league play and finished the year in seventh place in the league standings to earn the No. 7 seed in the tournament. OU won its final two games of the regular season to get back to .500 in the league after a four-game losing streak. Before the losing streak, the Sooners had won five of six games.

Oklahoma had not been lower than the No. 3 seed in the past four years in the Big 12 Tournament, where it has reached the title game each season. OU won the past three conference championships ? and 11 of its last 12 league tourney games ? to rank second in the league behind Kansas for Big 12 Tournament titles.

The Sooners have struggled on offense at times this season and are averaging just 67.0 points per game on 41.0 percent shooting from the floor. OU is last in the league in three-point shooting by connecting on just 33.5 percent from beyond the arc.

OU is led by senior Jason Detrick, who averaged 11.4 points per game in the regular season. Detrick hit 40.7 percent from the field and 78.3 percent from the charity stripe, but nailed just 21.1 percent of his three-point attempts.

Along with Detrick, guard Drew Lavender was the only other Sooner to average double figures with 11.3 points per game. One of the top freshmen in the conference, Lavender added 106 assists to pace OU, but hit just 36.7 percent from the field. He is the Sooners' top three-point threat after collecting 48 threes on 39.4 percent shooting.

The Sooners are coached by Kelvin Sampson, who is in his ninth season at OU and 21st season as a head coach. Sampson owns a 408-238 career record and a 232-90 mark with the Sooners. He owns a 9-3 mark against the Huskers.

The winner of the NU-OU matchup will move to Friday's second round with a contest against No. 2 seed Texas at 6 p.m. Texas defeated the Huskers, 63-61, in Austin in their only meeting this season.

Series History
When Nebraska begins Big 12 Tournament play, the Huskers and Sooners will be meeting for the 179th time in the series that began in 1921 with OU holding a 100-78 advantage.

Oklahoma has taken control of the series since the early 1990s, as it has won 15 of the past 21 meetings since 1992. The teams played twice in the Big Eight Tournament during that span, with each team taking a victory. More recently, the Sooners have won five straight over the Huskers with NU's last win coming in a 96-81 victory in Norman in 1999.

In the first meeting earlier this year, the Huskers rallied from a huge deficit to nearly stun the Sooners in Lincoln. Nebraska fell behind by 18 points in the first-half as it missed 14 of its first 16 shots, and trailed by 15 at the intermission before storming back behind a tremendous defensive effort. NU held the No. 25-ranked Sooners without a point for a span of 10:18 in the second period, and used a 15-0 run to take the lead with less than three minutes remaining in the game.

Lawrence McKenzie and Jabahri Brown hit a pair of clutch shots for OU in the final two minutes to seal a 52-50 OU win. Jake Muhleisen led Nebraska with 11 points while Brian Conklin had 10. It was one of NU's three losses to a ranked team by four points or less this season. (See page 16 for NU career stats vs. Oklahoma, and page 28 for full box score).