Huskers Head to Hawaii for NIT Second Round

The Matchup
Who: Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (20-11) vs. Nebraska Huskers (18-12)
When: Monday, March 22, 10 p.m. (CST)
Where: Stan Sheriff Center (10,300)
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network (Randy Lee, play-by-play; Matt Davison, color analyst)
TV: OC16 (Hawaii)
Internet: Huskers.com (live radio)
Series: Hawaii leads 4-2
Coaches: Nebraska ? Barry Collier (252-194)
Hawaii ? Riley Wallace (336-277)

Huskers Head to Hawaii for NIT Second Round
Fresh off a victory over Niagara on Friday, March 19, the Nebraska men's basketball team will hit the road Sunday and head to Hawaii where the Huskers will take on the Rainbow Warriors on Monday, March 22 in an NIT second-round game.

The contest will tip off at 10 p.m. CST at the Stan Sheriff Center and can be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com, with Randy Lee calling the action and Matt Davison adding color analysis. The game will be broadcast on Oceanic Cable 16 in Hawaii.

Nebraska will head to Hawaii for the first time since 1997, when the Huskers went 1-2 at the Rainbow Classic. NU defeated Virginia, 80-65, in its first contest on the island and then dropped an 87-62 matchup with the Rainbow Warriors before an 80-69 setback against Vanderbilt.

The Huskers will playing their third NIT game in seven days when NU faces off against Hawaii. Nebraska has played several games in a short turnaround this season, including a stretch of four games in eight days between Dec. 3-10. Nebraska went 3-1 in those contests, including a 66-60 victory over Arizona State.

Nebraska will be looking for its second road victory in the 2004 NIT. The Huskers defeated Creighton, 71-70, in Omaha on Tuesday, March 16, in their first postseason tournament game since 1998. On the season, Nebraska is 3-9 in contests away from Lincoln, but holds a 2-1 road record this year against non-conference opponents.

The winner of Monday's Nebraska-Hawaii contest advances to take on either Michigan or Oklahoma in the NIT quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 24. The game is tentatively scheduled for 8 p.m. CST and the site has not been announced.

Nebraska's Travel Plans
The Huskers will make a quick turnaround after Friday's win over Niagara, as Nebraska heads to Hawaii to face the Rainbow Warriors on Monday, March 22. The Huskers will leave Omaha at 8:15 a.m. on Sunday, March 21, via commercial airline. Nebraska first heads to Minneapolis and following a short layover, it will then make approximately an eight-hour trip directly to Honolulu. The Huskers are scheduled to arrive in Hawaii at 4:15 HST (8:15 CST) Sunday.

Following the contest against the 'Bows, Nebraska will depart Hawaii on the morning of Tuesday, March 23. With a win Monday night, the Huskers will travel directly to the site of their next NIT contest, which is still to be determined. The winner of the Hawaii-Nebraska matchup will face either Michigan or Oklahoma on Wednesday, March 24.

Nebraska will stay at the Marriott Waikiki Beach Hotel during its short trip to Hawaii. All interview requests for coaches and players must be made through Assistant SID Jerry Trickie. He can be reached by cell phone at 402-540-0269 or at the hotel at 808-922-6611.

Nebraska's Postseason Tournament History
Nebraska earned its 19th postseason tournament berth in school history when the 40-team field for the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) was announced on Sunday, March 14. The postseason bid is Nebraska's first since 1998-99, when the Huskers went 20-13 on the year, including 1-1 in the NIT.

The Huskers made the most of their first postseason appearance under Coach Barry Collier by knocking off host Creighton, 71-70, Tuesday, March 16, in Omaha. The Huskers trailed in the opening-round game by nine points, 65-56, with less than five minutes left, but forced the Bluejays to miss their final eight field-goal attempts to pull out Nebraska's 10th straight victory in its opening game of the NIT.

In the Huskers' first-round contest against Niagara, Nebraska got off to a solid start and led by seven at the intermission before holding off the Purple Eagles for a 78-70 victory. Nebraska connected on 12 straight free throws in the final 57 seconds of the contest to seal the victory.

Overall, the Huskers own a 22-11 record in 13 NIT appearances. The Huskers' first official postseason berth was secured in 1966-67, when the Huskers went 16-8 in the regular season and earned a bye in the first round to reach the NIT quarterfinals. NU then lost to Marshall, 119-88.

It was another decade before the Huskers returned to the postseason, where they won their first-ever postseason game with an exciting 67-66 victory over Utah State in the first round of the 1978 NIT. Since then, Nebraska has won 11 of 12 contests to open the NIT.

The Huskers made their first serious run at an NIT title in 1983, when Nebraska won three straight games to advance to the semifinals before falling to DePaul, 68-58, in Madison Square Garden. It was the first of five straight postseason appearances for the Huskers, including their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1986. In the final season of that stretch, 1987, Husker fans were treated to another semifinal appearance in the NIT, where Nebraska fell to Southern Mississippi, 82-75. NU rebounded two days later to win the third-place game over Arkansas-Little Rock, 76-67, in overtime.

After reaching the second round of the NIT in 1989, the Huskers reeled off a school-record four straight NCAA Tournament appearances between 1991 and 1994. The Huskers secured their sixth and most recent NCAA bid in 1998, when the Huskers fell to Arkansas, 74-65, in the first round. Overall Nebraska is 0-6 in NCAA Tournament play.

Nebraska picked up its only postseason basketball championship in 1996, when the Huskers won five consecutive games to take the NIT crown. NU defeated Colorado State (91-83), Washington State (82-73), Fresno State (83-71), Tulane (90-78) and St. Joseph's (60-56) en route to the title. The Huskers finished the 1996 campaign with a 21-14 record, including losing nine of their last 10 regular-season games and their first-round contest in the Big Eight Tournament before rolling to the NIT championship.

The Huskers advanced to the third round of the NIT the following year and made their last postseason appearance in the 1999 NIT, when NU defeated UNLV, 68-55, at home and fell to TCU, 101-89, on the road.

Quick Season-in-Review
Coming off an 11-19 campaign, the Huskers jumped out of the gate 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 11th-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 proved to be a bit tougher as the Huskers dropped six of their first seven to open Big 12 play. Five of the six 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 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. NU dropped its first-round contest in the Big 12 Tournament against Oklahoma, 63-59, after leading by 13 at halftime.

Nebraska then learned it had picked up its first postseason bid since 1998-99, where it posted a 71-70 come-from-behind victory over Creighton in the opening round of the NIT on Tuesday, March 16. The Huskers picked up their second straight postseason win with a 78-70 victory over Niagara at the Devaney Center on Friday, March 19.

About the Huskers
Nebraska continues play in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) with a second-round matchup against Hawaii of the Western Athletic Conference on Monday, March 22, in Honolulu.

The Huskers began postseason play with an opening-round victory over instate rival Creighton, 71-70, in Omaha, March 16. The win snapped a three-game Husker losing streak and a five-game losing streak against the Bluejays. The win over Creighton extended NU's winning streak in its first contest of the NIT (opening round and first round action) to 10 games while NU improved to 2-6 in contests decided by five points or less this season.

Nebraska picked up its second consecutive NIT win with a 78-70 victory over Niagara on Friday, March 19, in Lincoln. The victory helped the Huskers improve to 14-1 at home in National Invitation Tournament games, and gave NU at least two NIT victories in one season for the fifth time in program history (also 1983, 1987, 1996 and 1997). NU owns a 4-5 record in NIT second-round contests.

Nebraska is one of three Big 12 Conference teams to reach the second round of the 2004 NIT along with Iowa State and Oklahoma. Iowa State plays Florida State on Tuesday, March 23 in Tallahassee while Oklahoma plays at Michigan on Monday, March 22. The winner of the Oklahoma-Michigan matchup will face the winner of the Nebraska-Hawaii contest on Wednesday, March 24, with the site still to be determined.

Nebraska has won 18 games this season, the most since picking up 20 victories in 1998-99. It is a seven-game improvement in the win column over last season (11-19) and guarantees Nebraska its first winning season under Coach Barry Collier. Collier, a 15-year veteran head coach, has led his teams to four NIT appearances and three NCAA Tournament bids. Collier now owns a 4-3 record in the National Invitation Tournament.

Nebraska has found much of its success this season behind a solid defensive effort that ranks among the best in the conference in 2003-04 and among the best at NU in at least two decades. NU has allowed just 62.2 points per game this season while giving up more than 70 points only seven times in 30 games. It is NU's lowest scoring defense since 1984 when NU allowed 61.6 ppg, and just the second time since then that the Huskers have held opponents to less than 65 points per game.

NU has allowed opponents to hit just 39.4 percent from the floor this season, including 32.1 percent from three-point range. The Huskers have not held foes to less than 40.0 percent shooting for a whole season since 1961 when opponents hit just 36.7 percent.

Non-conference foes have been less successful. Nebraska is 12-1 against non-league teams in 2003-04 while allowing just 55.7 points per game on 35.6 percent shooting. Non-Big 12 opponents have hit just 27.4 percent from three-point range against the Huskers this season while only Creighton and Niagara have scored more than 65 points. Nebraska has held non-conference opponents to less than 60 points six times this season at the Devaney Center, including a building record-low 26 points by Bethune-Cookman in a 44-point NU victory on Dec. 20.

Offensively the Huskers have hit 46.3 percent from the field to rank third in the conference while averaging 70.0 points per game. Nebraska ranks among the Big 12 leaders by hitting at a school-record pace from beyond the arc, where NU has connected on 38.7 percent. It is just the third time in the past seven years that Nebraska has averaged at least 70 points per game and the first time in four years that NU has hit at least 40 percent from the field.

Who's Hot?
*- Junior forward John Turek continued his strong late-season surge by pitching in a team-high tying 17 points with an NU-best eight rebounds in a 78-70 win over Niagara on Friday. The Council Bluffs, Iowa, native hit 6-of-11 shots from the field and 5-of-7 attempts from the charity stripe. He posted the solid numbers in just 24 minutes of action after being strapped with his fourth foul midway through the second period.

Turek leads Nebraska with 5.9 rebounds per game and is third on the team with 9.7 points per contest this season. He is one of six Huskers hitting better than 45 percent from the field this season and ranks sixth on the team by hitting 70.2 percent (87-of-124) from the free throw line. Turek came into the season hitting 41.9 percent from the foul line in his first two seasons, and has made more free throws this year than the past two years combined.

*- Senior forward Conklin has been nearly unstoppable from three-point range this season, and has helped the Huskers even more lately by stepping up his play on the boards. Over the past six games, Conklin has averaged 6.0 rebounds per contest, nearly double his season average of 3.8 boards per game. He recorded a season-high eight rebounds against Creighton in the opening round of the NIT.

From long range, the 6-11, 240-pounder has given opponents nightmares by hitting 56.6 percent (60-of-106) from beyond the arc while averaging 7.5 points per game. Since being inserted into the starting lineup 13 games ago, Conklin has hit 57.8 percent (30-of-52) from three-point range while averaging 8.5 points per game to rank fourth on the squad.

*- Sophomore Jason Dourisseau has continued to show improvement throughout the season and came up big Friday against Niagara when he produced nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and three rebounds off the bench. Dourisseau added a blocked shot which he picked up after making a bad pass and then getting back on defense to prevent an easy layup.

*- Senior forward Andrew Drevo broke out of a late-season slump in a big way in NU's opening-round NIT contest at Creighton. The 6-8, 250-pounder from Lincoln picked up his team-leading fourth 20-point contest and just missed a double-double with 20 points and nine boards, both team highs.

Against Niagara, Drevo had nine points, three rebounds and two assists without a turnover. In the past two games he has hit 12-of-24 shots from the floor while averaging 14.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.

Drevo ranks second on the squad in scoring (11.0 ppg), three-pointers (32), blocks (22) and steals (28) and third in rebounding (4.4 rpg) and assists (53). He has hit 45.7 percent from the floor and 76.3 percent from the charity stripe while starting 26 games.

Scouting the Rainbow Warriors
Hawaii enters the second-round NIT matchup with the Huskers with a 20-11 overall record, including an impressive 13-3 mark at home. The Rainbow Warriors are 6-1 at home against non-conference opponents this season with their only loss coming in a 57-51 setback in the season opener against UC Santa Barbara.

The 'Bows struggled down the stretch, winning just two of their last eight contests before knocking off No. 25 Utah State, 85-74, on the road in the first round of the NIT last Wednesday. The win was Hawaii's first-ever against a ranked opponent on the road.

All six of the late-season losses came on the road. Hawaii's last home loss came in conference play, when UH fell to Louisiana Tech, 62-61, on Feb. 12.

The Rainbow Warriors are led by senior guard Michael Kuebler, who is averaging 18.3 points per game on 45.2 percent shooting. Kuebler has hit 91 three-pointers this season while connecting on 40.3 percent of his shots from outside the arc, and adds 3.4 rebounds per game.

Along with Kuebler, sophomore Julian Sensley is one of the most versatile players in the country. Sensley averages 12.2 points per contest while adding a team-high 7.5 rebounds. He is second on the squad with 105 assists and 30 blocked shots and paces the 'Bows with 42 steals.

Forward Phil Martin ranks third on the squad with 9.7 points per contest and is one of two Rainbow Warriors (along with forward Jeff Blackett) hitting better than 80 percent from the charity stripe. Center Haim Shimonovich adds 7.0 points and 6.7 rebounds while pacing the 'Bows with 36 blocked shots, while guard Logan Lee leads Hawaii with 111 assists and is fourth on the team with 18 three-pointers.

Hawaii has averaged 70.4 points per game this season on 46.0 percent shooting, but has allowed opponents to gain 65.9 points while hitting 42.7 percent from the field. Hawaii has also holds a slim rebounding disadvantage (-0.2, 34.2-34.4) but has averaged 16.3 assists per game while allowing only 11.4. The 'Bows are also a solid free-throw shooting team by hitting 72.6 percent at the line this season.

The Rainbow Warriors are coached by Riley Wallace (Centenary, 1963), who is in his 17th season at Hawaii. He owns a 336-277 career record including a 321-250 mark at Hawaii.

Hawaii

Team Comparison

Nebraska

70.4

Points per game

70.0

+4.5

Scoring margin

+7.9

46.0

Field goal percentage

46.3

34.6

3-pt. field goal percentage

38.7

5.8

3-pt. field goal made per game

6.7

72.6

Free throw percentage

72.3

34.2

Rebounds per game

36.4

-0.2

Rebound margin

+4.2

16.3

Assists per game

14.2

13.4

Turnovers per game

13.5

6.4

Steals per game

6.1

3.3

Blocks per game

4.0

Series History
Nebraska and Hawaii will be meeting for the seventh time in series history and just the second time since 1979. Hawaii holds a 4-2 head-to-head advantage.

In the last matchup in 1997, Hawaii hit 50.0 percent from the field and 91.3 percent from the free throw line to outdistance the Huskers, 87-62, in the semifinals of the Rainbow Classic. Tyronn Lue led the Husker attack with 17 points and four assists while Larry Florence added 14 points and five rebounds.

Overall, the Huskers have dropped the last two contests against Hawaii after winning a pair of games in 1976. NU defeated Hawaii, 64-59, on Dec. 2 of that year and then came back one night later to win 60-59. Nebraska and Hawaii also played a pair of contests in 1967, with NU losing 82-74 on Dec. 11 and 86-72 on Dec. 13.

The Huskers have played current Western Athletic Conference opponents 24 times and hold a slim 13-11 advantage.