Jayhawks Topple Huskers, 78-67

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Brian Conklin scored 14 points to lead five Huskers in double figures, but Nebraska had trouble stopping Kansas' big men as the No. 21/18 Jayhawks evened the season series with a 78-67 victory at Allen Fieldhouse Wednesday.

Conklin came out firing as he hit four three-pointers in the first 13 minutes of the game, with the last one pulling Nebraska within one point, 28-27, with 7:29 to play in the opening frame. Nebraska hit seven of its first nine three-point attempts in that span, but KU broke open the game with a 16-0 run over the next seven minutes. The Huskers scored the final four points of the half in just 35 seconds to cut the lead to 43-31 at the intermission.

Kansas (19-7, 11-4 Big 12) continued its strong run in the opening minutes of the second period, scoring the first seven points of the frame on baskets from Wayne Simien and Jeff Graves and a conventional three-point play from J.R. Giddens. Simien led all scorers by finishing with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting despite coming off the bench as KU started all three of its seniors in their final home game. Graves nailed all five of his shots from the floor while helping Kansas hit 50.8 percent from the field.

Giddens' three-point play put KU ahead by 22, 53-31, but the Huskers would not go away.

Nebraska (16-10, 6-9 Big 12) used a 10-0 run fueled by Nate Johnson and Jake Muhleisen, who each scored five points over the next 1:37 to pull the Huskers within 12, 53-41. Muhleisen hit a three-pointer and added a layup, while Johnson connected on a pair of baskets and a free throw in the run.

Muhleisen finished the game with 13 points while going 5-for-9 from the field, including hitting a trio of three-pointers. Nebraksa, which came into the game as the best three-point shooting team in the conference, hit 9-of-20 (45.0 percent) from beyond the arc.

Johnson added 11 points and continued his strong play on the glass with a team-high six rebounds, although NU was outrebounded by 13, 38-25. Johnson has had at least six rebounds in five of the Huskers' last seven contests. Andrew Drevo added 12 points while John Turek pitched in 10 points and five boards off the bench.

The Huskers hit 46.9 percent from the floor and collected seven steals against KU. NU added 13 assists, including a career-high tying five assists and no turnovers by Marcus Neal Jr., but had 14 turnovers, with eight in the opening period.

Nebraska returns to action on Saturday, March 6, when it heads to Boulder, Colo., to take on the Colorado Buffaloes in the regular-season finale. The game will tip off at 3 p.m. CST and will be broadcast on ESPN Regional. The game can also be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com.

Nebraska postgame notes
** Kansas took a 154-71 lead in the series that dates back to the 1899-1900 campaign. The series is the oldest for NU against a conference opponent.

** The Huskers fell to KU in Lawrence for the 20th time in the past 21 meetings. NU and KU split the regular-season series as the Huskers won 74-55 in Lincoln.

** Guard Marcus Neal Jr. tied his career high with five assists and did not committ a turnover. Neal also had five assists against Fairleigh Dickinson at home and at Texas A&M.

** Forward Brian Conklin hit 4-of-5 three-point attempts, increasing his league-best three-point field-goal percentage to 56.0. Conklin has hit at least three three-pointers in eight contests this season. Nebraska is 6-2 in those contests.

** Guard Jake Muhleisen recorded double-figure points for the second straight game and just the fourth time in conference play. Muhleisen added 10 points Saturday against Iowa State after being held scoreless for the first time in his career last week against Texas Tech. Muhleisen was 5-of-9 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three-point range. Coming into the game, he was 0-of-13 from three-point range in his career against Kansas.

** Nebraska hit 9-of-20 three-point attempts as a team, the 11th time this season the Huskers recorded at least eight treys in a game.

** The Huskers had five double-figure scorers for the second time this season. NU last had five players with at least 10 points against St. Francis in the final non-conference game of the year.

** NU was outrebounded 38-25 in the contest, marking the third time in four games Nebraska was at a disadvantage on the glass. The 25 rebounds tied a season low, set on the road against Creighton.

Head Coach Barry Collier
On Kansas' performance:
"I thought that Kansas played a very aggressive game tonight. They (Kansas) are a very good team when they play like they did tonight. They (Kansas) were physical and aggressive, they just had the edge. I thought that Kansas was definitely more physical tonight than they were the last time we played. They passed the ball well, they posted hard to get the ball inside and they passed well to get it inside. They (Kansas) finished and they also made some tough medium shots on the turn-arounds that made it tough to guard them. They shot the ball solidly, at least in the first half, from the perimeter to make us (Nebraska) take away some help on the inside. I thought that Kansas got a really good game from (Wayne) Simien. (Jeff) Graves converted when he had opportunities and was very aggressive. (David) Padgett did a nice job splitting some time as well. They were tougher inside than we were inside. Kansas was very patient tonight. In the half-court offense they (Kansas) were very deliberate at getting the ball inside. I think that it caused us (Nebraska) to get into some foul trouble. "

On Kansas' offensive rebounds:
"It (the rebounds) gave Kansas a lot of extra possesions, but they shot the ball well, even having missed some of the time. They didn't just convert the ones they missed, but I think there was one possession where Kansas was able to get four offensive rebounds. You feel good about every step of your defense until the block out and the rebounds come. I thought that rebounding was a big problem, but turnovers were also a big problem for us tonight. I told our team (Nebraska) that we need to have a lot more guys that can get five, six or seven rebounds for us. From the perimeter we get a lot of guys get two or three rebounds, but that is not enough when they've got people dominating the inside of us, like they (Kansas) did tonight."

On the play of Nebraska:
"Kansas was packing their defense in tight inside and we got some good pentrations and kicks from the inside. We still had to correct a lot on the defensive end because we gave up 43 points in the first half. You will have a really tough time if you can't do a better job on defense."

On the start of the second half:
"Kansas scored on a three right away when we went under the screen and (J.R.) Giddens got open to hit the three. After that, Kansas went inside and scored and jumped out to a lead that they had earlier in the first half. We (Nebraska) played pretty good at the end of the first half, but then Kansas put the points right back on us."

Junior Forward John Turek
On the game:
"I think since it was Senior Night and with how we beat them (Kansas) last time, they came out with intensity and played hard. (Jeff) Graves is a great player and he made some great baskets. The crowd got into it when they (Kansas) would go on runs and we just need to make sure that they don't sustain those runs."

Junior Guard Jake Muhleisen
On the game:
"They (Kansas) played well. We (Nebraska) had a tough time scoring and they kept getting easy baskets. We shot the ball well, but we just didn't play great defense. We have to give them credit, they (Kansas) played well on offense."

On the second half:
"We wanted to come out in the second half and cut the lead into single digits. They (Kansas) came out more intense and were more physical, you have to give them credit for executing well right out of the gates."

Senior Forward Brian Conklin
On the game:
"Our shooting was a plus from the get-go and helped us build some momentum. We looked at the crowd and they (Kansas) fed off of that. They (crowd) got them (Kansas) going right away and a lot of good things happened. They just played well off of each other."

On Wayne Simien:
"He is very talented. You can see how athletic he is. He knocks down shots and plays well down low. He is good at putting himself in a position to make shots."