Huskers Surge Past Hawks, 103-97

Wollongong, NSW, Australia --- The Nebraska men’s basketball team evened its summer record with a 103-97 victory over the Wollongong Hawks Saturday at the Snakepit.

Wes Wilkinson and John Turek each recorded double-doubles to lead the Huskers, who were playing their fourth game in five days. The win was NU's second straight and improved the Huskers to 2-2 on the first leg of their two-week Australian tour.

"Overall our defense was much better than the previous games, as we were contesting more shots, although we still gave away too many offensive rebounds," said Coach Barry Collier. "To score as many points as we did was a good sign, but it was our better defensive effort that gave us a chance to win."

The Huskers held the Hawks to just seven field goals in the fourth period, including only three over the final seven minutes. Nebraska grabbed a 32-23 scoring edge in the fourth, as Wollongong finished the game hitting just 30.7 percent (27-of-88) from the floor and 28.2 percent (11-of-39) from three-point range.

Nebraska trailed 85-81 with 7:15 remaining in the contest before clamping down on defense during the stretch. NU went on an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to gain a commanding 92-85 lead that it would not relinquish.

Turek started the run with a traditional three-point play, and Bronsen Schliep put the Huskers ahead for good with a basket with 6:18 remaining. Schliep added a pair of steals and another basket during the surge before finishing with 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. Turek recorded his third straight double-double with 16 points and 11 boards.

Collier also noted that Wes Wilkinson and Jason Dourisseau also continued their strong play for the Huskers. The pair combined for 40 points and 19 rebounds, helping Nebraska outrebound the Hawks by one, 63-62.

Wilkinson added a basket and a pair of free throws in the final five minutes to hold off the Hawks, who finished second last year in the National Basketball League (NBL), Australia’s top professional league. He finished with his first double-double of the trip, as he scored a team-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor with a team-high 13 rebounds.

Dourisseau matched Wilkinson with a team-high 20 points by hitting 8-of-15 field-goal attempts and added six boards before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Dourisseau, Turek and Corey Simms each reached the maxium of six fouls, as Nebraska was called for 33 personal fouls on the night. The Hawks went to the free throw line 50 times, where they made 32 attempts. Nebraska went to the line 40 times and made 27.

"Wollongong was aggressive and got to the free throw line, which helped them hold the lead for so long," Collier said. "We finally stopped fouling as much in the fourth quarter and made adjustments, which in this case was a good thing. Some things will not necessarily correlate to playing in the Big 12 because fouls are called differently here, but learning to make adjustments on the road carries over everywhere."

Jake Muhleisen hit 5-of-8 attempts from the field to finish with 11 points while adding seven assists, five rebounds and four steals. Muhleisen and the Huskers combined to hit 42.9 percent (36-of-84) from the floor, but drained just 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Huskers struggled early in the contest as Wollongong raced out to a quick 6-1 lead the first two minutes before pulling away for a 22-15 advantage at the end of the first period. Wilkinson then scored 13 points in the second frame to help Nebraska climb within two at the intermission, 48-46.

The Huskers will use Sunday as a travel day, heading more than three hours north by plane to Cairns. Nebraska then returns to action on Monday, Aug. 16, when it plays the Cairns Taipans in the first of two meetings next week. NU and Cairns also square off on Wednesday, Aug. 16 in the Huskers’ final contest of its six-game, two-week Australian Summer Tour.

 Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Wollongong 8/14/04 6:30 p.m. at Wollongong, NSW, Australia -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 05 STEGALL, Shuan...... f 2-4 0-0 1-2 2 2 4 1 5 0 0 0 0 9 11 WILKINSON, Wes...... f 8-13 2-4 2-2 1 11 12 2 20 1 1 2 0 31 44 TUREK, John......... f 5-15 1-2 5-5 5 7 12 6 16 1 3 1 2 31 10 NEAL, Marcus........ g 4-16 1-9 5-9 0 3 3 3 14 3 3 0 0 39 12 MUHLEISEN, Jake..... g 5-8 0-1 1-2 0 3 3 4 11 5 4 0 5 34 01 DOURISSEAU, Jason... 8-14 0-3 4-6 1 6 7 6 20 0 1 0 0 27 03 RICHARDSON, Charles. 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 11 15 SCHLIEP, Bronsen.... 2-7 0-0 7-10 4 5 9 4 11 3 2 1 2 27 21 SIMMS, Corey........ 2-4 0-1 2-4 4 1 5 6 6 1 0 0 0 23 45 WILBRAND, Tony...... 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 TEAM................ 2 2 4 Totals.............. 36-85 4-20 27-40 19 41 60 33 103 16 14 4 9 240

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% OT: 36-85 42.4% Game: 42.4% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% OT: 4-20 20.0% Game: 20.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% OT: 27-40 67.5% Game: 67.5% 5,3

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Wollongong TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 09 RICE, Andrew........ f 4-11 1-2 5-6 6 10 16 6 14 2 2 0 0 43 21 JACKSON, Daniel..... f 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 05 CAPCORN, Adam....... g 4-17 0-6 6-9 3 2 5 3 14 4 3 1 3 41 13 MEE, Darnell........ g 5-17 2-10 10-15 1 10 11 5 22 9 6 0 2 45 32 CAMPBELL, Matthew... g 8-24 4-12 5-7 5 2 7 1 25 1 2 0 1 44 11 DOWSON, Luke........ 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 24 PILON, Troy......... 3-10 3-6 4-8 3 6 9 3 13 1 2 0 2 41 44 KELLY, Mike......... 3-9 1-3 0-3 2 1 3 6 7 3 0 0 1 24 TEAM................ 6 7 13 Totals.............. 27-88 11-39 32-50 26 38 64 24 97 20 15 1 9 240

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% OT: 27-88 30.7% Game: 30.7% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% OT: 11-39 28.2% Game: 28.2% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% OT: 32-50 64.0% Game: 64.0% 9

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Kevin Marsh, Brad Giesh, Steve Russell Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Wollongong-None. Attendance: 178 Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT OT2 Total Nebraska...................... 15 31 25 32 - 103 Wollongong.................... 22 26 26 23 - 97 Australian Summer Tour game 4. Game was played in four, 12-minute quarters.