Huskers Drop Final Contest in Australia

Cairns, Queensland, Australia --- The Nebraska men’s basketball team dropped its final game during a two-week tour of Australia, falling to the Cairns Taipans, 104-91, on Wednesday at the Bendigo Bank Basketball Centre.

 

The Huskers, who were playing their first foreign tour since 1992, finished the six-game tour with a 3-3 record. Nebraska earned a 2-3 mark against five professional teams from the National Basketball League, and earned a win over the Australian Institute for Sport.

 

“This has been a really good trip from a basketball standpoint,” said Coach Barry Collier. “We played some physical teams, and there were some games where both teams showed a lot of physicalness. We will have to adjust back to the way it will be called back home, but it’s good to have the experience of playing six games on the road under our belt at this point in the year.

 

“We played well at times in every game, and we came away with three wins and some confidence. But at the same time, we know that we can play better once we start concentrating harder and get into great shape. We also have newcomers who will help us get better as well this year.”

 

Nebraska caught fire early in the first period against the Taipans and finished the half hitting 57.1 percent (20-of-35) from the floor. Jason Dourisseau recorded 12 points in the opening frame by nailing 5-of-7 shots from the field, while Corey Simms and Jake Muhleisen each hit all three of their shots.

 

Dourisseau scored NU’s first two points of the game on a pair of free throws and then scored six of the Huskers’ first nine points in the second frame. He finished with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting with six rebounds. It was his second 20-point contest of the trip.

 

Muhleisen finished with 17 points in the contest on 5-of-6 shooting with seven boards and two steals. Marcus Neal Jr. added 15 points and three steals while Simms recorded double-figure points for the second straight game with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting with eight boards and two steals.

 

Nebraska’s strong first-half performance did not carry over to the second frame. The Taipans countered by hitting 52.6 percent in the second period while limiting the Huskers to just 40.0 percent (14-of-35). Cairns outscored Nebraska 25-18 in the third frame and took a 27-21 advantage in the final stanza.

 

After falling behind 80-70 with 11:40 remaining in the game, the Huskers battled back to tie the game at 85-all on Muhleisen’s three-pointer at the 7:17 mark. The Taipans then went on a 19-6 run to end the game and held Nebraska without a field goal over the final four minutes.

 

“Tonight was a great lesson for us,” Collier said. “We shot the ball well in the first half and took the ball to basket for most of the game. But we also made some mistakes in the second half, particularly on defense which made it difficult for us come back.

 

“Their guys played tough, especially their guards (Nathan) Crosswell and (Anthony) Stewart. We received some good play from Jason Dourisseau again, and Jake Muhleisen bounced back from a rough night the other night. Corey Simms was just tough tonight.”

 

Crosswell finished the contest with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting while Stewart added 18 points, including for three-pointers, with eight assists for the Taipans. Marcus Timmons also added 22 points by hitting 7-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-4 from long range.

 

The Huskers start their trek back to the United States on Friday morning, when they board a bus for the airport at 4 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 20, local time. Nebraska will catch a three-hour flight to Sydney and then, after a four-hour layover, will transfer to a Boeing 747 for a flight across the Pacific Ocean. The Huskers will change planes in a short stopover in Los Angeles before heading to Chicago where they will catch a regional jet to Omaha.

 

Following the hour drive back to Lincoln, the Huskers’ return trip will have counted more than 33 hours, despite their arrival home at approximately 10:30 p.m. on the same date that they left Australia. In total, the Huskers’ two-week trip will have covered more than 15,000 miles on planes, buses and boats.

 Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Cairns 8/18/04 8:30 p.m. at Cairns, Queensland, Australia -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 3-3 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 21 SIMMS, Corey........ f 5-8 1-1 2-2 3 5 8 4 13 2 2 0 2 36 44 TUREK, John......... f 3-11 0-1 2-5 2 3 5 4 8 3 2 1 0 31 01 DOURISSEAU, Jason... g 8-16 1-2 3-6 3 3 6 4 20 1 2 0 0 38 10 NEAL, Marcus........ g 6-15 0-3 3-4 0 4 4 3 15 2 4 0 3 42 12 MUHLEISEN, Jake..... g 5-6 1-2 6-8 0 7 7 3 17 0 3 0 2 42 03 RICHARDSON, Charles. 0-1 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 6 05 STEGALL, Shuan...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 1 2 0 4 0 0 8 11 WILKINSON, Wes...... 5-10 1-2 0-0 2 2 4 1 11 1 1 0 1 22 15 SCHLIEP, Bronsen.... 1-2 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 12 45 WILBRAND, Tony...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 TEAM................ 3 2 5 Totals.............. 34-70 4-12 19-28 14 29 43 24 91 9 18 1 9 240

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% OT: 34-70 48.6% Game: 48.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% OT: 4-12 33.3% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% OT: 19-28 67.9% Game: 67.9% 5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Cairns TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 07 TIMMONS, Marcus..... f 7-11 3-4 5-8 1 6 7 1 22 4 0 4 2 42 12 THOMAS, Melvin...... f 3-10 0-0 3-4 0 2 2 4 9 1 3 1 0 28 04 CROSSWELL, Nathan... g 10-16 1-3 5-6 0 0 0 2 26 4 1 0 3 43 06 BOODNIKOFF, Gary.... g 3-8 1-5 2-2 1 6 7 4 9 2 3 0 3 37 13 STEWART, Anthony.... g 6-18 4-14 2-2 0 5 5 3 18 8 2 0 0 38 05 ROBBINS, Brad....... 2-2 0-0 2-3 1 0 1 3 6 2 2 0 0 14 09 GEORGE, Deba........ 2-5 2-5 0-0 1 0 1 2 6 2 0 0 0 12 11 CLOWRY, Brendan..... 4-4 0-0 0-1 5 1 6 4 8 1 1 0 1 26 TEAM................ 1 6 7 Totals.............. 37-74 11-31 19-26 10 26 36 23 104 24 12 5 9 240

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% OT: 37-74 50.0% Game: 50.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% OT: 11-31 35.5% Game: 35.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% OT: 19-26 73.1% Game: 73.1% 5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Vaughan Mayberry, Jim Fancher, Tom Jones Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Cairns-None. Attendance: 750 Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT OT2 Total Nebraska...................... 23 29 18 21 - 91 Cairns........................ 31 21 25 27 - 104 Australian Summer Tour game 6. Game played in four, 12-minute quarters.