Huskers Set for Final Tune-up

The Nebraska men's basketball team ends its exhibition season Saturday, Nov. 13, when the Huskers play host to in-state foe Nebraska-Kearney at the Devaney Center. The game will tip off at 2:05 p.m. and there will be no network radio coverage, although live updates will be provided on the Pinnacle Sports Network during the football pregame show. The tune-up will be the Huskers' final game in preparation for the regular-season opener on Nov. 23 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, when the Huskers begin their 109th season of basketball.

Nebraska looks to go 2-0 in exhibition play for the fourth straight season and the 14th time since 1989-90. Following NU's 89-48 win over Monterrey Tech on Monday, the Huskers enter this weekend's matchup with a 38-5 all-time record in exhibition play and are riding an eight-game exhibition win streak dating back to the 2000-01 campaign.

The Huskers and Lopers are matching up in exhibition play for the second time in four years. NU earned a hard-fought 58-55 victory over UNK in 2001. Nebraska seniors Jake Muhleisen, John Turek and Corey Simms played in the contest, while UNK does not have a player on its roster who faced the Huskers in that game.

Meeting the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers
The Lopers head to Lincoln looking to improve to 2-0 in the exhibition season after dismantling Dreambuilders, 137-79, on Nov. 6. UNK had all five starters ? and seven players total ? score double figures, including Will Taukiuvea and Dusty Jura with 25 points apiece. Jura added 11 rebounds and seven steals while Taukiuvea had six assists without a turnover and four rebounds.

The Lopers hit 59.6 percent from the floor, including 66.7 percent in the first half when they ran to a 68-35 lead at the intermission. UNK added a 63-29 advantage on the glass.

Nebraska-Kearney is looking to replace three starters from last season's 28-5 squad that reached the NCAA Division II Tournament for the third straight season. The biggest loss was Division II Player of the Year Nick Branting, who averaged 22.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Also gone are guard Brian Dunagan (13.5 ppg and 3.9 apg) and point guard Chad Sheffield, who ranked second in school history in assists (459).

Taukiuvea is the Lopers' leading returning scorer after averaging 15.5 points per game last season. Jura is UNK's other returning double-figure scorer after gaining 14.0 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game in 2003-04.

UNK, which owns a 104-20 record over the past four seasons, is coached by Tom Kropp, who is in his 15th season. Kropp owns a 303-113 career record.

The Last Time We Met (Nov. 6, 2001 ? exhibition)
Lincoln --- Brennon Clemmons scored a game-high 19 points, while Cary Cochran's two free throws with 1.9 seconds remaining preserved Nebraska's 58-55 exhibition win over in-state foe Nebraska-Kearney in front of 6,562 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Clemmons was 6-of-10 from the floor and added a game-high four steals in just 14 minutes of action to lead three Huskers in double figures. Jake Muhleisen finished with 12 points, while Cochran added 11 in the win.

Nebraska's defense held UNK to 31.3 percent from the floor, and poor free throw shooting hurt the Lopers down the stretch. Trailing 56-55 with 3.5 second remaining, Brian Dunagan went to the line for a 1-and-1, but missed the first attempt. Cochran pulled down the rebound before being fouled and then hit both free throws, the only points he scored in the second half, to give NU a three-point lead. Nebraska-Kearney missed all seven shots from the charity stripe in the second half and was 5-for-15 for the game.

UNK had a final chance to send the game into overtime, but Anthony Harms' shot from beyond half court was off the mark. Harms finished with 11 points, while Dunagan connected on four 3-pointers to finish with a team-high 12 points for the Lopers.

Nebraska, which converted 16-of-23 from the line, took the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Muhleisen with 1:03 remaining in regulation. The Lincoln Southeast product added four rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes.

After a slow start, the Huskers seemingly took control of the contest with a 20-5 run midway through the first half to erase an early Loper advantage. Clemmons sparked the Husker run, scoring eight of his 11 first-half points in the spurt while adding four steals as the Huskers led by as many as 11 and took a 39-29 lead into the locker room.

After intermission, UNK used a quick 9-0 run to close to within 39-38 on Mike Gitt's basket with nearly 18 minutes remaining. Gitt's bucket would be the last points scored over the next six minutes. UNK missed 11 straight shots before another Gitt basket gave the visitors a 40-39 lead. NU opened the half with a dry spell that lasted until Clemmons hit a layup with 11:17 remaining. Neither team led by more than three points the rest of the game.

Nebraska's Last Time Out
Lincoln ? Nebraska broke open a tie game midway through the first half and cruised to an 89-48 victory over Monterrey Tech in its first exhibition of the 2004-05 campaign at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Nov. 8. Using a balanced attack, six Huskers finished in double figures, including Marcus Neal Jr. who led the team with 18 points.

"I thought finally having a chance to play together against somebody from the outside, as opposed to playing against ourselves day-after-day, was a really good thing," said NU coach Barry Collier. "I thought we did a number of good things, and obviously had a number of things we have to work on. I thought our intensity level was strong. I thought we played unselfishly, and made a lot of extra passes. After really struggling through the first 10 minutes or so, we were able to defend strongly by getting a little more pressure on the ball, forcing some turnovers and keeping the points down."

Monterrey Tech kept it close early in the game as Santiago Nogueira scorched the nets for 17 points in the opening period while hitting 6-of-6 from the field, including 5-of-5 from three-point range. Nogueira was shut down in the second half when he scored seven points to finish with 24 to pace Monterrey Tech. Sergio Gamboa added eight points and no other Tech player had more than six.

The Huskers did more than shut Nogueira down, as Monterrey Tech shot just 31.3 percent from the floor in the second period including 3-of-11 from three-point range. For the game, Monterrey Tech hit 37.7 percent from the field while the Huskers connected at a 53.0-percent clip, including 10-of-20 from three-point range.

Charles Richardson Jr. ignited the first-period run that put the Huskers up for good. Richardson had a defensive rebound and started a fast break that led to an Aleks Maric dunk to break a 22-all tie, and added another fastbreak assist off a steal just a minute later.

Maric’s basket ignited the Huskers on a 22-4 run over the final 7:22 of the first half, including eight points by Corey Simms over the last three minutes of the period. Maric finished with 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds as the Huskers outrebounded Monterrey Tech 44-27.

In the second period, Monterrey Tech played even for the first eight minutes, until Neal began to heat up. Neal drained a pair of three-pointers and went on to finish hitting 6-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. The Huskers added 9-2, 8-1 and 18-0 runs midway through the period for the 41-point victory.

Postgame notes
? With the victory, NU improved to 38-5 all-time in exhibition play and 8-1 under Coach Barry Collier.

? Nebraska scored at least 75 points for the sixth time in the past eight exhibition games. The 48 points NU allowed marked the third time in eight games the Huskers have not allowed an exhibition opponent to reach 50 points.

? Six Huskers reached double figures in the contest, including Marcus Neal (18), Jake Muhleisen (13), Joe McCray (12), Bronsen Schliep (11), Corey Simms (10) and Aleks Maric (10).

Neal Continues Steady Improvement
Senior guard Marcus Neal Jr. struggled from the floor in the Huskers' Australian Tour, but when he took the court Monday in NU's exhibition opener against Monterrey Tech, he was back to his form of late last season. Neal ended last year hitting 50.0 percent from the floor over the final five regular-season games. He hit 6-of-8 against Monterrey Tech, including all three of his three-point attempts, while leading the Huskers with 18 points. He led the team in scoring just once all last season.

Freshmen Make Quick Impression
Nebraska had a pair of players debut Monday against Monterrey Tech as center Aleks Maric and guard Joe McCray quickly made a solid impression in the first action of their careers.

McCray tossed in nine points in nine minutes on 4-of-6 shooting in the first half before finishing with 12 points in 17 minutes overall. Maric was nearly as impressive as he had six points and five rebounds in 11 minutes in the second half, and nearly added a double-double with 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds for the game.

McCray and Maric entered the Husker program this summer after ranking among the top 100 nationally during their senior seasons.