Huskers Ready for Season Opener

The Nebraska men's basketball team jumps into regular-season action on Tuesday, Nov. 23, when the Huskers play host to Arkansas-Pine Bluff at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The game is set to tip off at 7:05 p.m. and can be heard live on the Pinnacle Sports Network as Randy Lee (play-by-play) and Matt Davison (color) return for their second year calling the action together. The game will also be heard on the internet at Huskers.com, and live stats are available.

The Huskers enter their first regular-season game after a strong showing in the exhibition campaign when NU went 2-0 to improve to 39-5 all-time in the preseason. Nebraska pulled away before halftime in each contest as the Huskers increased their exhibition winning streak to nine straight games.

The matchup with Arkansas-Pine Bluff will be the first meeting between the teams on the hardwood. Nebraska owns a 5-6 record against teams from the state of Arkansas, including a 2-6 mark against Arkansas and 1-0 records against Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas State and Arkansas Tech. The last time the Huskers played a team from that state was 1998, when NU dropped a 74-65 game to the Razorbacks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Nebraska will be looking for its fourth straight season-opening victory and seventh in the past eight seasons. The Huskers also look to extend their home-opening winning streak, which stands at 23 games entering the season. The last time Nebraska dropped a home opener was 1980, when the Huskers fell in overtime against Wyoming, 62-59.

Meeting the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions
Arkansas-Pine Bluff opens the season with a pair of games in Nebraska, as the Golden Lions faced Creighton in Omaha on Saturday, Nov. 20, and now heads to Lincoln to take on the Huskers on Nov. 23.

UAPB dropped an 83-58 contest against the Bluejays. Arkansas-Pine Bluff received most of its production from its backcourt, as guard Tamarius Brown led the Golden Lions with 22 points and five rebounds while guard Martese Coleman added 15 points, four boards and four assists. No other player recorded double figures for the Golden Lions, although center Jarvis Gunter added eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff hit 50.0 percent in the first half but trailed 50-34 at the intermission after Creighton hit 60.6 percent from the floor. The offensive production tailed off in the second period as UAPB hit just 25.8 percent while the Bluejays were held to 36.7 percent shooting. UAPB was outrebounded 39-33 and committed 20 turnovers to just 12 for Creighton.

The Golden Lions are looking for improvement after struggling last season. UAPB picked up just one win in 27 regular-season contests in 2003-04. The Golden Lions are guided by coach Van Holt (Arkansas A&M, 1970) who is in his third year with UAPB.

Nebraska's Last Time Out
Lincoln -- Jason Dourisseau scored 16 points in the first half and helped the Nebraska men’s basketball team run to an 84-71 victory over in-state foe Nebraska-Kearney Saturday in front of 3,981 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. In their final tune-up for the regular season, the Huskers hit 47.0 percent from the floor, including 43.5 percent from three-point range, to improve to 39-5 all-time in exhibition contests.

"We executed well in the first half, but then we got into some foul trouble and had way too many turnovers," Coach Barry Collier said. "We’re disappointed we didn’t play better in the second half, but that has a lot to do with UNK’s aggressiveness. They never backed off and they played very well."

Dourisseau scorched the nets all day long as he finished with a team-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor while adding six rebounds. The junior from Omaha helped the Huskers to a 48-32 advantage at the intermission with 16 first-half points, as Nebraska shot 51.4 percent in the opening period, including 50 percent from three-point range.

Dourisseau started a Husker rally after UNK jumped to a 7-0 lead to begin the game. Dusty Jura took the opening tip straight to the basket and added a three-pointer as the Lopers took a quick seven-point advantage. Dourisseau then scored Nebraska’s first points of the game to start a 13-0 NU run. Nebraska outscored UNK 18-4 over the next four minutes and added a 16-2 run to open a 36-18 lead with 7:49 remaining before intermission. Dourisseau and freshman Joe McCray scored 15 of the 18 points in the later run.

In the second half, the Huskers picked it up on the defensive end as they held the Lopers to just 27.5 percent shooting after the break, including only 5-of-13 from beyond the arc. Despite the Huskers’ strong surge on defense, Marty Levinson and Will Taukiuvea led the Lopers with 21 points apiece, including 15 points each in the second half as the Lopers outscored NU 39-36 in the final 20 minutes.

Corey Simms added eight second-half points to finish with 16 points, while helping NU open a 23-point lead twice before UNK came back to pull within 10 points in the final minute. McCray also finished another strong showing with 16 points and added a game-high nine rebounds. The Huskers dominated the glass with a 50-36 advantage, with six Huskers grabbing at least five rebounds.

Marcus Neal Jr. added 18 points for the second straight game while hitting 6-of-10 from the field. Neal scored just seven in the second frame but hit big shots to curtail Loper runs, including hitting 4-of-4 from three-point range for the game.

Nebraska postgame notes
? Nebraska improved to 39-5 all-time in exhibition play and went 2-0 in the exhibition slate for the fourth straight season and 14th time since 1989-90.
? Jason Dourisseau led four NU scorers in double figures with 20 points. Dourisseau’s career high is 21 points against Lipscomb last season.
? Marcus Neal Jr. recorded 18 points for the second straight game to lead NU in scoring during the exhibition season.
? Guard Joe McCray scored 16 points with nine rebounds, marking the second straight game an NU newcomer just missed a double-double. Center Aleks Maric had 10 points and eight boards against Monterrey Tech.

Neal Continues Steady Improvement
Senior guard Marcus Neal Jr. struggled from the floor in the Huskers' Australian Tour, but when he took the court in NU's two exhibitions, 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 in the Huskers' first exhibition and came back with a 6-of-10 performance from the field against UNK. Neal's three-point shooting has been outstanding, as he connected on 7-of-8 from long range (3-3 vs. MT, 4-5 vs. UNK). Neal led the team with 18.0 ppg in the exhibition season after pacing the squad in scoring just once all last season.

Freshmen Make Quick Impression
Nebraska had a pair of players make solid impressions during the exhibition slate. Center Aleks Maric and guard Joe McCray saw the first action of their careers against Monterrey Tech and came back with solid performances against Nebraska-Kearney.

Against Monterrey Tech, 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.

The talented newcomers continued to shine in against UNK. McCray collected 16 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes while Maric showed an all-around game with three points, five rebounds, two assists and one block.