Huskers Tame Tigers, 78-58

Lincoln -- Nebraska turned it up a notch on defense to hold off a pesky Texas Southern squad, as the Huskers earned a 78-58 victory over the Tigers Saturday in front of 7,204 fans at the Devaney Center. With the win, NU improved to 2-0 on the young season while the Tigers fell to 1-2.  

Playing their second straight Southwestern Athletic Conference team in as many games, the Huskers played well at times but needed to focus more on running the offense to get past the Tigers, Coach Barry Collier said.

"I thought we had spurts where we played well and segments where we weren’t as sharp," Collier said. "I thought physically we had an advantage on the boards, but we couldn’t really get in gear on offense. We weren’t smooth. There was some troublesome play in the second half. I know we can play better than we did."

TSU stayed in the game by hitting from the outside when it mattered most. The Tigers connected on nine attempts from three-point range, including treys by Mike Sneed and Justin Wilson in an 8-0 run early in the second half to pull within 10 points, 46-38. Wilson and Sean Walker then connected on the three-pointers to start an 11-2 run to close within 58-51 with 8:24 to play in the game. The seven point deficit was the closest for the Tigers since just over three minutes remaining in the opening period.

Nebraska then answered with a 12-3 run to put the game away for good.

Freshman Aleks Maric started the run with a pair of free throws before Corey Simms added a jumper and John Turek added a free throw. Another freshman, guard Joe McCray, added a rebound and an acrobatic layup following his missed three-point attempt to make it 65-54 in favor of the Huskers.

Following a Turek layup, McCray then added a three-pointer to move NU’s lead back to 16, 70-54, with 3:46 to play. The Huskers finished the game on an 20-7 run and McCray ended the contest with 11 points, his second straight double-figure scoring effort to open his career. Turek had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Nebraska hit 42.1 percent from the floor and 71.9 percent from the charity stripe in the contest. The Huskers held TSU in check as the Tigers connected on just 32.8 percent from the field. Wilson scored a game-high 26 points for the Tigers, but hit just 9-of-23 from the floor, including 5-of-13 from three-point range. Walker added 15 points and a team-high six rebounds.

In winning by at least 20 points for the second straight game, the Huskers earned a dominating 50-33 advantage on the glass, including a 31-17 lead in the second frame. It was the second straight 50-rebound game for the Huskers, and the fourth 50-rebound game in the Collier era.

In the opening frame, the Huskers got out to a strong start behind Turek. The senior from Council Bluffs, Iowa, scored a quick seven points, including his first career three-pointer, to help NU to a 9-0 run to start the game. Playing their typical stifling defense, the Huskers held Texas Southern without a point for the first 3:11 of the game until Sneed hit a jumper to make it 9-2 in favor of Nebraska.

TSU chipped away at the lead, pulling within three, 13-10, with Sneed and Walker scoring all 10 of the Tigers’ points. Nebraska responded with a 10-2 run of its own, including four points from junior Jason Dourisseau. NU then got back-to-back three-pointers by McCray and Marcus Neal Jr., with Neal’s trey giving the Huskers a 23-12 lead.

Dourisseau finished the game with a team-high 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for his first career double-double. It was the second straight game a Husker had a double-double, as Maric had 12 points and 14 rebounds in the season opener. Last year, the Huskers had just five double-doubles all season.

The Tigers came back one more time in the first half, using a 10-2 run behind back-to-back three-pointers by Wilson. The run helped TSU close within two, 25-23, with less than eight minutes to play before intermission.

Like he did in the season opener, Neal then sparked the Huskers as his three-pointer started a 13-2 run to end the half. During the run, junior Wes Wilkinson scored his first points of the season with a three-pointer with less than three minutes to play, and then came down to the other end of the court where he recorded his first block of the year.

Nebraska returns to action on Dec. 2 when it plays its first game of the season away from the Devaney Center. The Huskers travel to Alabama to take on UAB at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday in a game televised by ESPN2. The game can also be heard live on the Pinnacle Sports Network and on Huskers.com.