Huskers Fall to UAB

Birmingham, Ala. --- Freshmen Joe McCray and Aleks Maric combined for 34 points and 21 rebounds, but Nebraska dipped to 2-1 on the season with an 80-66 loss to UAB Thursday evening in Birmingham, Ala.

Playing the first road contest of their careers, McCray and Maric helped the Huskers stay within eight points at the intermission, but the Blazers used a solid 13-5 run to start the second half to break open the game.

UAB, which improved to 3-0 on the season and picked up its first win against the Huskers in three meetings, got eight points in the run from Donell Taylor, including back-to-back three-pointers to put UAB ahead 52-36 with 14:52 to play. The teams went back and forth until UAB went ahead by 20, 62-42, on Richard Jones' layup with just over 12 minutes remaining. The Blazers increased the lead to 23, 80-57, before a late Nebraska run in the last minute cut the final margin to 14.

McCray accounted for all of the Huskers' offense in the last-minute run. He scored nine straight points in 1:04, hitting a three-pointer, a pair of free throws and then converting a four-point play. McCray finished with a career-high 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting, including hitting 5-of-10 three-point attempts. He added six rebounds and one steal in 25 minutes.

It was the second 20-plus point game in McCray's first three contests as a Husker. The 24 points ranked seventh on the Nebraska freshman single-game scoring chart and McCray is just the sixth Husker freshman since 1972-73 when freshman eligibility was re-instituted with at least two 20-plus point games.

McCray was not the only newcomer making noise for the Huskers. Maric added his second double-double in three games with 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. The Sydney, Australia native hit all four shots from the floor and was 2-of-3 at the free throw line while adding two blocks and a steal in 24 minutes.  

Marques Lewis led the Blazers with 19 points, including 11 in the first period. Lewis hit 4-of-5 shots in the first half and all three free throws as the Blazers opened a 39-31 lead at the intermission. Donell Taylor finished with 15 points, including 12 in the second period, while Ronell Taylor added 10 points and Demario Eddins picked up 11 points and a team-high seven boards for the Blazers.

Nebraska was held to 37.1 percent shooting from the floor but the Huskers limited UAB to 43.1 percent, including a paltry 24.0 percent (6-of-25) from three-point range. NU also gained a 50-38 advantage on the glass, marking the Huskers' third straight 50-rebound effort to open the season. Nebraska had recorded two 50-plus rebound efforts in the past four seasons combined.

The Huskers return to action on Monday, Dec. 6, when they play host to Morgan State at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Tip off is set for 7:05 p.m.

Nebraska Notes
Joe McCray ? Season and career high 24 points. Only sixth freshman in NU history with two 20-point games in his rookie season.

Aleks Maric ? Second double-double in three games. Season-high 15 rebounds.

Team ? Third straight 50-rebound game. Last time accomplished was the 1999-2000 season.

UAB Notes
Marques Lewis ? Career high 19 points, eclipsing old career high of 10 accomplished twice.

Team ? Victory is first over a Big 12 school since beating Texas Tech on Nov. 25, 2000, 89-71 in Lubbock.

Team ? 12 steals makes three-for-three this season with at least 12 steals.

Team ? The 24 turnovers forced is UAB’s season low in that category, having forced 25 in each of its first two games.

Team ? UAB has been out-rebounded in two of its’ three wins on the season.

Nebraska head coach Barry Collier
On UAB’s smothering defense:
"We played into their hands. They forced a lot of the turnovers, but we also didn’t break down off the dribble and get back under control in the half court after breaking the press. Its not like we never wanted to take advantage of an open basket, but a three-pointer off the break is not a good shot."

On Nebraska’s performance:
"We had a number of guys really struggle tonight. We need to play with more intensity and meet the challenge."

 

 

 

 

 

Official Basketball Box Score
Nebraska vs UAB
12-02-04 8:35 PM at Birmingham, Ala. (Bartow Arena)
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VISITORS: Nebraska 2-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
44 Turek, John......... f  1-4    0-1    0-2    2  1  3   3   2  0  1  1  0  16
01 Dourisseau, Jason... g  1-7    0-3    4-4    1  1  2   3   6  4  4  0  0  27
10 Neal, Marcus........ g  3-10   1-5    1-2    0  5  5   3   8  3  4  0  1  27
12 Muhleisen, Jake..... g  2-7    1-3    2-4    0  3  3   2   7  4  2  0  0  30
21 Simms, Corey........ g  3-6    0-0    1-2    5  2  7   2   7  2  4  0  0  27
02 McCray, Joe.........    8-17   5-10   3-3    3  3  6   2  24  0  4  0  1  25
03 Richardson, Charles.    0-2    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  1  2  0  1  12
11 Wilkinson, Wes......    0-1    0-1    0-1    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  0   5
15 Schliep, Bronsen....    1-3    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   2   2  0  0  0  0   5
31 Maric, Aleks........    4-4    0-0    2-3    5 10 15   3  10  0  3  2  1  24
45 Wilbrand, Tony......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
   TEAM................                         4  2  6
   Totals..............   23-62   7-24  13-21  20 30 50  22  66 14 24  3  4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-31 38.7% 2nd Half: 11-31 35.5% Game: 37.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 4-16 25.0% Game: 29.2% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 9-12 75.0% Game: 61.9% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: UAB 3-0 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 03 LEWIS, Marques...... f 6-11 0-0 7-8 2 3 5 2 19 2 1 1 0 26 23 EDDINS, Demario..... f 3-5 0-0 5-7 0 7 7 3 11 1 5 0 3 27 00 JOHNSON, Carldell... g 2-4 1-3 2-2 0 1 1 0 7 6 2 0 3 31 01 TAYLOR, Donell...... g 5-13 2-6 3-4 2 1 3 2 15 3 0 1 2 29 02 TAYLOR, Ronell...... g 4-9 1-4 1-4 0 2 2 4 10 2 1 0 2 18 04 DELANEY, Paul....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 05 McDONALD, Marvett... 3-8 1-5 0-0 1 2 3 3 7 1 1 0 0 18 12 DAVIS, Reed......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 15 HOLMES, Frank....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 6 25 LITTLE, Ernest...... 1-3 0-0 0-1 4 1 5 2 2 0 0 0 0 8 31 JONES, Richard...... 3-6 1-3 0-0 0 4 4 1 7 0 0 0 1 18 42 BROOM, Derrick...... 0-3 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 11 44 TOBIAS, Brandon..... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 Team................ 3 1 4 Totals.............. 28-65 6-25 18-26 13 25 38 20 80 15 11 4 12 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-33 39.4% 2nd Half: 15-32 46.9% Game: 43.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-14 21.4% 2nd Half: 3-11 27.3% Game: 24.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 10-14 71.4% 2nd Half: 8-12 66.7% Game: 69.2% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Steve Welmer, Ed Hightower, Curtis Shaw Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. UAB-None. Attendance: 6543 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 31 35 - 66 UAB........................... 39 41 - 80 ID-288585

Points in the paint-NU 28,UAB 28. Points off turnovers-NU 9,UAB 28. 2nd chance points-NU 14,UAB 14. Fast break points-NU 0,UAB 0. Bench points-NU 36,UAB 18. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-0 times. Last FG-NU 2nd-00:11, UAB 2nd-02:11.