Gophers Rally for Win over Huskers

Lincoln -- Minnesota used a 12-0 run over the last four minutes of the game to pull out a 57-48 victory over Nebraska at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Wednesday. The Golden Gophers (4-3) held the Huskers to just 19 points in the second period, as NU hit only 8-of-28 shots from the floor after the half in its first non-conference home loss since 2002.

Nebraska (3-2) was in solid position with 4:23 to play as Marcus Neal Jr. recorded a layup after Corey Simms’ block and outlet pass on the other end. Neal, who paced the Huskers with 10 points, gave the Huskers a five-point cushion, 45-40, to bring the 8,031 fans on hand to their feet. But Nebraska went cold from the field, as it missed its final seven shots of the game.

The Huskers finished by hitting just 33.3 percent (19-of-57) from the field, including 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from three-point range. Neal led the way with 10 points while John Turek and Jason Dourisseau each added eight points.

Earlier, Neal had put Nebraska ahead 31-25 on a three-pointer and gave the Huskers a five-point cushion, 34-29, with another trey off an assist from Turek. Despite Neal’s long-range accuracy, the Golden Gophers continued to close the gap as they won the battle of the boards in the second half. After trailing 19-13 on the glass at the intermission, UM outrebounded Nebraska 25-12 in the second frame. It was the first time the Huskers were outrebounded this season.

Minnesota trailed 26-17 at the intermission but rallied over the first six minutes of the second frame. The Gophers held NU to just one basket ? an Aleks Maric layup ? over the first 4:47 to close the gap to 28-25 on Aaron Robinson’s three-pointer. Robinson hit 3-of-8 from long range for nine points, while Vincent Grier added a game-high 17 points, including three treys.

Robinson gave Minnesota its first lead since 3-2 when he hit another trey with 8:59 to play. Maric pulled NU even at 36-all and Jake Muhleisen added a layup and a jumper for a 40-38 lead with just under six minutes to play. After Neal’s basket gave the Huskers the five-point cushion, a pair of three-point plays and back-to-back three-pointers by Grier pushed Minnesota to a 52-45 advantage with under one minute to play.

Both teams struggled in the first half, as they combined to miss their first 15 shots from the floor before Dourisseau’s basket at the 14:35 mark gave NU a 2-0 lead. The Huskers were holding a 6-5 advantage when John Turek came off the bench to spark a 13-0 run to put Nebraska in control.

Turek had eight straight points in the run and added an assist. Nebraska kept the lead in double figures until the final three minutes of the half before leading by nine at the break. It was the second time this season Nebraska held its opponent to less than 20 points in a period.

Nebraska recorded a season-low 10 turnovers in the contest and held a 15-8 margin in points off turnovers.

The Huskers will play host to Creighton on Saturday afternoon at 1:05 p.m., and a limited number of tickets are available by calling 800-8-BIGRED on on-line at Huskers.com. The game will be seen in the state of Nebraska on Fox Sports Midwest.

 

Minnesota vs Nebraska (12/8/04 at Lincoln, Neb. (Devaney Center))

• Box Score

Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Minnesota vs Nebraska 12/8/04 8:01 p.m. at Lincoln, Neb. (Devaney Center) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Minnesota (4-3) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 42 Hagen, Jeff......... c 4-7 0-0 3-3 1 8 9 2 11 1 2 2 2 34 50 Tollackson, Spencer. c 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 9 03 Robinson, Aaron..... g 3-8 3-8 0-0 1 2 3 2 9 2 3 0 1 28 15 Grier, Vincent...... g 4-10 3-4 6-8 2 6 8 2 17 0 5 0 1 40 34 Lawson, Brent....... g 1-2 0-0 1-2 0 2 2 2 3 1 3 0 0 25 13 Coleman, Dan........ 4-5 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 8 1 0 0 1 25 21 Stamper, J'son...... 2-2 0-0 3-6 2 5 7 1 7 0 1 0 0 18 24 Tucker, Rico........ 1-7 0-4 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 0 0 21 TEAM................ 1 4 5 1 Totals.............. 19-41 6-16 13-19 8 30 38 15 57 7 17 2 5 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-20 40.0% 2nd Half: 11-21 52.4% Game: 46.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-6 16.7% 2nd Half: 5-10 50.0% Game: 37.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 13-19 68.4% Game: 68.4% 2

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska (3-2) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 31 Maric, Aleks........ c 3-9 0-0 1-2 4 1 5 4 7 2 1 0 0 21 01 Dourisseau, Jason... g 4-12 0-4 0-0 4 3 7 5 8 0 4 0 2 32 02 McCray, Joe......... g 2-11 1-7 0-0 0 2 2 2 5 1 2 0 1 26 10 Neal, Marcus........ g 4-12 2-4 0-0 2 1 3 3 10 1 1 0 1 32 12 Muhleisen, Jake..... g 2-4 0-1 2-2 0 2 2 1 6 2 0 0 1 32 03 Richardson, Charles. 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 1 3 1 1 0 0 12 11 Wilkinson, Wes...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 21 Simms, Corey........ 0-0 0-0 1-3 0 3 3 2 1 3 0 1 0 17 44 Turek, John......... 3-7 1-1 1-1 0 2 2 2 8 3 0 0 1 23 TEAM................ 1 2 3 Totals.............. 19-57 5-19 5-8 11 18 29 20 48 13 10 1 6 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-28 39.3% 2nd Half: 8-29 27.6% Game: 33.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 2-12 16.7% Game: 26.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 4-6 66.7% Game: 62.5% 0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Ed Hightower, Curtis Shaw, John Higgins Technical fouls: Minnesota-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 8031 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Minnesota..................... 17 40 - 57 Nebraska...................... 26 22 - 48

Points in the paint-UM 18,NU 26. Points off turnovers-UM 8,NU 15. 2nd chance points-UM 6,NU 11. Fast break points-UM 2,NU 4. Bench points-UM 17,NU 12. Score tied-4 times. Lead changed-5 times. Last FG-UM 2nd-00:50, NU 2nd-04:23.