Huskers Face Wildcats to Begin Big 12 Play

After 10 non-conference games, Nebraska finally hits the court against a Big 12 opponent when it plays host to the Kansas State Wildcats in both teams' league opener on Saturday, Jan. 8. Tip off at the Bob Devaney Sports Center is set for 7:07 p.m. and the game can be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com. Randy Lee will call the action while Matt Davison adds color commentary.

Nebraska enters the game riding a recent surge from beyond the three-point line that has helped it to three wins in its last four contests, including two straight at home. The Huskers have averaged 8.0 treys per game during that stretch while hitting 36.4 percent from beyond the arc.

The increased shooting percentages have come about as a result of better ball movement. The Huskers have averaged 17.3 assists against just 12.5 turnovers over the past four contests.

Freshman Joe McCray has led the way all season, but his numbers are even better since Dec. 18. McCray has averaged 16.8 points over the four games since finals week while adding 5.5 rebounds per game. He leads four players who recorded double-figure points in that stretch, including John Turek (10.3 ppg), Marcus Neal Jr. (10.3) and Wes Wilkinson (10.3).

Wilkinson's improvement in the past four games may be the greatest, as he tied his career highs with 13 points and eight rebounds in Nebraska's final tuneup before league play, a 78-45 victory over Montana State last Sunday. Wilkinson has hit 48.6 percent (18-of-37) from the floor in the past four contests while averaging 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. He also has eight assists in that four-game stretch after gaining just 15 assists in 29 games last season.

Nebraska Gets Rare Home Opener
The Huskers enjoy playing in front of their home crowd, as they have won more than 75 percent (337-105) of their contests at the Devaney Center in the past 28 seasons. But it is not often that they can play in front of the home fans in the conference opener.

Nebraska will be playing the opening game of the conference season in Lincoln for the first time since the Big 12 was formed before the 1996-97 campaign. The Huskers have dropped all eight league openers on the road in Big 12 play.

This will be the 11th time since the Devaney Center opened in the 1976-77 season that Nebraska has opened conference play at home. The Huskers own a 5-5 record in home openers, with three of the losses coming to teams ranked in the national top 10.

Nebraska and KSU have faced off in NU's league opener at the Devaney Center three times, with the Huskers winning the last two matchups. Overall, NU and KSU have faced off in Nebraska's league opener seven times since 1977, with the Huskers holding a 4-3 advantage. The most recent matchup between the teams in NU's opener was in 2000, when KSU took a 97-79 victory in Manhattan.

Meeting the Kansas State Wildcats
Nebraska opens league play against a Kansas State team that has gained significant confidence while riding to a 10-1 non-conference record. The Wildcats' lone loss came against Rutgers after KSU opened the season with nine straight victories.

The Huskers' and Wildcats' only common opponent this year has been Arkansas-Pine Bluff. NU defeated the Golden Lions 97-40 in the season opener, while KSU earned a 76-42 win less than one week later.

Kansas State has averaged 71.7 points on 44.8 percent shooting to open the season. The 'Cats have hit a solid 39.0 percent from beyond the arc and 69.5 percent from the charity stripe while dishing out 17.9 assists per game against only 12.8 turnovers.

KSU has continued its strong defensive play under Coach Jim Wooldridge, allowing just 61.3 points per game on 40.2 percent shooting while holding a +7.5 (39.7-32.3) rebounding advantage. Wooldridge (Louisiana Tech, 1977) is in his fifth year guiding the program and owns a 61-66 record with the Wildcats and a 290-213 overall mark as a head coach.

The Wildcats are led by senior forward Jeremiah Massey, whose playing status remains uncertain after he suffered a severely sprained right ankle in KSU's final non-conference tilt Monday in a 80-58 win over Central Missouri State. Despite missing part of that game, Massey leads the team with 16.6 points per game to rank among the top scorers in the Big 12 Conference. He also pulls down a team-best 6.8 rebounds per game and has hit 84.4 percent (65-of-77) from the free throw line. He also ranks second on the team with 17 steals.

Along with Massey, sophomores Fred Peete and Cartier Martin are averaging double figures with 14.0 and 10.2 points per game, respectively.

Peete adds 5.5 rebounds per game and paces the squad with 23 steals while ranking second behind freshman Clent Stewart with 40 assists. Stewart has a team-high 46 assists (4.2 apg) with 6.1 points per game. Martin is the most proficient Wildcat, as he is hitting 50.6 percent (42-of-83) from the floor and is tied with Stewart for second on the squad with 13 three-pointers. Lance Harris paces KSU with 15 treys.

Series History
The Huskers and Wildcats are meeting for the 207th time in the series that dates back to the 1905-06 campaign. KSU holds a 118-88 overall lead, although each team has won five of the last 10 matchups.

Seven of the last 10 games played in Lincoln have been decided by 10 or fewer points. Nebraska has won eight of those 10 meetings, including four of the last five.

The Wildcats picked up a season sweep over the Huskers in 2004, the first time they had won both regular-season matchups against NU since 1998. KSU defeated Nebraska 63-58 in Lincoln and earned a 78-61 win in Manhattan last season (NU-KSU box scores are on pages 124 and 125 of the NU media guide). The Huskers own a 20-9 lead over KSU in the Devaney Center.

The Last Time We Met
Lincoln (Feb. 18, 2004) -- Tim Ellis’ tip-in with 2.6 seconds remaining gave Kansas State the lead for good, as the Wildcats topped Nebraska, 63-58, in front of a crowd of 12,106 at the Devaney Center.

Trailing 58-57 with 4.5 seconds remaining, Jeremiah Massey missed both ends of a one-and-one, but Ellis picked up the loose ball and lofted a soft five-footer to give the Wildcats only their second lead of the evening. Ellis finished with a game-high 25 points including 12-of-12 from the line.

Nebraska had a final opportunity to win, but John Turek’s inbounds pass was thrown out of bounds before KSU sealed the win with four free throws in the waning seconds. Kansas State, which led for a grand total of 21.6 seconds all night, snapped a 16-game road losing streak and picked up its first road win in 22 league road contests.

The Huskers led by as many as 12 points in the first half and held a 56-51 lead with 2:14 remaining before the Wildcats closed the game on a 11-2 spurt.

Nate Johnson led three Huskers in double figures with 17 points and six assists, while Andrew Drevo and Corey Simms added 10 points apiece.

Massey was the only other Wildcat to finish in double figures, scoring 17 points and grabbing seven rebounds.

Nebraska's Last Time Out
Lincoln ? Joe McCray’s 19 points led four Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska tuned up for its Big 12 opener with a 78-45 victory over Montana State in front of a crowd of 5,816 at the Devaney Center Sunday afternoon.

The Huskers took control of the contest with a 9-0 run to open the second half. The surge turned a 36-25 lead into a 20-point advantage over the Bobcats.

McCray hit 7-of-14 shots from the floor, including a trio of three-pointers, as the freshman fell one point shy of his fourth 20-point game of the season. McCray also added four rebounds and three assists to spark the Huskers in the first half, while the duo of John Turek and Wes Wilkinson provided a big boost inside.

Turek totaled a season-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting in just 19 minutes of action, while Wilkinson matched career bests in points (13) and rebounds (eight) and added a career-high three steals. Wilkinson also blocked three shots and came off the bench to help Nebraska outscore Montana State 42-20 in the second half.

Nebraska, which has held five of its 10 opponents to 50 points or less, forced MSU into a season-low 30.0 percent shooting, including just 5-of-23 from three-point range. Montana State’s 30 percent shooting was the second-lowest by a Husker opponent in 2004-05, as Morgan State shot just 23.5 percent on Dec. 6.

Branden Miller paced the Bobcats with 10 points, but hit just 4-of-16 shots from the field. No other MSU player finished in double figures.

Leading 36-25 at intermission, Nebraska blitzed MSU for nine straight points to open the second half, holding the visitors without a point for the first 4:18 of the period. Marcus Neal Jr. capped the 9-0 Husker run with five straight points, including a three-pointer that gave the Huskers a 45-25 cushion.

The run put the game out of reach as NU led by at least 17 points the rest of the way and led by as much as 35 points down the stretch.

The Huskers, who never trailed, hit their first four three-point attempts and quickly built a double-figure lead. Neal drained consecutive three-pointers while McCray totaled 10 of his 12 first-half points in helping Nebraska take a commanding 27-12 lead with 7:37 left in the half.

The Bobcats clawed back, scoring nine unanswered points to get within 27-21 after a Ryan Holmes jumper with 5:11 left in the half. A pair of Ja’Ron Jefferson free throws put MSU within 30-23 before baskets by Wilkinson and Bronsen Schliep and two Jake Muhleisen free throws pushed the Husker lead to 36-23 with 10 seconds left before halftime.

Nebraska postgame notes vs. Montana State
? Junior Wes Wilkinson had three blocks in the game and now owns a team-best 14 blocks on the season. Wilkinson has had at least two blocks in four of the Huskers’ last five games, and five times overall this season. He entered the game ranked eighth in the Big 12 Conference with 1.38 blocks per contest. Wilkinson had just 13 blocks in 30 games last season, and just 19 in his first two years combined.

? Wilkinson added a career-high tying 13 points. He set career highs with six field goals and 14 field-goal attempts, while adding a career-high three steals. He also tied his career high with eight rebounds.

? Senior John Turek had a season-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor. He added four rebounds and a steal.

? Senior Jake Muhleisen had season high seven rebounds and five assists.

? Freshman Joe McCray finished with 19 points, including three three-pointers. McCray now owns sole possession of sixth place on the NU freshman three-pointer chart with 29 this season. He passed Beau Reid (26 in 1988) and needs just one to tie Cookie Belcher (30 in 1997) for fifth on the list. McCray also had a season-high three assists.

? After going into the locker room tied with 21 rebounds apiece, the Huskers held a 28-13 advantage over the Bobcats on the boards in the second half. Nebraska has outrebounded eight of 10 opponents this season heading into conference play.

? Nebraska held a 20-8 advantage in points off turnovers, including a 12-2 margin in the first half.

? Junior Bronsen Schliep tied his career high with six points while adding three rebounds in 14 minutes.

? Nebraska held the Bobcats to 30.0 percent shooting, marking the seventh time the Huskers have held an opponent to less than 40.0 percent from the floor and the fifth time this season holding a foe to less than 35.0 percent.

? The 33-point victory was the fifth win of the year for the Huskers by at least 20 points, all at home.

? Nebraska recorded a season-high 21 assists against 16 turnovers. The Husker guards had 18 assists against just four miscues.

? Nebraska's victory margin marked the fifth time this season the Huskers held their opponent to 50 points or fewer.

Hitting the Long Ball
After losing Brian Conklin (55.6 percent from three-point range in 2003-04) to graduation last year, the Huskers knew they would need to find more consistency as a team from long range in 2005. Nebraska struggled from beyond the arc early in the season but has picked up the pace over the past four games.

NU has hit 32-of-88 (36.4 percent) of its three-point attempts in the past four games, after opening the season hitting just 36-of-116 (31.0 percent) in its first six games. During the recent surge, freshman Joe McCray has led the way, hitting 15-of-37 (40.5) while Marcus Neal Jr. was right on his heels by hitting 10-of-25 (40.0). Jake Muhleisen has seen an improvement as well, hitting 4-of-11 after draining just one of his first 14 attempts in the Huskers' first six games. Wes Wilkinson has also hit 33.3 percent (3-of-9) over the last four contests.

With 29 three-pointers in 10 games, McCray ranks sixth on the Husker freshman three-pointer chart and is halfway to reaching the NU single-season top 10 (10th place is 59 treys). Nebraska has had a player hit at least 65 treys in three of the past four seasons, including four of the top six marks in school history.

McCray had three treys in his last game to pass Beau Reid (26 in 1988) for sixth place. He needs one more three-pointer to move into a tie for fifth with Cookie Belcher (30 in 1997). Current senior Jake Muhleisen ranks third on the list with 35 treys in 2001-02 while the NU freshman record is 44 three-pointers by Eric Piatkowski in 1990-91.

Neal Continues Steady Improvement
After finishing last season on a solid note by earning Big 12 All-Newcomer honors, guard Marcus Neal Jr. has continued to improve throughout the summer, fall and into the regular season.

During the non-conference slate, Neal hit 38-of-95 shots from the floor while averaging 11.0 points to rank second on the team. He is second on the squad with 22 three-pointers and is shooting 40.0 percent (22-of-55) from three-point range to rank seventh in the league statistics, while adding 3.2 rebounds with a team-high 12 steals.

Over the past four games, Neal has done a terrific job of distributing the ball as he has had a career high with six assists three times and added four assists in NU's last contest against Montana State. He recorded 22 assists against just six turnovers combined in those four games, after gaining only 13 assists against 14 turnovers in his first six games.

Neal, who played with an illness throughout the Marquette contest, has recorded 35 assists in 10 games (3.5 apg) this season to pace the squad and rank 14th in the Big 12 Conference. His total is more than half of his mark (62) in 31 games last year. Neal also ranks 14th in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.75:1).

Neal is averaging more than twice as many points as last year (5.3) and nearly twice as many rebounds per game (1.8). He has averaged 9.5 field-goal attempts per game this year compared to 4.5 last season. Neal's 12 steals are just one less than he recorded in 31 games last season.

Neal has also been an offensive spark for the Huskers this season. Against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Neal hit three consecutive three-pointers to start a staggering 27-0 Husker run. Then against Texas Southern, he combined with Joe McCray on back-to-back three-pointers to punctuate a 10-2 run that put NU ahead by double figures midway through the first half.

Neal's career-high tying four three-pointers against Creighton helped push the Bluejays throughout the game, while his six assists against just one turnover helped jump start the offense after halftime against North Carolina A&T. He came back with four threes against Tennessee, including two treys in an 8-0 surge before he iced the game with three free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining.

McCray Making a Splash
Freshman guard Joe McCray has played just 10 regular-season games, but the rookie is already showing signs that he could be among the most successful freshmen in the Big 12 Conference this season. At his current pace, McCray will contend for all-freshman honors on the conference and national levels.

McCray has already been named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week on two occasions this year (Nov. 29 and Dec. 20). He is the first Husker freshman to earn more than one rookie-of-the-week honor in a season.

Through Jan. 5, McCray ranks 12th in the conference in scoring at 14.5 points per game ? the third-highest scoring freshman in the Big 12 Conference ? while hitting 42.4 percent from the floor. He is first in the conference with 2.9 three-pointers per game by leading the Huskers with 29 three-pointers, and is ninth in the conference in three-point percentage by hitting 37.2 percent beyond the arc.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native began his career in high style as he recorded a game-high 23 points in 22 minutes against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in his first career game. McCray hit 9-of-17 shots from the floor, while adding six rebounds and two steals. McCray's point total was the most by a freshman in an NU season opener since freshmen regained eligibility in 1972-73. He came back with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting (3-of-6 three-pointers) with four rebounds against Texas Southern to earn co-Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors on Nov. 29.

In his third career game, McCray recorded 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting, including hitting 5-of-10 attempts from three-point range. The 24 points rank seventh on the NU freshman single-game scoring chart. Tyronn Lue owns the NU freshman record with 30 points in his second career game.

McCray became just the fourth Husker freshman to record three 20-plus point games in his rookie season when he had 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting against North Carolina A&T. McCray had just two points at halftime but came back with 18 points in the second frame on six treys. He hit five straight three-pointers in one stretch and added a career-high seven rebounds in the contest. With the strong performance, McCray earned his second Big 12 Rookie of the Week honor on Dec. 20.

Maric in the Middle
Freshman Aleks Maric has also been making noise for the Huskers early in his rookie season. The 6-11, 265-pound native of Sydney, Australia, has been a workhorse in the paint, averaging 7.7 points and 7.5 rebounds over the first 10 games of his career.

Through Jan. 5, Maric ranks fourth in the league in rebounding, including seventh in offensive and defensive rebounding. He is hitting 48.4 percent (27-of-56) from the field despite struggling the past two games.

Maric began his career in high fashion as he picked up a game-high 14 boards in the season opener while adding 12 points for his first career double-double. He was the first NU freshman since Ron Taylor in 1973-74 to record a double-double in his first career game.

Maric came back with eight points and three boards against Texas Southern, before adding 10 points and 15 rebounds on the road against UAB. Maric's two double-doubles pace the team this season and equal the most by a Husker in 31 games last year.

The big man just missed a third double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds against Morgan State in his first career start. Maric needs one more double-double to tie the NU freshman mark of three set by Taylor in 1973-74.

Maric is only the sixth NU freshman to record a double-double since freshman eligibility was re-instated in 1972-73. Only Taylor, Rickey Harris and Andre Smith recorded more than one double-double as a rookie until Maric joined the group in just his third career game.

Wilkinson Rounding Back Into Form
Junior forward Wes Wilkinson raised expectations after his solid play in the Huskers' Australian Summer Tour in August. He averaged 13.2 points and 7.0 rebounds over six games, including a pair of double-doubles.

Wilkinson's progress made him a candidate for a significant increase in playing time early in the year, but his efforts were hindered on the first day of fall practice when he suffered a broken bone in his left foot. After sitting out of practice for five weeks, Wilkinson returned to workouts before NU's second game.

Wilkinson saw limited minutes in the first four games after his return with mildly positive results. In his fifth contest against Creighton, he finally started to show that he was rounding back into the form expected of him at the start of the semester. The Grand Island native recorded eight points and six rebounds over 24 minutes against the Bluejays. He also picked up a pair of blocked shots and tied his career high with two three-pointers.

Wilkinson came back with eight points, five rebounds and a career-high four assists without a turnover against North Carolina A&T in his first start of the season. He had not recorded an assist in his first five games.

Wilkinson recorded 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, including 2-of-3 from long range, at Marquette. Making his second straight start as junior Jason Dourisseau was out with an illness, Wilkinson added three assists and two blocks in a career-high 30 minutes. He came back with seven rebounds and three blocks while scoring eight points in a road victory against Tennessee.

In possibly the best game of his career, Wilkinson had 13 points and eight rebounds to tie his career highs against Montana State. He added three blocks and a career-high three steals in 26 minutes.

Over the past four games, Wilkinson has averaged 10.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game while adding eight assists against three turnovers. In his previous five games to open the year, he averaged 3.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks while recording zero assists against seven turnovers. Last year, he had just 15 assists on the season, and only 23 in his first two years combined.

Wilkinson has added 14 blocked shots in nine games to rank fifth (1.56 bpg) in the Big 12 Conference. He had just 13 blocks in 29 games last year.

Dourisseau Making Strides
Guard Jason Dourisseau made significant progress in his overall game heading into the 2004-05 campaign. The results have been impressive.

Dourisseau is third on the team in scoring (9.3 ppg) and second on the team and 12th in the Big 12 Conference in rebounding with 6.3 boards per game. He also ranks fourth on the team by hitting 43.7 percent (31-of-71) from the floor.

After starting nine games this year, Dourisseau has 57 rebounds, 10 steals and is third on the squad with 22 assists. Last year he recorded 60 rebounds, 17 assists and 13 steals in 31 games.

Dourisseau opened the season with 17 points in 22 minutes during NU's 97-40 home-opening victory. He hit 8-of-13 attempts from the floor and added eight rebounds and two assists without a turnover.

Dourisseau followed with his best game as a Husker, as he posted 18 points and set a career high for the second straight game by grabbing 12 rebounds. He also set career highs with eight free throws and 11 free throw attempts after getting fouled repeatedly while slashing to the basket.

Huskers Hitting the Glass
Nebraska has been relentless on the boards early this season. The Huskers started on a strong note by pulling down 55 boards against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and added 50 against Texas Southern and UAB. Nebraska grabbed 47 rebounds against Morgan State, with all 11 players recording at least one board, before suffering its first deficit on the glass against Minnesota. The Huskers nearly added another 50-board game as they had 49 rebounds against Montana State in their last non-conference contest.

The Huskers are third in the Big 12 Conference in rebounding margin at +8.3 and second in rebounds per game with 42.0. In the Jan. 5 NCAA statistics, the Huskers ranked 14th in the nation in rebounding margin. NU has outrebounded eight of its 10 opponents this season.

Freshman Aleks Maric ranks fourth in the league with 7.6 rebounds per game to lead the Huskers. Maric has recorded 15- and 14-rebound games this season. Junior Jason Dourisseau ranks 12th in the league after gaining 6.3 rebounds per game over his first nine games.

Nebraska's three straight 50-plus rebound efforts to start the year came after NU had just two 50-rebound games in the past four years. In 2003-04, the Huskers pulled down 51 boards in a 72-44 victory over No. 25 Texas Tech and had 50 rebounds in a 70-26 win over Bethune-Cookman.

The last time NU had three straight 50-rebound games came in 1999-2000. Overall, the Huskers have had 67 50-plus rebound games since complete box scores have been included in NU record books (1972-73). Only 13 times during that period has NU recorded more than 55 boards.

The Huskers' +36 advantage (55-19) on the glass in the season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff is the largest rebounding margin since at least 1972-73. The previous high was a +30 advantage (72-42) against Oklahoma in the 1991-92 campaign.

Muhleisen Gains Spotlight in Sports Illustrated On Campus
Three-year captain Jake Muhleisen has not received much national credit despite the outstanding way he runs the team, both on and off the court. That changed on Nov. 11 when Sports Illustrated On Campus, the collegiate version of the popular sports magazine, named him one of nine men's basketball players who are unsung heroes because they do "the little things that don't show up in a box score."

The 'Glue Guys' are "the ties that bind their respective teams," according to the article. Along with Muhleisen, SIOC named Josh Pace (Syracuse), Roger Powell (Illinois), Chuck Hayes (Kentucky), Isma'il Muhammad (Georgia Tech), Jamal Levy (Wake Forest), Alando Tucker (Wisconsin), Ellis Myles (Louisville) and Nick Robinson (Stanford) to the 'Glue Guys' list.

Turek Making Mark on Record Books
Senior forward John Turek has a chance to put his name in elite company this season.

After finding great improvement each of his first three seasons, Turek is leaving his name among Nebraska's best rebounders and shot blockers while climbing the NU scoring chart. With numbers similar to last season, Turek can top the 1,000-point plateau this winter while moving into Nebraska's career top 10 for rebounds. Turek enters Saturday's contest against Kansas State with 765 career points and 586 rebounds, just 75 boards shy of moving into the Nebraska top 10.

Already one of the top shot blockers in Nebraska history, Turek has a chance to do something this year that no Husker has ever accomplished. Turek, who ranks sixth in NU history with 139 blocked shots and needs just five blocks to move into the top five, has led Nebraska in blocked shots each of the past three years, including tying the NU freshman record with 39 blocks in 2001-02. He currently ranks second on the squad with 11 blocks, three behind Wes Wilkinson's 14 blocked shots.

If he were to lead the team in blocks this season, Turek would be the first Husker ever to lead the squad in four consecutive seasons. Dave Hoppen, the Huskers' career scoring leader, also had a share of the team lead for blocked shots all four years, but tied Ronnie Smith for the team high during Hoppen's junior season.

Turek is within reach of becoming just the third Husker ever with 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 100 blocks. If he reaches those totals, he will join a pair of players who were taken in the NBA Draft ? Rich King, a first-round selection, and Venson Hamilton, a second-round draft pick and the 1999 Big 12 Player of the Year. Currently, King, Hamilton, Turek and Mikki Moore are the only players with at least 600 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocked shots in their Husker career.

Muhleisen Shows All-Around Game
Senior guard Jake Muhleisen has proven to be one of the top all-around players in Nebraska history over the past three seasons.

Muhleisen, who has played all three guard positions during his career, entered the year with a chance to become only the fourth player in program history to record at least 1,000 career points, 350 rebounds, 250 assists and 100 steals. If he reached those marks, Muhleisen would join Eric Piatkowski, Erick Strickland and Cookie Belcher on the elite list.

Muhleisen enters the matchup with Kansas State with 782 points, 284 rebounds, 231 assists and 80 steals in his career.

All About Defense
Under Coach Barry Collier, the Huskers have continued to rewrite the Nebraska defensive record book over the past four seasons. Nebraska got off to a strong start again this year, as the Huskers: ? ranked fifth in scoring defense (55.5) in the most recent NCAA statistics (Jan. 5), sixth in field-goal percentage defense (36.3) and rebound margin (+8.4).

? limited Arkansas-Pine Bluff to 40 points on 32.7 percent shooting in a 97-40 victory. NU forced 20 turnovers in the largest victory in Devaney Center history.

? defeated TSU by 20 points while holding the Tigers to just 32.8 percent shooting from the floor and forcing 19 turnovers.

? held UAB to just 24.0 percent shooting (6-of-25) from three-point range, including just 3-of-14 in the opening frame.

? allowed just 12 points in the second half of a 64-34 victory over Morgan State. NU held the Bears to 23.5 percent shooting, including 15.0 percent from three-point range, as they recorded the third-fewest points by an NU opponent since 1947. It was the third time NU has held its opponent to less than 40 points in the past two seasons.

? limited Creighton to 34.0 percent shooting, including 31.6 percent from three-point range while holding the Bluejays to their lowest total in the series in more than 20 years.? held Marquette to just 39.7 percent shooting, including 34.3 percent (11-of-32) inside the arc.

? allowed Montana State just 45 points on 30.0 percent shooting, including 21.7 percent from beyond the arc.

Last year, the Huskers posted some of the best defensive numbers at NU in the last four decades, as they allowed opponents to hit just 40.0 percent from the field to rank 20th nationally in field-goal percentage defense. It tied NU's lowest mark since 1961. NU also had a scoring defense of 62.9 points per game, the program's best defensive mark since the 1982 campaign.

Nebraska's defense held opponents to the lowest field-goal percentage total since 1961, as it gave up just 40.0 percent shooting from the field, including 32.7 percent from three-point range. The previous year, the Huskers ranked first in the league in three-point field-goal percentage defense by allowing opponents to hit a school-record low 30.2 percent from behind the arc.

Among the outstanding single-game marks the Huskers posted in 2003-04 were: limiting South Florida to just 2-of-19 shooting from three-point range, the lowest single-game opponent three-point field-goal percentage (.105) in four years under Coach Collier; holding Bethune-Cookman to just 26 points in the game, the lowest point total allowed by NU since a 33-23 victory over Kansas State in 1941; holding Tennessee to three field goals in the first half ? including one from two-point range ? the fewest NU has allowed in one period since the 1987 NIT against Arkansas; and limiting No. 12/13 Kansas to a season-low 55 points and 36.2 percent shooting from the floor, including just 27.8 percent from three-point range.

Home Sweet Home
The Huskers have a strong record of success playing in front of their home crowd the past 29 seasons.

Nebraska, which is 5-2 at home this season, earned a perfect 10-0 mark at home last year in non-conference games, including a 78-70 win over Niagara in the NIT first round. NU won three consecutive games to end the non-conference slate in 2002-03 and had its nonconference home winning streak reach 16 games before coming to an end this season against Minnesota on Dec. 8.

Nebraska has been outstanding at home since moving into the Devaney Center in the 1976-77. The Huskers own a 337-105 home record over that span, including a 15-3 mark at home last year. The 15 wins tied for second most in Devaney Center history. Overall, the Huskers are now 49-21 at home under Coach Collier with nine of the losses coming against ranked teams.Huskers'

Quick Shots
? Freshman Joe McCray's six three-pointers against North Carolina A&T ranks as the individual game high among all Big 12 Conference players this season. Freshman Aleks Maric's 15 rebounds against UAB ranks third in the league in that category.

? McCray needs one three-pointer to tie for fifth on the NU freshman chart with 30 treys. Cookie Belcher also had 30 three-pointers as a frosh in 1997. The NU freshman record is 44 by Eric Piatkowski in (1991).

? Marcus Neal Jr. has recorded 12 steals in 10 games this season to lead Nebraska. The total is just one less than he recorded all of last season in 31 appearances.

? Jason Dourisseau has 22 assists against 20 turnovers this season in nine games played. Dourisseau had just 17 assists against 41 turnovers in 30 games last season.

? Dourisseau also has 57 rebounds in nine games played after gaining just 60 in 30 games last year.

? Wes Wilkinson has 14 blocks in nine games this season after gaining 13 blocked shots in 29 games last year. Wilkinson has had at least two blocks in a game five times this season, including four times in the past five contests.

? Wilkinson also has eight assists in nine games this year after gaining just 23 assists in his first 59 games.

? Aleks Maric owns 76 rebounds to lead the team, and is more than half way to moving into the NU freshman top 10. Jerry Fort and Tyronn Lue are tied for 10th with 106 rebounds. The NU freshman record is 162 rebounds by John Turek in 2002.

? John Turek will be playing in his 98th career game when NU faces Kansas State Saturday, the most of any current Husker. He is second on the team after having played 2,349 minutes ? three fewer than Jake Muhleisen who has played 2,352 minutes in 82 games. Muhleisen leads the Huskers in games started with 81 in his career.

? Turek needs 75 rebounds to move into the Nebraska career top 10.

? The last time a freshman led the Huskers in points scored was 1983, when NU's career scoring leader Dave Hoppen recorded 445 points as a rookie to pace the Huskers.