Huskers Remain Perfect in Big 12Huskers Remain Perfect in Big 12
Men's Basketball

Huskers Remain Perfect in Big 12

Boulder, Colo. --- Freshman Joe McCray scored a team-high 21 points and the Huskers held Colorado to just 34.6 percent shooting for the game as Nebraska earned a 68-61 victory Wednesday at the Coors Events Center.

 

Nebraska improved to 8-4 on the season with its fourth straight victory while moving to 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 1993-94 season. Colorado dropped to 8-5 on the year and 0-2 in league action while watching its 15-game home court winning streak come to an end.

 

“I thought that with them being a little short in numbers, Coach Patton had them really rolling, especially in the second half,” said NU coach Barry Collier. “We played well in the first half and they played a solid second half, but in the end we made some stops and rebounded some misses to get the win.”

 

McCray caught fire early for the Huskers as he had 16 points in the first half, including Nebraska’s first eight points. Jake Muhleisen’s layup with 12:10 left before intermission cut the CU advantage to one, 11-10, and started an 18-5 run. McCray and Jason Dourisseau added six points apiece in the surge with McCray’s third three-pointer of the night giving Nebraska a 13-11 lead with 11:41 remaining in the first half.

 

“Joe is an aggressive, offensive-minded player who can also play physical,” Collier said. “He did a good job tonight of making better shot selections. I have thought over the past couple games that he has done a better job taking care of the ball and really helped us.”

 

The Huskers did not trail again as they steadily built their lead to double figures in the final minutes of the opening frame.

 

After Martane Freeman cut the Huskers’ advantage to eight, 26-18, Nebraska used a 10-0 run fueled by four points from Aleks Maric to open a 36-18 lead with just over a minute left before half. Marcus Hall hit a pair of free throws for the Buffs to cut NU’s halftime lead to 15 points, 37-22. The 37 points were the most the Huskers had scored in a period on the road this season.

 

After the break, Colorado looked to cut into the lead but Nebraska countered each shot for the first nine minutes and lead 53-38 with 10:30 remaining before going cold. From that point, it would be another seven minutes before the Huskers recorded a basket, as CU went on an 11-1 run.

 

Freshman Richard Roby provided most of the firepower in CU’s outburst, as he scored nine points in the surge, including a pair of three-pointers. Roby finished with 20 points while Chris Copeland had a game-high 22 points, including hitting 8-of-9 from the free throw line, to pace the Buffaloes. CU came into the game 12th in the league in free throw percentage but stayed in the game by hitting 73.1 percent (19-of-26) from the line.

 

Roby’s free throw with 3:54 remaining brought the Buffs within five, 54-49, before the Huskers’ got back on the scoreboard.

 

John Turek got free in the paint for dunk off a nice assist from Muhleisen to put NU back up by seven. CU then capitalized on a basket and pair of free throws to cut the lead to three, 56-53, with 2:18 left, but that was as close as they would get as Turek added a layup and, after a Copeland basket, McCray came up with his fifth three-pointer of the night with 1:23 to play to put NU back up by seven, 61-54.

 

Marcus Neal Jr. hit four free throws in the final minute and Corey Simms added a layup as the Huskers snapped a three-game losing streak in Boulder. McCray led the way with his fourth 20-plus point game of the season, while Dourisseau added 11 points and seven boards, including six rebounds in the second half. Maric led the Huskers with 11 rebounds for his third double-figure rebound effort of the season, as Nebraska outrebounded the Buffs 42-37.

 

Turek hit 3-of-5 field-goal attempts and Simms hit all three of his shots from the floor as the Huskers hit 44.1 percent from the field, including 31.3 percent from long range. McCray was 5-of-8 from downtown while the rest of the squad was a combined 0-of-8.

 

Nebraska returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 15, when the Huskers play host to nationally ranked Texas at the DevaneyCenter. The game tips off at 12:47 p.m. and can be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com. It will also be televised on ESPN Regional Television as part of the Big 12 package.

 

 

 

Nebraska vs Colorado (1/12/05 at Boulder, Colo. (Coors Events Center))

Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Colorado 1/12/05 7 p.m. at Boulder, Colo. (Coors Events Center) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 8-4, 2-0 Big 12 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 3-5 0-0 0-4 0 4 4 5 6 0 2 3 1 26 01 Dourisseau, Jason... g 4-10 0-1 3-4 4 3 7 5 11 1 0 0 0 26 02 McCray, Joe......... g 8-15 5-8 0-1 2 3 5 2 21 2 1 0 1 33 10 Neal, Marcus........ g 1-8 0-4 4-5 1 3 4 2 6 3 4 0 1 34 12 Muhleisen, Jake..... g 3-8 0-2 1-3 2 0 2 2 7 5 2 0 1 28 03 Richardson, Charles. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 11 Wilkinson, Wes...... 1-2 0-1 1-2 0 4 4 1 3 0 2 0 1 13 15 Schliep, Bronson.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 21 Simms, Corey........ 3-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 3 6 0 2 0 0 17 31 Maric, Aleks........ 3-8 0-0 2-3 5 6 11 1 8 1 0 0 0 17 TEAM................ 1 1 2 1 Totals.............. 26-59 5-16 11-22 16 26 42 21 68 13 15 3 5 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-33 42.4% 2nd Half: 12-26 46.2% Game: 44.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 31.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-12 41.7% 2nd Half: 6-10 60.0% Game: 50.0% 2

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Colorado 8-5, 0-2 Big 12 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 15 Copeland, Chris..... f 6-12 2-5 8-9 3 11 14 4 22 0 2 3 1 35 30 Arrington, Lamont... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 9 05 Obazuaye, Jayson.... g 1-8 0-2 0-2 2 3 5 2 2 3 2 0 0 28 21 Hall, Marcus........ g 2-9 1-7 4-4 1 5 6 1 9 4 2 1 0 37 23 Roby, Richard....... g 6-14 3-8 5-7 0 1 1 3 20 1 2 0 4 29 01 Eddy, Glean......... 1-4 0-0 0-2 0 3 3 4 2 1 2 0 0 16 10 Senger, Scott....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 12 Freeman, Martane.... 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 1 1 10 32 King-Stockton,Marcus 1-1 0-0 2-2 5 1 6 2 4 0 0 2 1 22 42 McGee, Antoine...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 9 TEAM................ Totals.............. 18-52 6-23 19-26 11 26 37 20 61 9 12 10 8 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-22 27.3% 2nd Half: 12-30 40.0% Game: 34.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-11 36.4% 2nd Half: 2-12 16.7% Game: 26.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 75.0% 2nd Half: 13-18 72.2% Game: 73.1% 4

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Mark Whitehead, Tom Eades, Danny Hooker Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Colorado-None. Attendance: 3840 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 37 31 - 68 Colorado...................... 22 39 - 61 FOULED OUT: Dourisseau, Neb, 3:54 of second half; Turek, Neb, 1:53 of second half