Huskers Open Big 12 Play with Victory

Lincoln --- Marcus Neal Jr. scored 13 points in overtime and Wes Wilkinson added a career-high 22 points to lead Nebraska to a 95-85 double overtime victory over Kansas State in front of 8,003 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Saturday.

With the victory, Nebraska improved to 7-4 on the season and opened conference play with a win for the first time since the formation of the Big 12 before the 1996-97 season. The last time NU opened league play at home was in 1996 when the Huskers won 79-74 over Colorado.

“It sure helps to play at home and play in front of a great crowd. We got a big boost from the crowd,” said NU Coach Barry Collier. “The team is playing better throughout the year as we go along. We played hard for 50 minutes and came out ahead again after doing it a week ago (against Tennessee).”

Neal had a chance to seal the win in regulation, eerily similar to the situation he encountered just over a week ago at Tennessee. Neal hit three free throws in the final second for a one-point win at UT, and had a chance to do the same against the Wildcats.

After Fred Peete missed two free throws with seven seconds remaining, Joe McCray grabbed the rebound and got it to Neal, who pushed it up the court. As KSU tried to trap Neal, he put up a shot and was fouled by Jeremiah Massey with 1.3 seconds left in the contest. Neal missed his first attempt, but drained the next two to tie it at 69-69 at the end of regulation.

In the first overtime, Neal had five points while Jake Muhleisen and Wes Wilkinson each added three. Wilkinson’s three-pointer with 2:26 left in the extra session pulled the Huskers even at 76-all. After pushing the lead back to three on Muhleisen’s free throw with 29 seconds remaining, Lance Harris tied it up at 80-all. Harris hit a three-pointer with nine seconds left to forge the tie and force NU’s first double-overtime game since the 1999-2000 season opener, a victory over Eastern Illinois.

Nebraska struck first in the second overtime as Joe McCray’s jumper in the lane put NU ahead 82-80. McCray was one of five Huskers to finish in double figures, as he recorded 10 points with six rebounds. Aleks Maric tied McCray with six boards and added a career-high tying 12 points, as the Huskers earned a 39-33 advantage on the glass.

Wilkinson then started the Huskers’ 11-1 run to seal the victory. The Grand Island native hit a three-pointer with 1:31 left to play in the second overtime to give the Huskers an 87-84 lead. Following a Justin Williams free throw, Neal came back with another three-pointer 17 seconds later to put the Huskers ahead by five. Neal then sandwiched two pair of free throws around Maric’s charity shot to put Nebraska up by the final double-figure margin.

Despite letting Kansas State come back from a 12-point deficit midway through the second half, the Huskers finished the game hitting 52.5 percent from the floor. It was their second-highest shooting percentage of the season, trailing only the 54.4 percent NU hit in the season opener. The Husker drained 58.3 percent from the field in the overtime sessions, and tied their season high with nine three-pointers.

Wilkinson led the way with a career-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting while adding four boards, three assists and one blocked shot in 34 minutes. Muhleisen played a career-high 48 minutes in the contest and picked up six points, five boards and nine assists, just one off his career high total.  John Turek added a season-high 17 points, including 5-of-5 from the free throw line, with five boards. Nebraska hit 64.7 percent (22-of-34) from the line while KSU hit just 55.6 percent (15-of-27).

Nebraska struggled from the floor early in the contest, hitting just one of its first five shots with four turnovers. After coming into the game averaging just 14.2 turnovers per game, the Huskers had nine in the first half before finishing with 16 in the game.

The cold start did not last long though as the Huskers started to find their stroke midway through the period. Nebraska hit nine of its next 10 attempts to start a 16-6 run after being tied at 9-9 with 13:16 to play before intermission. Jason Dourisseau opened the run with a three-pointer from the wing before Wilkinson and McCray added treys around a Cartier Martin three-pointer to open an 18-12 Nebraska lead.

The Huskers finished the first half on a 7-2 run behind a three-pointer from Muhleisen and a pair of baskets from Wilkinson, including a tip-in with 43 seconds left and a jumper in the lane with two ticks left on the clock. NU headed into the locker room with a 36-26 lead as Wilkinson tied his career high with 13 points in the first 20 minutes while hitting 6-of-8 attempts from the floor.

In the second period, NU opened the lead to 12 points, 50-38, on Maric’s jumper with 14:33 to play before the Wildcats came storming back. KSU went on a 7-0 run fueled by five points from Cartier Martin to cut the lead to five. Martin finished the game with a career-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

Nebraska extended the lead back out to nine points on Turek’s jumper with 11:12 remaining, but the ?Cats would not go away as they whittled the lead to one point, 62-61, with just under five minutes to play. Marques Hayden then gave KSU its first lead since 3-2 with a jumper at the 3:32 mark. The lead exchanged hands two more times before KSU went ahead by three points with 43 seconds left on Clent Stewart’s free throw. McCray cut the lead to one with a jumper with 26 ticks left on the clock and, following a Stewart free throw, Neal stepped up big again for the Huskers.

Nebraska returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 12, when it makes its first conference road trip of the season. The Huskers head to Boulder, Colo., to take on the Colorado Buffaloes at 8 p.m. CST. The game can be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com and will be televised in the state of Nebraska on FSN Midwest.

Official Basketball Box Score
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1/8/05 7:07 p.m. at Lincoln, Neb. (DevaneyCenter)<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

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VISITORS: KansasState 10-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
20 Martin, Cartier..... f  8-12   4-5    3-4    0  7  7   4  23  0  3  1  1  42
23 Hayden, Marques..... f  4-12   0-0    2-4    3  3  6   3  10  1  2  1  0  35
54 Williams, Justin.... f  0-2    0-0    3-4    0  2  2   4   3  1  4  0  0  25
05 Stewart, Clent...... g  1-3    1-1    2-4    0  3  3   5   5  2  1  0  1  30
12 Peete, Fred......... g  6-12   1-3    0-2    1  3  4   5  13  5  2  0  1  45
01 Thomas, Schyler.....    2-2    2-2    0-0    0  1  1   1   6  0  0  0  0  17
03 Harris, Lance.......    3-9    2-7    0-0    1  0  1   1   8  3  0  0  1  22
04 Allen, Curtis.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
15 Massey, Jeremiah....    4-7    0-0    4-7    0  3  3   1  12  2  1  0  1  25
55 Hughes, Tyler.......    2-2    0-0    1-2    0  0  0   2   5  0  0  0  0   8
   Team................                         3  3  6             1
   Totals..............   30-61  10-18  15-27   8 25 33  26  85 14 14  2  5 25TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-23 47.8%   2nd Half: 14-24 58.3%   OT:  5-14 35.7%   Game: 49.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-6  50.0%   2nd Half:  4-6  66.7%   OT:  3-6  50.0%   Game: 55.6%   REBS

F Throw % 1st Half:  1-2  50.0%   2nd Half: 11-19 57.9%   OT:  3-6  50.0%   Game: 55.6%    7

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HOME TEAM: Nebraska 7-4
                          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  6-8    0-0    5-5    2  3  5   5  17  0  2  2  0  30
01 Dourisseau, Jason... g  2-3    1-1    2-6    1  3  4   3   7  3  3  0  0  34
02 McCray, Joe......... g  4-15   2-9    0-0    2  4  6   1  10  2  0  0  1  34
10 Neal, Marcus........ g  4-9    2-5    9-11   0  4  4   2  19  3  5  0  0  30
12 Muhleisen, Jake..... g  2-5    1-3    1-3    0  5  5   2   6  9  3  0  1  48
11 Wilkinson, Wes......    9-14   3-7    1-2    2  2  4   4  22  3  2  1  0  34
15 Schliep, Bronsen....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
21 Simms, Corey........    1-2    0-0    0-2    0  3  3   3   2  0  1  0  0  18
31 Maric, Aleks........    4-5    0-0    4-5    2  4  6   2  12  0  0  1  2  21
   TEAM................                         2     2
   Totals..............   32-61   9-25  22-34  11 28 39  22  95 20 16  4  4 250

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-25 56.0%   2nd Half: 11-24 45.8%   OT:  7-12 58.3%   Game: 52.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-11 45.5%   2nd Half:  0-8   0.0%   OT:  4-6  66.7%   Game: 36.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-3  100 %   2nd Half: 11-16 68.8%   OT:  8-15 53.3%   Game: 64.7%    5

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Officials: Mike Thibodeaux, Paul Janssen, Greg Rennegarbe
Technical fouls: KansasState-None. Nebraska-None.
Attendance: 8003Score by Periods                1st  2nd   OT  OT2   Total
Kansas State..................   26   43   11    5  -   85
Nebraska......................   36   33   11   15  -   95