Huskers Ready for Nationally Televised Matchup with No. 3 Kansas

After cruising through its final non-conference contest of the season, the Nebraska men's basketball team looks to defend its home court on Saturday, Feb. 5, when it plays host to No. 3 Kansas before a national television audience and standing-room only crowd at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

The game will tip off at 11:02 a.m. and will be seen on ESPN, with Ron Franklin calling the action and Fran Fraschilla adding color commentary. It will be the third of four Husker games seen on ESPN or ESPN2 this season. Saturday's matchup will also be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com with Randy Lee (play-by-play) and Matt Davison (color).

Nebraska enters the weekend in the middle of a three-game home stand. The Huskers began the week on a solid note as they crushed Utah Valley State, 91-57, on Tuesday, and follow the KU contest with a home matchup against Iowa State on Tuesday, Feb. 8.

NU used the UVSC contest to regain its shooting touch, as the Huskers hit a season-best 55.6 percent (33-of-59) from the floor and 90.9 percent (20-of-22) from the charity stripe. Nine players scored for the Huskers, who picked up a 42-19 lead on the glass for their 15th rebounding advantage in 18 games this year.

Forward John Turek put up career numbers against the Wolverines as he tied his career high with 24 points, including 21 in the first half. Turek hit his first six field-goal attempts and finished the game nailing 10-of-14 attempts while grabbing a team-best 13 boards.

Turek was not the only Husker to get back into a groove, as freshman Joe McCray ? the Huskers' leading scorer this season ? added 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting while dishing out a career-high five assists without a turnover. McCray, who leads the Big 12 in three-pointers per game, hit 3-of-5 from long range after hitting 2-of-11 his previous two games.

Turek enters the game hitting 59.5 percent from the floor at home while averaging 11.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game at the Devaney Center this season. McCray leads the team with 13.2 points per game in Lincoln while adding 5.2 boards. Marcus Neal Jr. rounds out NU's three double-figure scorers at home with 11.8 points and 3.0 assists per game. Neal and McCray have combined for 51 of NU's 70 three-pointers this year in the Devaney Center.

The Huskers come into the game looking to knock off a ranked opponent for the first time this season. NU is 0-2 against top-25 teams after falling at home to No. 10/9 Texas, 63-53, and dropping a 59-57 contest at No. 2 Kansas.

Nebraska has allowed ranked teams to hit just 41.4 percent from the floor this year, including 22.9 percent (8-of-35) from three-point range. The Huskers have also held a +5.5 advantage, 42.5-37.0, on the glass in those contests.

Over the past two seasons, the Huskers are 2-2 at the Devaney Center against top-25 teams, with wins over No. 12/13 Kansas, 74-55, and No. 25 Texas Tech, 72-44, last season. NU's loses were to Texas this season and a two-point setback against No. 25 Oklahoma last year. Since the start of last season, NU has also lost four road games against top-25 teams by a combined 19 points.

The Huskers look to snap a six-game losing streak against top-5 ranked teams at the Devaney Center. The Huskers faced Kansas five times in that stretch, with the only other top-5 team in the Devaney Center in that frame being No. 5 Oklahoma in 2002.

NU's last win over a top-5 team at home came in 1993 when the Huskers earned a 68-64 win over No. 3 Kansas. NU also had a near-miss against No. 1 Kansas in 2002, when the Jayhawks picked up an 88-87 win despite the Huskers hitting a school-record 18 three-pointers on their home court.

In the Devaney Center, the Huskers have held opponents to 55.0 points per game this year, including allowing 80 points just one time ? a double-overtime victory over Kansas State to open league play. Nebraska is 2-1 in Big 12 action at home, and has averaged 75.0 points per game at home in conference play.

Meeting the Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas enters the weekend matchup with an impressive 17-1 overall record, including a Big 12-best 7-0 mark in league play. KU has won three straight since suffering its first defeat, an 83-62 setback against Villanova in Philadelphia.

Overall, the Jayhawks have a 4-0 record on the road, and are 1-1 in neutral site contests. KU has won at Kentucky (which is currently ranked No. 6/4), Iowa State, Colorado and Baylor this season, and also picked up a win away from Lawrence with an 11-point victory over UW-Milwaukee in Kansas City.

Following their only loss, the Jayhawks picked up a 20-point at Baylor and followed with an impressive 90-65 home victory over No. 20/18 Texas. KU hit 50.0 percent from the floor and recorded 24 assists against 10 turnovers while producing nine steals vs. the Longhorns.

Kansas' latest victory came in a Big Monday matchup on ESPN, when the Jayhawks held off a strong-charging Missouri squad, 73-61. MU went into the locker room with a lead but Kansas dominated the second half to improve to 12-0 at home this season.

Senior forward Wayne Simien leads the way for the Jayhawks as he averages 18.0 points and a league-best 10.4 rebounds per game. Simien has hit 54.3 percent from the floor and 75.0 percent from the charity stripe in 14 games this season.

Along with Simien, Keith Langford and J.R. Giddens average double figures with 14.1 and 10.7 points per game, respectively. Langford adds 4.3 rebounds and is second on the team with 56 assists, while Giddens paces the squad in three-pointers with 42 on 37.8 percent shooting from long range.

Aaron Miles completes one of the top backcourts in the nation, as he adds 8.9 points with a league-best 7.1 assists per game. Miles also paces the team with 35 steals and is second with 23 three-pointers.

The Jayhawks are guided by Coach Bill Self (Oklahoma State, 1985), who is in his second season at KU. Self has led the Jayhawks to a 17-1 record this season and owns a 41-10 two-year total in Lawrence. Self is in his 12th year as a head coach and owns a 251-115 career mark at Oral Roberts, Tulsa, Illinois and Kansas. He has led his team to a postseason berth each of the past six seasons and seven times overall.

Series History
Nebraska and Kansas are meeting for the 227th time in the series with KU holding a 155-71 advantage. NU leads the series 17-10 at the Devaney Center but trails in the series in Lincoln 56-44.

Kansas has won 15 of the past 18 meetings since the formation of the Big 12 in 1996-97. The Huskers swept the regular-season series in 1999 but KU won a rematch at the Big 12 Tournament.

NU snapped a nine-game Kansas win streak last year with a 74-55 victory over the No. 12/13 Jayhawks. John Turek scored 14 points and added seven rebounds, while Andrew Drevo and Nate Johnson each added 14 points. The Huskers shot 56.3 percent from the field, hit 8-of-16 from long range and were a perfect 12-of-12 at the line.

Last year's win was NU's largest over Kansas in 22 years and the fourth-largest margin of victory ever for the Huskers over a ranked team. It also was NU’s first win against a top-15 team since a 74-69 win over seventh-ranked Iowa State on Feb. 22, 1997, on the road. The win snapped the Huskers’ 19-game losing streak against top-15 teams.

Nebraska won its third straight league contest with the victory over KU, the first time since 1998-99 NU had won three straight conference games. The game was also the only sellout at the Devaney Center during the season, but started a streak of five straight home games of at least 10,000 in attendance to end the year.

The Nebraska victory came one year after Kansas handed the Huskers their worst defeat in Devaney Center history, 81-51, in 2003. Nebraska handed KU its worst loss in program history with a 48-8 victory in the team's first-ever meeting during the 1899-1900 season. The Jayhawks returned the favor with a 102-46 win over NU in 1958.

The Last Time We Met
Lawrence, Kan. (Jan. 8, 2005) --- Despite giving up 10-0 run to start the second half, the Huskers kept their composure in one of the toughest arenas in the nation and had the final shot to win, but came up just short, allowing No. 2 Kansas hold on for a 59-57 victory at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas missed 4-of-6 free throws in the final two minutes before Joe McCray’s layup with 25 seconds remaining pulled Nebraska within one point, 58-57. An Aaron Miles free throw then made it a two-point KU advantage and set up the Huskers’ final play.

Following an NU timeout, Marcus Neal Jr. tried to work the ball around the top of the key, but the Jayhawks’ pressure slowed the play. Corey Simms ended up with the ball with less than four seconds remaining and sidestepped a Jayhawk defender before putting up a long-range attempt for the win that hit off the right side of the rim. KU’s Alex Galindo pulled down the rebound as time expired.

Nebraska got into contention to shoot for the win behind the play of freshman Joe McCray and junior Wes Wilkinson. McCray stepped up big with 10 points in the second half and finished with a game-high 19 points while Wilkinson added 16 in his third start of the year.

The Huskers led 24-21 at the intermission, but Kansas began the second half with a 14-2 run, including 12 straight points to open the frame. Wayne Simien, who was held without a point or rebound in the first period, scored seven points in the surge while Keith Langford, who had just one point in the opening stanza, added a pair of baskets to give KU a 35-26 lead with 12:23 to play.

Nebraska cut into the lead with three-pointers from Wilkinson and Neal. After a pair of Miles free throws put Kansas ahead 40-32, freshman Aleks Maric started a 9-2 Nebraska run with a bucket in the paint. NU pulled within one, 42-41, on Maric’s basket with 9:19 to play.

Trailing 49-44 with 5:25 to left, McCray came up big with eight straight points. McCray hit a pair of foul shots and then drained two of three charity shots after being fouled outside the arc. After adding one more free throw to cut the lead to seven, 55-48, at the 4:10 mark, McCray drained his third trey of the game to make it 55-51 with 3:08 left.

McCray hit 3-of-7 three-point attempts on the game, with the final made trey tying the Nebraska freshman record. McCray picked up his 44th triple of the season to equal the mark set by Eric Piatkowski in 1991.

Nebraska opened the game on a 6-0 run behind a pair of baskets from John Turek and a jumper from Wilkinson. Kansas came right back with a 14-2 run over a six-minute span before McCray scored six straight to knot it at 14-all. Wilkinson gave Nebraska its biggest lead off the game at five points, 23-18, with a three-pointer at the 2:33 mark.

A native of Grand Island, Neb., Wilkinson finished with 16 points and five boards while Turek had five points and four boards. Maric led the Huskers with eight rebounds and McCray had seven boards as Nebraska earned an advantage on the glass for the 12th time in 14 contests, including all four Big 12 matchups.

The Huskers hit just 31.6 percent, including 29.2 percent from the line, but hit 14-of-21 (66.7 percent) from the charity stripe while KU connected on just 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) of its free throws.

Nebraska held the Jayhawks to 42.0 percent from the floor and 23.5 percent from three-point range. Simien led the way with 12 points, all in the second frame, while Langford and J.R. Giddens had nine points.

Muhleisen Turning Up His Play vs. Big 12
Senior guard Jake Muhleisen struggled through most of the non-conference slate while being bothered by a wrist injury, but has recently seen a surge in his play since moving into the Big 12 slate.

The Lincoln native has averaged 8.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game in conference action. While those numbers are only mildly better than his 6.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for the season, his shooting percentages are radically improved.

Muhleisen has hit 45.5 percent (20-of-44) from the field in league action after hitting just 32.2 percent (19-of-59) against non-conference opponents. Outside the arc, Muhleisen has improved his shooting percentage from 20.0 percent (5-of-25) to 38.1 percent (8-of-21). Over the past four games, Muhleisen has hit 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from long range to pace the Huskers.

The three-year captain had possibly his most complete Big 12 game ever while helping Nebraska to a 77-67 win over Texas A&M. Muhleisen had a game-high 25 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including hitting 10-of-11 from the free throw line. He also added six boards and several hustle plays.

Muhleisen recorded a season-best nine assists against three turnovers in the league-opening win over Kansas State. He played a career-high 48 minutes in the game and is averaging a career-high 34.0 minutes per game in league action.

On the Line
After not finding much success at the free throw line early in the season, the Huskers have seen better efficiency at the charity stripe in the past five games.

During that five-game stretch, NU has hit 75.6 percent (93-of-123) overall at the foul line and has topped 66.7 percent in all five games. NU had connected on 66.7 percent in just three of its first 13 games.

The Huskers drained 32-of-45 free-throw attempts in their 10-point win over Texas A&M. Both the attempts and made free throws were season highs. In fact, the attempts were the second-highest in the Collier era, trailing only the 47 attempts NU had in 2001 in a victory over nationally ranked Texas.

Nebraska made its first eight free throw attempts against the Aggies and its final 10, including eight made in the last five minutes of the game by Jake Muhleisen. The senior guard hit 10-of-11 from the stripe and is now connecting on 70.6 percent at the line in league play. He is one of four Huskers ? along with Marcus Neal Jr. (80.0), Wes Wilkinson (70.6) and Aleks Maric (68.4) ? hitting at least 68 percent from the line against Big 12 foes.

NU came back with 10 consecutive made free throws to open the game at Texas Tech, giving it 20 straight over two games. Nebraska finished the game hitting 19-of-25 from the charity stripe, the first time this season NU has hit better than 75.0 percent from the line while attempting at least 20 free throws.

The Huskers had their best night at the line this season when they hit 20-of-22 (90.9 percent) at the stripe against Utah Valley State. NU connected on the first 10 free-throw attempts of the night and missed only one attempt each half. It was NU's highest percentage since hitting 12-of-12 attempts in a 74-55 victory over No. 12/13 Kansas in Lincoln last year.

Taking Care of the Rock
The Huskers have been doing a better job taking care of the ball recently by averaging just 13.4 turnovers per game during the Big 12 slate.

The Huskers' primary ballhandler during that stretch has been senior guard Jake Muhleisen. The Lincoln native has recorded a 1.53:1 assist-to-turnover ratio in league play to rank 12th. Muhleisen has added 3.3 assists per game ? including a season-high nine assists in a double-overtime victory against Kansas State to open league play. Marcus Neal Jr. has added 3.43 assists per contest against Big 12 teams to tie for 10th and is 14th in assist-to-turnover ratio in league action at 1.33:1.

Neal leads the team this season with 62 assists in 18 games (3.4 apg). Last year, Neal had 62 assists in 31 games to rank second on the team. Neal has recorded at least five assists in a game five times, including setting a career-best six assists on four occasions this year.

Neal had an impressive stretch near the end of the non-conference slate as he recorded 25 assists against seven turnovers in a five-game period. Overall Neal has recorded 49 assists against 24 miscues in the past 12 games, after starting the season with 13 assists against 14 turnovers in six games.

John Turek and Wes Wilkinson have benefited the most from NU's improved ballhandling during conference play. Turek is hitting 52.6 percent from the field in the seven league games while averaging 7.6 points per game. Wilkinson has been just as impressive, hitting 50.0 percent to rank second on the team with 10.4 points per game against Big 12 opponents.

Hitting the Long Ball
After losing Brian Conklin (66 treys on 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.

NU has hit 120 three-pointers this season (6.7 per game), and could become just the third Husker squad to record 200 treys in a season. The 2002 Husker squad averaged 9.5 treys per game to set the Nebraska record of 267 made three-pointers, while last year's squad hit 210 threes to rank second in NU history. Three of the top four NU teams in terms of made three-pointers have come in the past four seasons under Coach Barry Collier.

Freshman Joe McCray leads the way for the Huskers this season, as he has 52 made three-pointers in 18 games. McCray already owns the NU freshman record and is nearing the NU single-season top 10 (10th place is 59 treys). At his current pace of 2.89 treys per game ? which leads all Big 12 players over the season ? McCray could challenge to break into the top three on the NU single-season chart. The record is 89 set by Cary Cochran in 2002. 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 five treys in consecutive games against Colorado and Texas. McCray then broke the NU freshman record of 44 three-pointers by Eric Piatkowski set in 1990-91 when he recorded three treys at Missouri. McCray has had four games with at least five three-pointers this season.

Fab Freshmen
The Huskers have been getting amazing production out of their freshman class of guard Joe McCray and center Aleks Maric. The tandem has combined for 22.7 points and 12.2 rebounds per game this season while making an impression on the rest of the league.

McCray is 16th in league-only games in scoring (14.9 ppg), while Maric is 10th in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and McCray is 20th (5.4). McCray is third in conference-only contests in three-pointers per game (2.86) and is 10th in three-point shooting percentage (35.1).

Both McCray and Maric have moved onto the Nebraska freshman top-10 charts, with McCray likely to post one of the top rookie seasons in NU history. For complete NU freshman records, see page 12.

McCray has already moved into eighth on the rookie points scored chart with 265 and is currently on pace to break the freshman scoring average mark set by Dave Hoppen in 1983 (14.2 ppg).

Maric moved onto the freshman rebounding chart, taking over seventh place as he has 121 boards this season. At his current average of 7.1 boards per game, Maric is on pace to race past the NU rookie record set by John Turek in 2002 (162 rebounds).

McCray Making a Splash
By ranking among the top 15 in the conference in scoring midway through the season, freshman guard Joe McCray has already showed that he will 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 was 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 Feb. 4, McCray ranks 12th in scoring at 14.7 points per game on the season, the second-highest scoring freshman in the Big 12 Conference and one of just four freshmen in the top 20. McCray has hit 40.9 percent from the floor to rank 15th in the Big 12 and is 16th in league-only games by scoring 14.9 points per game.

McCray is second in the conference with 2.89 three-pointers per contest and ranked 37th nationally this week. He also paces the Huskers with 52 three-pointers, and is seventh in the conference in three-point percentage by hitting 37.1 percent beyond the arc on the year.

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 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.

McCray became just the third Husker freshman to record five 20-plus point games in his rookie season when he gained 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting, including 5-of-12 from long range, against No. 10/9 Texas. It was his second straight 21-point contest, as he also hit 5-of-8 three-pointers to score 21 points in a 68-61 win over Colorado on the road as NU opened the league slate 2-0 for the first time since 1993-94.

McCray has also added a pair of 19-point contests, including a game-high 19 points with seven rebounds at No. 2/2 Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse. In his last game, McCray had 16 points against Utah Valley State while adding a career-high five assists without a turnover.

Maric in the Middle
Freshman Aleks Maric has been making some noise in the paint for the Huskers in his rookie season. The 6-11, 265-pound native of Sydney, Australia, has been a workhorse inside, averaging 8.0 points and 7.1 rebounds to open his career.

Despite missing NU's last game while battling an illness, Maric ranks ninth in the league in rebounding, including third in offensive rebounding. In the conference-only stats, Maric is 10th in the league at 6.4 boards per game, including fifth in offensive rebounds.

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 double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds against Morgan State in his first career start. He also had eight points and 11 rebounds against Colorado on the road to help NU to a 2-0 mark to open conference play.

Maric hit 6-of-8 shots from the floor to score a career-high 14 points at Missouri, and came back with nine points, including connecting on 5-of-8 from the free throw line against Texas A&M. His offensive surge came after struggling through three games when he was 7-for-28 from the field. Maric then added eight points and nine boards at Texas Tech for another near-miss.

Maric needs one more double-double to tie the NU freshman mark of three set by Taylor in 1973-74. He 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 Gaining Confidence With Solid Play
Junior forward Wes Wilkinson has come on strong in his third season in the Husker program and is quickly turning into one of Nebraska's top offensive threats.

A 6-9, 220-pounder from Grand Island, Neb., Wilkinson raised expectations after his solid play in the Huskers' Australian Summer Tour in August when he averaged 13.2 points and 7.0 rebounds over six games, including a pair of double-doubles. But his progress was hindered on the first day of fall practice when he suffered a broken bone in his left foot forcing him to sit out of practice for five weeks, including NU's season opener.

After seeing limited minutes in the first four games after his return, Wilkinson has finally worked his way back into the mix and found his groove.

In Big 12 play, Wilkinson is second on the team with 10.4 points per game while hitting 50.0 percent from the floor. He has scored in double figures four times in seven league games, including a career-high 22 points with four boards in a career-high 34 minutes against Kansas State. He had not recorded a double-figure scoring game against Big 12 foes in his first two seasons. Wilkinson is also averaging 4.1 rebounds per game against conference foes and has hit 73.7 percent from the free throw line.

Wilkinson had 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting with five boards while helping the Huskers at No. 2/2 Kansas. Nebraska lost the game by just two points, 59-57. At Missouri, Wilkinson again came up big as he hit a career-high four three-pointers en route to 14 points and six boards.

Wilkinson, who set a career high with four assists against North Carolina A&T, has added 1.0 assists and 1.1 blocks per game this season. He has 18 blocked shots in 17 games to rank 10th (1.1 bpg) in the Big 12 Conference this year. He has had at least two blocks in five games this year, after having just 13 blocks last year.

Huskers Hitting the Glass
Nebraska has been relentless on the boards this season. On the year, the Huskers lead the league in rebounding with 40.7 boards per game and are second in rebounding margin at +7.5. In Big 12 Conference games, NU is first in rebounding at 38.6 boards per contest and tied for second in rebounding margin at +4.0.

In the Feb. 1 NCAA statistics, the Huskers ranked 21st in the nation in rebounding margin (+6.6).

Freshman Aleks Maric ranks ninth in the league with 7.1 rebounds per game to pace the Huskers. Maric has recorded three double-figure rebound games (15, 14, 11) this season. Junior Jason Dourisseau ranks 18th in the league after gaining 5.6 rebounds per game over 15 games. In league-only games, Maric is 10th with 6.4 boards and Joe McCray ranks 20th with 5.4 boards per contest.

Overall, the Huskers have taken a rebounding advantage in 15 of 18 games. Nebraska has outrebounded six of seven Big 12 opponents it has faced this year, including No. 10/9 Texas and at No. 2/2 Kansas.

The Huskers opened the season 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, and nearly added another 50-board game as they had 49 rebounds against Montana State before starting league play.

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 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff is NU's the largest rebounding margin since at least 1972-73. The previous high was +30 (72-42) against Oklahoma in 1991-92.

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 of all time. Turek enters the contest against Kansas with 842 career points and 630 rebounds. He needs just 31 boards to move into 10th on the Nebraska career chart.

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 is fifth in NU history with 148 blocked shots, 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 paces the squad with 20 rejections, two ahead of Wes Wilkinson.

If he were to lead the team in blocks this season, Turek would be the first Husker ever to pace the squad in four consecutive seasons. Dave Hoppen, the Huskers' career scoring leader who will be honored Saturday at halftime, 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 entered the season looking to become just the third Husker ever with 1,000 points, 700 rebounds and 100 blocks. The only Nebraska players who have reached those marks 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 currently enters the matchup with Kansas with 847 points, 310 rebounds, 255 assists and 88 steals in his career. With six rebounds against Texas A&M, he became the eighth player in NU history with at least 800 points, 300 rebounds, 250 assists and 50 steals.

In the Big 12 opener, Muhleisen set a season high with nine assists against three turnovers in a career-high 48 minutes in NU's double-overtime victory over KSU. He came back with five assists and seven points in a win at Colorado, and has now recorded at least five assists in three games this season.

Overall, Muhleisen now has 49 assists against just 28 turnovers this season. He is second on the team in assists, behind only senior point guard Marcus Neal Jr. The Lincoln native has recorded a 1.53:1 assist-to-turnover ratio in league play to rank 12th and has added 3.3 assists per game this season.

Richardson Handling the Pressure
Sophomore point guard Charles Richardson Jr. has been making a strong push for playing time recently. The Maywood, Ill., native did not play in NU's double-overtime victory against Kansas State and had logged just 14 minutes in Nebraska's first four league games before coming on strong the past four contests.

A speedy, defensive-minded player, Richardson came off the bench for 10 minutes to record three points, four rebounds and a steal at Missouri and followed with a season-best four points, three boards, three assists and a steal in 21 minutes against Texas A&M. His ballhandling skills, which he honed at Proviso East High School while playing in the same back court as Dee Brown (of No. 1-ranked Illinois) and Shannon Brown (of No. 10-ranked Michigan State), helped NU break the Aggies' pressure while pushing Nebraska to a 10-point victory.

Richardson has nine assists against three turnovers in the past three games, and has eight assists against three steals in league action. He has also averaged 1.8 rebounds in conference play and has hit 7-of-8 free throw attempts, after missing his first three in non-conference action.

Home Sweet Home
NU has a strong record of success playing in front of its home crowd the past 29 seasons. Nebraska is 8-3 at home this year, with the losses against Minnesota (now 14-6), Creighton (15-8) and Texas (15-5).

Nebraska 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 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 340-106 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 52-22 at home under Coach Collier with 10 of the losses coming against ranked teams.