NU Opens Two-Game Road Swing at Baylor

After ending a three-game home stand, the Nebraska men's basketball team hits the road for the first time in February when it travels to Waco, Texas, to take on the Baylor Bears on Saturday, Feb. 12 at the Ferrell Center. The game will tip off at 7:07 p.m. and can be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com with Randy Lee calling the action.

The game will also be seen throughout the state of Nebraska on FSN Midwest (Channel 37 on Time Warner in Lincoln; Channel 47 on Cox Cable in Omaha; Channel 33 on Qwest Choice in Omaha). Fans in western Nebraska who only receive the FSN Rocky Mountain package will also be able to see the game, while the contest will be carried on DirecTV (Channel 648) and Dish Network (Channel 447) to households in Nebraska. Greg Sharpe will handle play-by-play duties while former Husker Matt Davison adds color commentary.

The Huskers look to end a two-game losing streak when they take on the Bears. NU has dropped its last three Big 12 Conference games since earning a 77-67 victory over Texas A&M on Jan. 26.

NU will need to play well on the road to down a Baylor squad that has shown some fight despite suffering through a 1-8 start to conference play. Nebraska owns a 2-5 record away from Lincoln this season, including one road win in league play. The Huskers opened conference action with a 2-0 record after winning at Colorado, 68-61. The last time NU won two conference road games in a season was 2001 when the Huskers won at Kansas State and Colorado.

Freshman Joe McCray has led the Huskers with 14.9 points per game this season. He is on pace to set the NU freshman scoring average record, and with two points Saturday will become just the sixth Husker freshman to record at least 300 points in his debut season. McCray needs eight points to pass Cookie Belcher (305 points in 1997) for fifth on the frosh scoring chart, and 31 points to pass Jake Muhleisen (328 points in 2002).

At his current pace, McCray could become only the second freshman in Nebraska history to score at least 400 points. Dave Hoppen currently owns the frosh record with 445 points in 31 games in 1983.

McCray also ranks on the freshman charts for field goals (7th, 99), three-pointers (1st, 57) and steals (8th, 23). He needs just 12 rebounds to move into the NU freshman top 10 for rebounds, where he would join teammate Aleks Maric, who currently ranks seventh with 122 boards.

Maric, who is just getting back to full strength after battling the flu last week, needs five rebounds to move into fifth place on the chart. At his current pace of 6.4 rebounds per game, Maric can still surpass the Nebraska freshman record of 162 rebounds set by John Turek in 2002.

Turek is also about to put his name on another Nebraska career chart. The Council Bluffs, Iowa, native already ranks fifth in NU history with 150 career blocked shots, and with 17 boards will move into a tie 10th with Mikki Moore on the career rebounds chart. Moore had 661 rebounds from 1994 to 1997, while Eric Piatkowski is ninth with 664 from 1991 to 1994.

Turek has averaged 7.0 rebounds over the last five games. He is averaging 10.8 points per game in that span while hitting 68.8 percent (22-of-32) from the field. Turek is one of four Huskers averaging double figures in that stretch, along with McCray (13.2 ppg), Jason Dourisseau (11.8) and Jake Muhleisen (10.4). McCray scored a career-high 26 points in NU's contest against Iowa State while Dourisseau added a career-best 24 points against No. 3 Kansas in the previous game. Muhleisen had a season-best 25 points in NU's last league win over Texas A&M.

Muhleisen and Marcus Neal Jr. combined for 12 assists and one turnover against Iowa State Wednesday. As a team, the Huskers were forced into 19 turnovers while recording 17 assists. Muhleisen is 11th in league-only games with 3.56 assists per game and ninth in assist:turnover ratio (1.78:1) while Neal is tied for 12th in assists (3.44) and is 11th at 1.63:1 in assist:turnover ratio.

Meeting the Baylor Bears
Baylor returns to Waco for just the third time in seven games when it plays host to the Huskers this weekend. The Bears have dropped six straight league contests and enter the matchup with Nebraska with a 9-11 overall record and 1-8 league mark.

BU's lone conference victory came in a 67-59 win over Colorado in Waco. Eight of Baylor's nine victories have come on its home court, including a five-game home win streak to end non-conference play with an 8-3 mark.

The Bears are averaging 67.9 points on 44.6 percent shooting this season. BU has hit a solid 37.5 percent from outside the arc, but has allowed opponents to hit 46.5 percent from the field while countering with 36.6-percent accuracy from long range. Opponents have averaged 69.2 points per game and hold a +3.4 rebounding advantage over the Bears.

In league play, Baylor has allowed 76.2 points per game while gaining just 61.1. Opponents have hit 51.2 percent from the floor in conference action and hold a +7.2 rebounding advantage.

Baylor is led by one of the top newcomers in the league, as guard Aaron Bruce has gained 17.3 points per game to rank as the highest-scoring freshman in the conference. Bruce is a native of Horsham, Australia, and played on the 2003 Australia Under-20 world champion team with Husker freshman Aleks Maric.

Bruce, who has hit 48.6 percent from the floor while adding a team-best 44 three-pointers and 69 assists, is one of four Bears averaging double figures, along with Tim Bush (13.6 ppg), Tommy Swanson (12.1) and Patrick Fields (11.4). The four combine for nearly 55 of BU's 67.9 points per game. Bruce and Bush pace the squad by hitting 85.7 and 87.3 percent, respectively, from the charity stripe. Bush also adds 5.9 rebounds per game to rank second on the squad.

Swanson paces BU with 6.1 boards per game and has hit a team-high 52.7 percent from the floor. He leads the team with 18 blocked shots and is second behind Fields with 29 steals. Fields owns 30 steals to pace the team, and is second with 58 assists. Roscoe Biggers adds a third 50-assist man for the Bears.

Kevis Shipman ranks second on the squad with 35 three-pointers this season but is averaging just 6.1 points per game to rank fifth on the squad.

The Bears are guided by Coach Scott Drew (Butler, 1993), who is in his second season at BU. Drew, a former team manager for NU Coach Barry Collier at Butler, owns a 17-32 record at Baylor and is 37-43 in his third year as a head coach. He also spent one season at Valparaiso as coach, where he went 20-11.

Series History
The Baylor series is NU's second-shortest against conference foes, as this weekend's matchup will be just the 15th in the series. The Cornhuskers hold a 9-5 advantage over the Bears. Only the series with Texas A&M, which Nebraska leads 10-3, is shorter among NU's current conference opponents.

The home team has won the past five meetings, dating back to a 68-55 NU victory in Waco in 1999. Baylor has won three of the past five matchups, including an eight-point victory in the 2000 Big 12 Tournament.

The last time the Huskers went to Waco ? where BU holds a 3-2 series advantage including a 3-1 lead in the Ferrell Center ? Nebraska fell 78-64 in 2003. The teams went into halftime tied at 40-all, but BU held the Huskers to 33.3 percent shooting in the second frame to earn the victory. NU had hit 64.0 percent in the opening period. Brian Conklin hit 5-of-8 three-point attempts in that contest to pace NU with 15 points. The five current Huskers who played in that game combined for 14 points.

Nebraska has held the Bears to 70 or fewer points in eight of the past nine meetings, including holding BU to 50 or fewer points twice (1998 and 2004). Only four times in the series has the game been decided by 10 or fewer points.

The Last Time We Met
Lincoln, Neb. (Jan. 21, 2004) --- Guard Jason Dourisseau took advantage of his first start of the season by scoring a game-high 18 points, as Nebraska broke a three-game losing streak with a 76-47 victory over Baylor at the Devaney Center.

Dourisseau hit 7-of-12 shots from the floor, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. It was his best offensive performance since a 21-point effort in non-conference play.

The Huskers put together a balanced attack in leading wire-to-wire against Baylor. Three players finished in double figures while 11 Huskers broke into the scoring column with seniors Brian Conklin and Nate Johnson adding 11 points apiece. The Huskers shot 54 percent, including 11-of-18 from three-point range.

The Huskers took much of the suspense out of the game early, holding Baylor without a field goal for the first 13 minutes while building a 12-1 lead. The Bears missed their first 13 shots from the floor, and shot 24 percent in the opening half.

The duo of Johnson and Dourisseau nearly outscored the Bears in the first half, as the Huskers took a 26-17 lead into the locker room. Dourisseau scored eight points, including two three-pointers, while Johnson added seven points off the bench. The Huskers built a 14-point lead on three occasions in the first period, the last at 26-12 after Dourisseau’s three-pointer with 2:48 in the half. BU closed the period by scoring the last five points to get within nine on Will Allen’s three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining in the half.

Baylor whittled Nebraska’s lead to seven points in the opening minutes of the second half before the Huskers erupted for a 13-2 run to extend the margin to 39-21 at 15:38 on a dunk by Dourisseau. The Bears then made one last spurt, closing to within 39-26 after Terrance Thomas scored five straight points.

Conklin put the game out of reach, scoring nine of his 11 points ? all from three-point range ? during a 13-0 spurt and the Huskers cruised during the final 10 minutes. Conklin finished his career hitting 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) from three-point range against the Bears.

Thomas led Baylor with 16 points and nine rebounds. He was the only player in double figures for BU, which shot just 31 percent from the floor.

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 seven games.

During that seven-game stretch, NU has hit 74.9 percent (125-of-167) overall at the foul line and has topped 66.7 percent in all seven 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 71.4 percent at the line in league play. He is one of four Huskers ? along with Marcus Neal Jr. (83.3), Wes Wilkinson (78.3) and Aleks Maric (73.9) ? hitting at least 70 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.

Dourisseau Getting Into the Act
After struggling with an ankle injury that sidelined him early in the league slate, guard Jason Dourisseau has started to make a strong resurgence within the Husker offense the past few games.

Dourisseau is third on the team in scoring (9.5 ppg) and is second by hitting 46.8 percent (58-of-124) from the floor. He is second on the squad and 18th in the league in rebounding at 5.4 boards per game.

In the past five contests since returning from his two-game injury absence, Dourisseau has averaged 11.8 points per game while hitting 52.5 percent (21-of-40) from the floor, including 2-of-7 from outside the arc.

Dourisseau poured in a career-high 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting against No. 3 Kansas. The Omaha native also hit 7-of-12 from the free throw line and added five boards and three steals in 26 minutes.

Following the strong performance, Dourisseau re-entered the starting lineup against Iowa State. He scored 11 points with three boards, one block and two steals in 33 minutes.

Dourisseau has started 13 of his 17 games played this year. His numbers this season have already surpassed last year's marks, as he has 92 rebounds, 17 steals and is third on the squad with 31 assists. Last season, he had 60 rebounds, 13 steals and 17 assists in 31 games.

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

Dourisseau followed with 18 points and set a career high for the second straight game by grabbing 12 rebounds. He also hit 8-of-11 free throw attempts after getting fouled repeatedly while slashing to the basket.

In the Huskers' road victory over Colorado on Jan. 12, Dourisseau had his best game in nearly a month, as he recorded 11 points with seven rebounds in 26 minutes. He slashed past the Buffs at will while recording eight points in the opening frame as NU opened a 15-point halftime lead on the road.

Turek Shooting Lights Out Lately
Senior forward John Turek has picked up his play as his final season starts to wind down.

The Council Bluffs, Iowa, native has hit 68.8 percent (22-of-32) from the field over the past five games while ranking third on the team with 10.8 points per game. Turek has also led the team with seven rebounds per game during that stretch with four blocked shots and three steals.

In conference play, Turek leads the Huskers by hitting 58.3 percent (28-of-48) from the floor and is second in rebounding at 5.0 boards per game. He is averaging 8.1 points and paces the squad with 1.1 blocks per game in league action to rank among the top 15 in the conference.

Only Jason Dourisseau (51.1 percent, 24-of-47) and Corey Simms (50.0 percent, 10-of-20) join Turek in shooting at least 50.0 percent from the field against Big 12 foes this year.

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 22.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per game this season while making an impression on the rest of the league.

McCray is 14th in scoring (14.9 ppg), while Maric is 12th in rebounding (6.4 rpg) on the season. McCray is second in three-pointers per game (2.85) and is eighth in three-point shooting percentage (36.1).

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 sixth on the rookie points scored chart with 298 and is currently on pace to break the freshman scoring average mark set by Jerry Fort in 1973 when he averaged 14.5 ppg.

Maric moved onto the freshman rebounding chart, taking over seventh place as he has 122 boards this season. At his current average of 6.4 boards per game, Maric is on pace to break 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. 11, McCray ranks 14th in scoring at 14.9 points per game on the season, the third-highest scoring freshman in the Big 12 Conference and one of just four freshmen in the top 20. McCray has hit 40.4 percent from the floor and is 14th in league-only games by scoring 15.2 points per game.

McCray is second in the conference with 2.85 three-pointers per contest and ranked 45th nationally last week. He also paces the Huskers with 57 three-pointers, and is eighth in the conference in three-point percentage by hitting 36.1 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.

The scoring phenom tied the Nebraska record for 20-plus point games when he posted a career-best 26 points against Iowa State in Lincoln. He hit 7-of-15 from the field, including four treys, and hit 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. All three times he went to the free throw line came after he was fouled while shooting three-point attempts. The 26 points tied for fifth on the NU freshman single-game scoring chart.

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. 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 solid inside, averaging 7.2 points and 6.4 rebounds to open his career.

Maric missed the Utah Valley State game with the flu and did not seem to be at 100 percent in the past two games against Kansas and Iowa State, but he still ranks 12th in the league in rebounding, including eighth in offensive rebounding. In the conference-only games, Maric is adding a team-best 5.1 boards per game.

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 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 third on the team with 10.0 points per game while hitting 46.9 percent from the floor. He has scored in double figures five times in nine 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 4.6 rebounds per game against conference foes after posting a career-high nine rebounds against Iowa State in Lincoln. He has also hit 78.3 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. He came back with 13 points, three boards, two blocks and two steals against the Jayhawks in a loss in Lincoln. 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 1.1 blocks per game this season. He has 22 blocked shots in 19 games to rank eighth (1.16 bpg) in the Big 12 Conference this year. He has had at least two blocks in seven games this year, after having just 13 blocks last year.

Huskers Hitting the Glass
Nebraska has been relentless on the boards throughout the season. On the year, the Huskers are second in the league in rebounding with 39.9 boards per game and are second in rebounding margin at +6.7. In Big 12 Conference games, NU is third in rebounding at 37.3 boards per contest and fourth in rebounding margin at +2.9.

In the Feb. 7 NCAA statistics, the Huskers ranked 17th in the nation in rebounding margin (+6.8).

Freshman Aleks Maric ranks 12th in the league with 6.4 rebounds per game to pace the Huskers. Maric has recorded three double-figure rebound games (15, 14, 11) this season. Junior Jason Dourisseau ranks second on the team after gaining 5.4 rebounds per game over 17 games and ranks 18th in the conference. In league-only games, Maric paces NU with 5.1 boards.

Overall, the Huskers have taken a rebounding advantage in 16 of 20 games. Nebraska has outrebounded seven of nine 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.

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 of all time. Turek enters the contest against Baylor with 862 career points and 644 rebounds. He needs just 17 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 150 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 is tied for the squad lead with 22 rejections along with 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 Baylor with 859 points, 319 rebounds, 264 assists and 91 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 four games this season, including six assists against one turnover at home against Iowa State.

Overall, Muhleisen now has 58 assists against just 31 turnovers this season. He is second on the team in assists, behind only senior point guard Marcus Neal Jr. who has 69.The Lincoln native has recorded a 1.78:1 assist-to-turnover ratio (32:18) in league play to rank ninth and is 11th in the league with 3.55 assists per game.

All About Defense
Under Coach Barry Collier, the Huskers have rewrote the Nebraska defensive record book. Nebraska is again putting up some solid numbers, as the Huskers:

? ranked 17th rebound margin (+6.8) in the NCAA statistics of Feb. 7, 44th in field-goal percentage defense (40.5) and 48th in scoring defense (62.6).

? 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 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.? held Marquette to just 39.7 percent shooting, including 34.3 percent (11-of-32) inside the arc.

? gave up just 45 points to Montana State on 30.0 percent shooting.

? limited Colorado to 34.6 percent (18-of-52) from the floor, including 27.3 percent in the first half, as Nebraska won its conference road opener for the first time since 1993-94 with a 68-61 win at Colorado.

? held No. 10/9 Texas to just 22.2 percent (4-of-18) shooting from three-point range, including 1-of-8 (12.5 percent) in the second half.

? allowed No. 2/2 Kansas to hit just 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) from beyond the arc while scoring just 59 points at home in Allen Fieldhouse.

Home Sweet Home
NU has a strong record of success playing in front of its home crowd the past 29 seasons. Nebraska is 8-5 at home this year and owns a 340-108 home record since moving into the Devaney Center in the 1976-77 season.

Last year, Nebraska earned a perfect 10-0 mark at home 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.

Overall, the Huskers were 15-3 at home last year. The 15 wins tied for second most in Devaney Center history. Overall, the Huskers are now 52-24 at home under Coach Collier with 11 of the losses coming against ranked teams.