Tigers Top Huskers, 56-53

Lincoln, Neb. --- Missouri hit 54.2 percent from the floor in the second half and held off a Nebraska rally to post a 56-53 victory Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

The Tigers (13-13, 5-7 Big 12) were harased into 12 turnovers in the opening period and trailed by as many as nine early in the second half. But the deficit wasn’t enough as the Tigers used a 10-2 run keyed by a pair of Marshall Brown three-pointers to get back in the contest, and then used timely stops on the defensive end to hold on for their first road win of the year.

Nebraska (11-12, 4-8 Big 12) pulled within one point on four occasions late in the game, but could not get over the hump. The Huskers hit 37.9 percent from the field in the second frame, including hitting just 2-of-12 from beyond the arc. Nebraska, which missed all four of its long-range attempts in the first half, had chances to get back in the game behind the play of freshman guard Joe Mcray.

McCray, who was held scoreless in the first period, came out with 12 points after the break, including 10 straight points for the Huskers in the final seven minutes when he and Missouri’s Thomas Gardner put on a two-man show.

McCray hit team’s first three-pointer of day at the 6:34 mark, after NU had missed its first 10 attempts from long range. McCray came back at the other end and took a charge on Gardner before Gardner hit a trey of his own for 48-44 Missouri lead. McCray countered with a steal and layup to cut the MU margin to two, 48-46, with just under five minutes to play. After Garnder hit another jumper, McCray came back with his second three-pionter with just over four mintues to play pull NU with one, 50-49.

Freshman center Aleks Maric, who was making just his fifth start of the year, pulled Nebraska back within one. Maric came up with a rebound off a missed free throw and went right back up for a hook shot in the lane that cut the MU lead to 54-53 with 57 seconds remaining.

Following a pair of Linas Kleiza free throws, Nebraska missed a chance to tie on McCray’s long three-point attempt. NU had one more shot as Jason Horton missed the front end of a one-and-one with under 10 seconds remaining, but Marcus Neal Jr.’s three-point attempt was off the mark.

In the first half, the Huskers’ frontcourt of Maric and John Turek, who was competing on his 22nd birthday, combined for nine of the Huskers’ first 12 points to open the game. After MU’s Jason Conley pulled the Tigers even at 9-all with five straight points, Wes Wilkinson hit the second of two free throws for a one-point lead. Turek pushed the margin to three as he pounded down a dunk off an assist from Charles Richardson Jr., who had seven assists against one turnover in his first start of the year.

Gardner’s jumper one minute later put Missouri ahead 14-12 at the 8:55 mark, but Jason Dourisseau scored seven straight points give Nebraska a 19-14 lead at the 5:14 mark. Turek and Maric each connected on a basket to push the Husker lead to nine points, 23-14, with 3:04 remaining before the intermission. The Tigers then made a 7-2 run to pull within 25-21 before Dourisseau’s tip-in of a Wilkinson miss with less than two seconds remaining gave NU a 27-21 halftime lead.

Nebraska started the game hitting just 3-of-11 from floor, but hit 8-of-15 down stretch to go into halftime with the six-point lead. Nebraska forced Missouri into 12 turnovers in the opening frame with three assists, but the Tigers committed just five more miscues in the game.

Dourisseau and Maric led the Huskers with 13 points each, while McCray added 12, all in the second half. Maric added a game-high nine boards to just miss his third double-double of the year, and Turek added eight boards with 10 points.

The Huskers make a quick turnaround as they return to the court Tuesday, Feb. 22, when they play host to nationally ranked Oklahoma State at the Devaney Center. The game, which can be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com, will tip off at 7:05 p.m.

Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Missouri vs Nebraska 2/19/05 7:05 p.m. at Lincoln, Neb. (Devaney Center) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Missouri 13-13, 5-7 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 41 Kleiza, Linas....... f 5-8 2-3 3-4 0 7 7 2 15 0 6 0 2 33 14 Young, Kevin........ c 3-4 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 2 6 0 2 2 1 28 01 McKinney, Jimmy..... g 1-4 0-1 2-2 0 6 6 0 4 1 1 0 2 34 03 Gardner, Thomas..... g 4-10 2-6 0-0 0 1 1 4 10 4 1 0 0 34 12 Horton, Jason....... g 3-8 0-1 0-1 1 1 2 2 6 1 2 0 1 34 02 Conley, Jason....... 3-6 0-1 1-2 1 3 4 2 7 0 2 0 1 19 15 Brown, Marshall..... 3-6 2-4 0-0 0 3 3 0 8 1 2 0 0 15 25 Dandridge, Glen..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 44 Grimes, Kalen....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 2 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 22-46 6-16 6-9 6 24 30 15 56 7 17 2 7 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-22 40.9% 2nd Half: 13-24 54.2% Game: 47.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 37.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-1 100 % 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% Game: 66.7% 1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 11-12, 4-8 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 5-10 0-0 0-0 5 3 8 3 10 0 3 1 0 31 31 Maric, Aleks........ c 4-7 0-0 5-6 3 6 9 3 13 0 2 1 0 35 02 McCray, Joe......... g 5-15 2-10 0-2 0 0 0 1 12 0 3 0 2 29 03 Richardson, Charles. g 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 0 7 1 0 1 20 12 Muhleisen, Jake..... g 1-6 0-1 0-0 1 3 4 3 2 3 0 0 1 25 01 Dourisseau, Jason... 6-7 0-0 1-2 2 1 3 1 13 1 2 0 1 25 10 Neal, Marcus........ 1-6 0-3 0-0 1 1 2 1 2 2 0 0 0 15 11 Wilkinson, Wes...... 0-3 0-2 1-2 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 2 0 14 21 Simms, Corey........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 6 TEAM................ 1 2 3 Totals.............. 22-55 2-16 7-12 13 20 33 13 53 13 13 4 6 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-26 42.3% 2nd Half: 11-29 37.9% Game: 40.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-4 0.0% 2nd Half: 2-12 16.7% Game: 12.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 2-4 50.0% Game: 58.3% 1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Scott Thornley, Danny Hooker, Don Daily Technical fouls: Missouri-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 8971 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Missouri...................... 21 35 - 56 Nebraska...................... 27 26 - 53

Points in the paint-MU 26,NU 34. Points off turnovers-MU 9,NU 22. 2nd chance points-MU 8,NU 10. Fast break points-MU 0,NU 6. Bench points-MU 15,NU 16. Score tied-6 times. Lead changed-7 times. Last FG-MU 2nd-01:15, NU 2nd-00:57.