Huskers Roll Past CU, 70-55

Lincoln ? Freshman Joe McCray’s 21 points off the bench led three Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska continued it late-season roll with a 70-55 victory over Colorado Wednesday evening at the Devaney Center.

McCray hit 7-of-14 shots from the floor, including five three-pointers, to record his team-best ninth 20-plus point contest of the season. With the win, Nebraska improved to 14-12 overall and 7-8 in the Big 12 heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale at Kansas State.

Wes Wilkinson and Charles Richardson Jr. joined McCray in double figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively, as the Huskers’ top three scorers came off the bench. Wilkinson grabbed four rebounds and blocked three shots, while Richardson hit 5-of-6 shots for a career-high 10 points while adding three assists without a turnover.

The Huskers, who have won their last three contests, also received major contributions from their four seniors. John Turek recorded a career-high seven blocked shots and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, while Marcus Neal Jr. scored eight points and matched his career best with seven assists. Neal also added a career-high six rebounds on Senior Night, when he, Turek, Jake Muhleisen and Corey Simms were honored in the final regular-season home game of their career.

Nebraska got off to a strong start as it ran to a quick 8-2 lead and led 11-3 before the Buffaloes went on a 7-2 surge of their own to pull within three, 13-10. Chris Copeland had five points in the run and finished with 10 points, one of four Buffs in double figures. Andy Osborn led the Buffaloes with 12 points, as Colorado dipped to 13-14 overall and 4-11 in league play.

McCray hit a three-pointer to push NU to a 16-10 advantage and started a 15-0 Husker run in less than four minutes. After Richardson dropped in a driving layup, McCray added another trey to make the lead 11. Jason Dourisseau then sandwiched a pair of baskets around a Wilkinson three-pointer to put NU ahead 28-10 with 8:58 remaining before the half. CU then used an 8-0 run to close within 10, but scored just one basket in the final 3:32 as Nebraska used another 9-0 run to earn a 41-22 halftime lead.

Overall, Colorado went 4:55 without scoring a point. CU missed three shots and two free throws and had a pair of turnovers, as the Huskers held the Buffs to 29.0 percent shooting in the first half. Colorado finished the game hitting 37.1 percent from the floor, including just 25.0  percent from beyond the arc, and was outrebounded by the Huskers 41-35.

Colorado opened the second half with an 11-2 run to cut the Husker lead to 12 points, 45-33, with 12:40 to play, but could get no closer the rest of the way. Osborn hit a pair of three-pointers 36 seconds apart to cut the lead to 13 at the 6:35 mark, but Nebraska answered with an 8-0 run to take a 64-43 advantage, its largest lead of the game. Wilkinson capped the run with five straight points.

Wilkinson hit 3-of-5 from the floor in the game, helping NU hit 45.6 percent overall. McCray led the way by hitting 7-of-14 field-goal attempts including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. Nebraska hit 7-of-14 from three-point range, equaling its season high percentage set against Creighton in the non-conference slate.

Nebraska closes the regular season on Saturday, as it travels to Kansas State. Tipoff is set for 12:45 and will be carried on ESPN Regional Television, including Ch. 4 in Lincoln.

Official Basketball Box Score Colorado vs Nebraska 3/2/05 7:07 p.m. at Lincoln, Neb. (Devaney Center) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Colorado (13-14) (4-11) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 Osborn, Andy........ f 4-7 2-5 2-2 0 3 3 5 12 0 2 0 0 18 33 Ashby, Julius....... f 2-2 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 1 4 0 0 3 0 25 05 Obazuaye, Jayson.... g 5-11 1-2 0-1 2 1 3 3 11 1 1 0 0 26 21 Hall, Marcus........ g 1-10 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 4 0 0 1 28 23 Roby, Richard....... g 4-13 1-6 1-6 1 7 8 2 10 2 2 1 0 36 01 Eddy, Glean......... 2-8 0-1 0-0 3 1 4 3 4 4 1 1 1 21 12 Freeman, Martane.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 15 Copeland, Chris..... 4-9 1-4 1-2 2 2 4 1 10 2 3 1 0 28 30 Arrington, Lamont... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 12 42 McGee, Antoine...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 TEAM................ 3 1 4 Totals.............. 23-62 5-20 4-11 13 22 35 18 55 13 9 6 3 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-31 29.0% 2nd Half: 14-31 45.2% Game: 37.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 4-15 26.7% Game: 25.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 1-2 50.0% Game: 36.4% 4

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska (14-12) (7-8) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 31 Maric, Aleks........ f 2-6 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 4 0 0 0 0 20 44 Turek, John......... f 2-6 0-0 0-0 2 6 8 3 4 1 1 7 1 36 10 Neal, Marcus........ g 2-6 0-1 4-4 0 6 6 0 8 7 2 1 1 24 12 Muhleisen, Jake..... g 0-4 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 20 21 Simms, Corey........ g 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 15 01 Dourisseau, Jason... 4-6 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 2 8 2 2 0 0 19 02 McCray, Joe......... 7-14 5-8 2-2 3 2 5 1 21 1 3 1 1 25 03 Richardson, Charles. 5-6 0-1 0-3 0 2 2 0 10 3 0 0 1 18 11 Wilkinson, Wes...... 3-5 2-3 5-7 1 3 4 1 13 0 1 3 0 18 15 Schliep, Bronsen.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 45 Wilbrand, Tony...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 TEAM................ 2 3 5 Totals.............. 26-57 7-14 11-16 12 29 41 16 70 15 10 12 4 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-35 45.7% 2nd Half: 10-22 45.5% Game: 45.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-11 45.5% 2nd Half: 2-3 66.7% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% Game: 68.8% 2

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Rick Hartzell, Bill Kennedy, Paul Janssen Technical fouls: Colorado-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 9178 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Colorado...................... 22 33 - 55 Nebraska...................... 41 29 - 70

Points in the paint-CU 34,NU 34. Points off turnovers-CU 13,NU 12. 2nd chance points-CU 11,NU 12. Fast break points-CU 2,NU 6. Bench points-CU 16,NU 52. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-0 times. Last FG-CU 2nd-00:49, NU 2nd-01:44.