Huskers Fall to Kansas State

Manhattan, Kan. -- Kansas State used a 17-3 run in the middle of the second half to cruise past Nebraska, 73-53, Saturday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum.

Jeremiah Massey had 25 points and nine rebounds to lead the Wildcats (16-11, 6-10 Big 12), who snapped Nebraska's three-game conference win streak. Lance Harris and Justin Williams had 18 and 12 points, respectively, as KSU shot 50 percent in the second half to pull away.

After trailing by eight at the intermission, Nebraska (14-13, 7-9 Big 12) cut KSU's lead to five, 37-32, at the 16:12 mark on an Aleks Maric three-point play. Maric was one of three Huskers in double figures on the day with 11 points. Joe McCray led Nebraska with 14 points, including 10 in the second half, while John Turek added 11 points.

After pulling within two baskets, the Huskers struggled to keep the momentum going as Massey started a 10-0 K-State run with a pair of field goals. Harris added five points in two minutes to push the lead to 54-35 at the 9:16 mark as KSU held the Huskers to three points over an 8:03 span.

The Huskers shot just 35 percent in the second half after opening the game hitting half of their shots, 12-of-24, in the opening frame. NU trailed 33-25 at the break despite holding K-State to just 35.7 percent shooting from the floor. The Wildcats hit 10-of-15 free throws in the opening period to hold the lead, and finished the game draining 20-of-30 at the charity stripe. NU hit just 9-of-17 at the line.

Charles Richardson Jr. lead the team lead with five boards, and added five assists against just one turnover in 27 minutes. The Huskers were outrebounded, 36-26, for just the seventh time this season.

The Huskers will now travel to Kansas City for the Big 12 basketball tournament beginning Thursday, March 10. Nebraska will play at 11:30 a.m. and will be either the No. 8 or 9 seed, depending on the outcome of the Missouri-Kansas regular-season finale on Sunday.

With a Missouri win, the Huskers will be the No. 9 seed and will play No. 8 seed Missouri. With a Tiger loss, the Huskers will be the No. 8 seed and will play the No. 9 seed Kansas State Wildcats.

Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Kansas State 03/05/05 12:47 p.m. at Manhattan, Kan. (Bramlage Coliseum) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 14-13, 7-9 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 5-9 0-0 1-1 0 3 3 4 11 1 2 0 0 28 31 Maric, Aleks........ c 5-6 0-0 1-1 0 3 3 5 11 1 0 1 0 15 01 Dourisseau, Jason... g 1-2 0-0 1-5 1 1 2 5 3 2 3 0 1 25 02 McCray, Joe......... g 4-13 2-8 4-7 1 3 4 3 14 1 5 0 0 30 12 Muhleisen, Jake..... g 1-5 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 1 4 3 2 0 1 27 03 Richardson, Charles. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 5 5 2 0 5 1 0 0 27 10 Neal, Marcus........ 1-4 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 0 3 2 0 0 0 14 11 Wilkinson, Wes...... 3-6 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 4 7 1 0 2 0 18 15 Schliep, Bronsen.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 21 Simms, Corey........ 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 45 Wilbrand, Tony...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 5 TEAM................ 1 1 Totals.............. 20-46 4-15 9-17 5 21 26 27 53 17 14 3 2 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-24 50.0% 2nd Half: 8-22 36.4% Game: 43.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-5 0.0% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 26.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 8-13 61.5% Game: 52.9% 3

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Kansas State 16-11, 6-10 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 15 Massey, Jeremiah.... f 8-17 0-0 9-11 3 6 9 3 25 2 0 0 3 32 20 Martin, Cartier..... f 3-8 0-1 2-3 2 3 5 2 8 1 1 0 1 26 03 Harris, Lance....... g 7-11 2-5 2-3 0 2 2 2 18 3 1 0 0 36 05 Stewart, Clent...... g 0-4 0-2 2-2 1 1 2 2 2 9 2 0 1 37 12 Peete, Fred......... g 1-6 1-3 3-4 1 3 4 3 6 4 1 0 2 33 01 Thomas, Schyler..... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 5 04 Allen, Curtis....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 4 40 Canby, Travis....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 54 Williams, Justin.... 5-9 0-0 2-5 6 3 9 3 12 1 1 0 0 21 55 Hughes, Tyler....... 0-1 0-0 0-2 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Team................ 1 1 Totals.............. 25-58 3-12 20-30 14 22 36 17 73 20 7 0 7 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-28 35.7% 2nd Half: 15-30 50.0% Game: 43.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% 2nd Half: 0-2 0.0% Game: 25.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 10-15 66.7% 2nd Half: 10-15 66.7% Game: 66.7% 8,4

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Mike Thibodeaux, Randy Heimerman, Brad Ferrie Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Kansas State-None. Attendance: 10227 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 25 28 - 53 Kansas State.................. 33 40 - 73

Points in the paint-NU 22,KS 34. Points off turnovers-NU 5,KS 14. 2nd chance points-NU 5,KS 10. Fast break points-NU 4,KS 10. Bench points-NU 10,KS 14. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-0 times. Last FG-NU 2nd-00:31, KS 2nd-00:38.