Huskers Begin Exhibition Play vs. UNO

The Nebraska men's basketball team gets the 2005-06 season started at home when the Huskers take on the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks on Monday, Nov. 7. The game will tip off at 7:05 p.m. at the DevaneyCenter and can be heard live on the Pinnacle Sports Network as well as on the Internet at Huskers.com. Randy Lee returns for his fourth season calling play-by-play for the Husker men while Matt Davison returns for his third campaign alongside Lee as color analyst.

The Huskers are ready to get rolling as the excitement builds for another season. Nebraska returns seven letterwinners from last season, including two starters in guards Joe McCray and Jason Dourisseau. Also back are centers Aleks Maric and Tony Wilbrand, forwards Wes Wilkinson and Bronsen Schliep and guard Charles Richardson Jr. Three redshirts who practiced with the team last year return while six newcomers add into the mix this season.

McCray had one of the top freshman campaigns in Big 12 history when he averaged 15.5 points per game in 2004-05. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native looks to add to his impressive resume in his sophomore season, but topping his 80 3-pointers last year may be tough. Only one player in Nebraska history has recorded more treys in a single season than McCray did in his first year in the program, as Cary Cochran set the NU single-season mark with 89 3-pointers in 2002. McCray's freshman mark was a Big 12 record and broke the previous school freshman mark of 44 by Eric Piatkowski in 1991.

 

McCray showed a tremendous all-around game last year and looks to add to it in 2005-06. He ranked sixth in Nebraska freshman history with 140 rebounds last year as he ranked third on the team with 5.0 boards per contest. McCray finished the season ranked in the NU freshman top 10 in points scored (2nd), scoring average (1st), field goals (3rd), 3-pointers (1st), rebounds (6th) and steals (t-4th).

Dourisseau also returns after finding his way into the starting lineup 18 times last season. The Omaha native averaged a career-best 9.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game as one of the most-improved players in the conference. His rebound margin ranked second on the team and was in the top 20 in the league for most of the season. An explosive athlete who is known for slashing through the lanes, Dourisseau has been a leader for the Huskers in the offseason and is looking to contribute in any way possible to help get the Huskers back to the postseason.

Along with McCray and Dourisseau, Maric and Wilkinson each had 10 starts last year and will form a solid frontcourt for the Huskers this season.

Maric ranked 11th in the Big 12 Conference last year in rebounding with a team-best 6.3 boards per game. He was just the second freshman to lead the Huskers in rebounding since at least 1965, joining John Turek who posted a team-best 6.2 boards per game in 2002. Turek's 162 rebounds that season were a Nebraska freshman record until Maric posted 169 last year despite missing a game due to injury. Maric also joins Dourisseau as the top two returning shooters as they hit 49.1 and 47.9 percent, respectively, from the floor last year.

Wilkinson saw significant improvement last season after returning to full health following a broken foot during the preseason. Wilkinson averaged a career-best 7.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while hitting 44.7 percent from the field including ranking third with 24 3-pointers. Wilkinson joined Turek among last year's Big 12 leaders in blocked shots as Wilkinson was eighth with 1.22 blocks per game.

Richardson returns as the Huskers' only experienced point guard and has worked hard to improve his shooting. The lightning-quick Husker averaged 3.3 assists and 3.9 points over the final eight games last season.

 

The Matchup

The Huskers open play against Nebraska-Omaha, marking the first time the teams have met on the hardwood since 1988 and only the second time in school history. Nebraska won the first contest between the schools, 96-67, on Jan. 25, 1988.

 

Scouting the Mavericks

Nebraska-Omaha returns two of its top three scorers from last season's 23-6 squad that reached the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Senior forward Ryan Curtis is the Mavericks' top returning scorer after producing 11.1 points per game last year on 57.1 percent shooting (128-of-224) from the floor. Curtis, who added a team-best 7.0 boards per game, is joined by senior guard Calvin Kapels, who averaged 10.4 points and 6.1 boards per game while also leading the squad with 114 assists (4.2 per game).

As a team, the Mavericks averaged 75.1 points per game last season while hitting a solid 45.6 percent from the floor. UNO also hit the boards hard as it averaged 40.5 rebounds per game, including a +6.5 rebounding margin.

Coach Darren Hansen (Nebraska Wesleyan, 1991) is in his first season guiding the Mavericks after spending seven season on the UNO staff. Hansen played at Nebraska Wesleyan and helped the Plainsmen to the 1988 Division III Final Four.

 

Huskers in Exhibition Play

Nebraska makes its season debut on Monday, Nov. 7, when the Huskers take on Nebraska-Omaha in an exhibition contest. The game will be the first of two exhibitions played at the DevaneyCenter this season as NU will also face HolyFamilyUniversity on Saturday, Nov. 12. The Huskers and Holy Family will tip off at 7 p.m. that day, following Nebraska's football game against KansasState (1 p.m. kickoff).

The Huskers are looking for their 10th straight exhibition victory dating back to their last preseason loss in 2000-01. Overall, the Huskers own a 39-5 all-time record in exhibition contests, including going 2-0 last year when NU faced Monterrey Tech, a four-year university from Mexico, and Nebraska-Kearney. Last season, the NCAA instituted a new rule that eliminated Division I preseason games against traveling squads, mandating that Division I schools play only four-year universities unless they already had an existing contract to play a traveling team.

 

McCray Looks to Continue Hot Hand in 2005-06

Guard Joe McCray set several Nebraska freshman records last season and hopes to continue his record-setting trend during his sophomore campaign. Nebraska's top returning scorer has 80 career 3-pointers to his credit after one season and needs just 15 treys to break into the Husker career top 10 list. Former Huskers Jake Muhleisen and Jamar Johnson currently rank 10th with 95 career 3-pointers.

With 20 3-pointers, McCray will become the 10th player in Nebraska history to reach 100 career treys and will become only the second player to reach 100 treys during his sophomore season, joining Cary Cochran, who had 101 3-pointers after two full seasons playing for the Huskers. If McCray matches his production from last year he would finish the 2005-06 season ranked sixth in NU history, only 22 treys from the top three. Cochran owns the NU record with 268 3-pointers in his career, while Eric Piatkowski (202) is the only other Husker with more than 200 career treys. 

 

International Man

Center Aleks Maric (pronounced MAR-itch) returned from the summer in the best shape of his life, which makes sense as he played more than 30 games in Slovenia, Greece, Canada and Argentina during July and August as part of the Australian Under-21 National Team. The 6-11, 265-pounder who set the Nebraska freshman rebounding record last season helped his Aussie team, the Crocs, to a fourth-place finish at the U21 World Championships in Argentina in August.

Maric averaged 9.4 rebounds per game while helping the Crocs to a 6-2 record at the World Championships. He was second in the tournament in rebounding, behind only 7-3 Peter Ramos, who played for the Puerto Rican Olympic team and was in the NBA last season. Maric also averaged 10.6 points while hitting 50.6 percent from the floor in the championships.

Maric is the second Husker to play on a youth World Championship team, joining current Atlanta Hawk Tyronn Lue, who played for the U.S. at the Under-22 World Championships in 1997. Bill Johnson played at the World Championship while helping the U.S. to gold in 1954, and Dave Hoppen (1985) and Eric Piatkowski (1993) played on the United States' World University Games teams.

 

New Bench Look

The Huskers have a new look on the bench as they have two new faces within the staff.

Jerome Francis Jr. joined the Huskers as assistant coach in June and works directly with the post players. Francis formerly was head coach at Prairie View A&M three years and served at several Division I schools as an assistant coach, including one season at Butler with Coach Collier.

Also new to the program this year is head basketball strength coach Travis Reust. A native of Oklahoma, Reust has most recently guided the programs at TCU and Colorado before coming to Nebraska. Reust has helped several Huskers reach new highs in the weight room already, as three Huskers have already benched at least 300 pounds this season while nearly every Husker has made a significant weight gain as well.

 

Fresh Faces

Nebraska has a returnee at each spot on the floor but will look for its depth this season to be provided mostly by new faces. Overall, the Huskers have six newcomers on the squad including five freshmen. The heralded group of newcomers gives Nebraska its most athletic roster in several years. 

Leading the list of fresh faces that will be looking for playing time this season is junior college transfer B.J. Walker. The forward from Cincinnati nearly averaged a double-double last season with 16.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while helping Garden City (Kan.) Community College to its first-ever Jayhawk Conference West Division title. Walker has a soft touch inside 12 feet and solid offensive moves in the post and at 6-9, 245 pounds, provides another wide body to rest  either Wes Wilkinson or Aleks Maric.

Along with Walker, freshmen Marcus Walker, Jamel White and Kyle Marks have earned early praise from the coaching staff. Marcus Walker, who was rated the No. 25 point guard in the country as a senior last year by scout.com, gives Nebraska another lightning-quick point guard to pair with Charles Richardson Jr. Walker and White can both score and give Nebraska a different look with a bigger lineup as they go 6-2 and 6-3, respectively. Marks has been described by his teammates as "freakishly athletic" and the 6-7, 220-pounder has one of the top vertical jumps on the team at 34 inches.

 

Defensive Mind Set

The Huskers look to continue a recent tradition of success on the defensive end of the court this season as Nebraska has held opponents to less than 64.0 points per game each of the past two years. The last time Nebraska held opponents to fewer than 64.0 points per game in consecutive seasons was 1983 (60.9 ppg) and 1984 (61.6 ppg).

Before Coach Collier arrived in Lincoln, the Huskers had held opponents to under 71.0 points per game only twice (1999, 64.3 ppg; 1998, 68.5) in the previous 14 seasons, dating back to the addition of the 3-point line in 1987. Under Collier's guidance, NU has held opponents to less than 71.0 points per game five times in five seasons, including four times under 70.0 points per game.

 

Husker Open Practices with Madness

Nebraska opened the 2005-06 year with a public scrimmage and dunk contest at Husker Madness on Oct. 14. With about 2,500 fans in attendance, the Huskers joined the Nebraska women's team to give the public a taste of what is to come in the regular season.

Following the women's scrimmage and 3-point contest, the Husker men held a 20-minute running clock scrimmage with the veterans taking on the newcomers. The newcomers struggled early but made a late surge before being held off by the veterans,
34-27.

In the dunk contest, freshman Kyle Marks impressed the fans with a two-handed slam after jumping over the entire team, which had crouched down inside the lane. Marks' dunk came in the finals against senior Jason Dourisseau, who cleared a ball rack set up in the lane inside the free throw line. Each scored a '50' to force a second finals matchup, which Dourisseau won after Marks missed both of his attempts.

 

Board Games

Nebraska looks to clean the boards on a regular basis again this season as it returns 57.4 percent of its rebounding from the 2004-05 campaign when it led the league in rebounding margin. The Huskers averaged a +5.2 rebounding margin over 28 games last season to rank 30th nationally.

Last year's effort marked the eighth time in the past 10 seasons the Huskers held an advantage on the glass. It was also NU's highest rebounding output since 1992, when Nebraska held a +6.4 rebounding advantage, and only the third time since 1953 the Huskers had at least a +5.0 rebounding margin. 

 

Map Quest

Nebraska's roster has changed quite a bit in the past 12 months. That is most evident when looking down the state listings as the only Nebraskans on the roster are the four seniors ? Jason Dourisseau and Wes Wilkinson along with walk-ons Bronsen Schliep and Tony Wilbrand. The states following Nebraska with the most current Huskers are New York and Florida with two each, while the other eight players are from seven other states and one foreign country.

 

Forcing Their Hand

Nebraska's foes hit just 41.4 percent from the floor last season as the Huskers ranked fourth in the Big 12 Conference. It marked the third straight year Nebraska has held opponents to 41.5 percent or less from the floor. Since 1965, NU has held opponents to a 41.5 field-goal percentage or less just eight times, although six of those seasons have come in the last decade.

 

Rules of the Game

Nebraska gets two extra games this season by hosting the John Thompson Foundation Basketball Challenge. Since the tournament is exempt, all six games will be played with the NCAA's experimental rules for this season, including: a one-foot wider lane and deeper blocks; a 3-point line that is one foot further back (20-9) and a restricted area arc which is three feet from the center of the basket ring. NU will play with all three experimental rules during both of its exhibition games as well on opening weekend.

 

What's On Tap Next

Nebraska returns to the court for the second of two exhibition games on Saturday, Nov. 12, against HolyFamilyUniversity. Following that contest, the Huskers will prepare for the John Thompson Foundation Basketball Challenge, which will consist of three games in three days. Nebraska will open the regular season against Longwood on Nov. 18, and follows with contests against Yale (Nov. 19) and Louisiana Tech (Nov. 20).

Off the court, the Husker coaching staff looks forward to the early signing period, which starts on Wednesday, Nov. 9.