Huskers Set for Final Exhibition Contest

The Nebraska men's basketball team returns to the court for the second time this week when it plays host to HolyFamilyUniversity this Saturday, Nov. 12. The Huskers and Tigers will tip off at 7:10 p.m. at the DevaneyCenter.

 

The game will be heard live on the select Pinnacle Sports Network affiliates following postgame coverage of the Nebraska-Kansas State football game, which will kick off at 1 p.m. Randy Lee will call the basketball action and will be joined by Matt Davison, who is in his third year providing color analysis. The game can also be heard on the Internet at Huskers.com and live stats will be available.

 

Nebraska hits the court looking for better execution in its second outing of the season. On Monday, the Huskers opened play with a five-point victory over Nebraska-Omaha, but the victory celebration was tempered as NU committed 22 turnovers while allowing the Mavericks to come back in the second half to cut an 18-point deficit to one point.

 

Sophomore guard Joe McCray lead Nebraska with a double-double as he scored a quiet 12 points with 10 rebounds, and senior forward Wes Wilkinson nearly joined him by recording nine points and nine rebounds. The pair helped NU to a 53-38 rebounding advantage.

 

While the Huskers dominated the boards, they were unable to convert regularly at the basket and will try to improve on the 39.3 percent shooting against Holy Family.

 

McCray recorded one double-double last year but was third with 5.0 rebounds per game. Center Aleks Maric set the Nebraska freshman record with 169 boards last year while McCray had 140 rebounds to rank sixth on the NU freshman list.

Maric also finished in double figures against the Mavericks as he had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists in 23 minutes of action. Maric hit 4-of-8 attempts from the floor, one of four Huskers to hit at least 50.0 percent from the field.

 

Senior guard Jason Dourisseau hopes to keep his stroke going as he was the hottest Husker from the field by hitting 5-of-6 shot attempts Monday for 10 points while adding five rebounds, three assists and two steals, but fouled out late in the contest. Last year, Dourisseau was second on the squad as he hit a career-high 49.1 percent from the floor.

 

Overall, six returning letterwinners played against the Mavericks, accounting for 47 of NU's 70 points (67.1 percent) and 35 its 53 rebounds (66.0 percent). Among the four newcomers who played, guards Marcus Walker and Jamel White made the biggest impacts in their first exhibition contest.

 

Walker started his first game in a Husker uniform, guiding NU to a 12-point halftime lead with five assists against two turnovers. Walker had two turnovers without an assist in the second period but made key plays down the stretch to help hold off the scrappy Mavericks. Walker scored six straight points in the last four minutes of the game, including hitting 4-of-4 free throws.

White finished with seven points and two steals in 19 minutes, scoring six of NU's eight points in an eight-minute stretch as UNO made its final push.

 

NU also had some production off the bench as Bronsen Schliep, Tony Wilbrand, B.J. Walker and Marcus Perry combined for 14 points and 12 rebounds.

 

Scouting the Tigers

Holy FamilyUniversity lost its top scorer and rebounder but returns the majority of its offense from a team that went 19-11 last season, including a 15-5 mark in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. A Division II institution located in Philadelphia, Pa., HolyFamilyUniversity returns a pair of double-figure scorers in Ryan Haigh and Chris Kozole.

 

Haigh averaged 16.9 points per game along with 4.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists. He hit just 41.1 percent from the field but was the team's top 3-point threat as he buried 83 treys while hitting at a 39.5-percent clip from outside the arc.

 

Kozole guided the offense as he averaged 6.5 assists to go along with his 14.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Kozole also hit 84.6 percent from the line and recorded 94 of the team's 261 steals.

 

Holy Family, which was picked to finish third in the league this season, will be playing a Division I university for the first time in school history. It is one of two exhibition games against Division I programs, as the Tigers will face Fordham on Monday. HFU, which moved from NAIA to Division II just two years ago, plays its first 14 games of the season away from home.

 

The Tigers are guided by Coach Alfred Johnson (Elizabeth City, 1994), who is in his third year in charge of the Tiger program. Johnson owns a 33-26 record at Holy Family and a 75-87 career record.

 

Huskers in Exhibition Play

The Huskers end the exhibition slate at the Devaney Center when it faces Holy Family University on Saturday, Nov. 12. The Huskers and Holy Family will tip off at 7:10 p.m., following Nebraska's football game against KansasState (1 p.m. kickoff).

 

The Huskers are looking for their 11th straight exhibition victory dating back to 2000-01. Overall, NU owns a 40-5 all-time record in exhibition contests, including a 2-0 mark last year when NU faced Monterrey Tech 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.

 

Huskers Hang on in Exhibition Opener vs. UNO

Lincoln ? Nebraska pulled away from Nebraska-Omaha’s only lead six minutes through the first half and held on after a furious Maverick comeback to earn a 70-65 victory in its first exhibition of the 2005-06 campaign Monday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Three Huskers finished in double figures, with sophomore guard Joe McCray leading a balanced scoring night with a team-high 12 points.

 

“It was good for us to go up and down the floor in a 40-minute game against a solid club like Nebraska-Omaha,” said NU coach Barry Collier. “The main thing is to improve from this game.”

 

Nebraska-Omaha kept it close in the opening period as Ryan Curtis snagged eight points in the first half while hitting 4-of-6 shots from the field. The Huskers contained Curtis in the second half as he scored just four points to finish with 12. Denny Johnston also added 12 for the Mavericks.

 

Nebraska-Omaha shot 39.1 percent from the floor in the game, including 7-of-24 from 3-point range. Meanwhile, the Huskers connected for 39.3 percent, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range.

 

Senior forward Bronsen Schliep snagged the jumper that sparked a first-period run that put the Huskers up for good. Redshirt junior Marcus Perry hit two free throw shots after a technical foul from Curtis for hanging on the rim. Following Perry’s free throws that tied the game at 13, Schliep hit a shot from the left side in the paint off an assist by Jamel White.

 

Schliep’s basket ignited a 19-2 run over the next 7:37 that gave the Huskers control of the game. During that stretch, the Huskers held UNO to just one field goal and erased a 13-11 deficit en route to building a 30-15 lead with 5:54 remaining in the period.

 

In the second period, Nebraska-Omaha went on an 8-0 run to pull within 62-60 at the three-minute mark. Marcus Walker’s jump shot from the right side with just over a minute to play put the Huskers up 66-63. Walker’s six points in the final 3:36 of the game secured the win for the Huskers.

 

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.

 

Get to Know Him

Sophomore center Aleks Maric gained recognition as one of the top foreign players in the country last year and has already started back on the same track in 2005-06.

 

In a Wednesday, Nov. 9, article called '20 Players You Should Know,' Jeff Goodman of scout.com compiled a list of the top sophomores and incoming rookies who flew "under the radar or should be impact freshmen this season." Maric was ranked No. 12 on the list and was one of two players in the Big 12 Conference, along with fellow Australian Aaron Bruce of Baylor who was ranked No. 3.

 

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

Following the Huskers' final exhibition Saturday, Nebraska returns to the court to start the regular season on Nov. 18 at the Devaney Center. The Huskers will have three games in three days as they play host to the John Thompson Foundation Basketball Challenge. NU opens with Longwood on Friday and follows with contests against Yale (Saturday, Nov. 19) and Louisiana Tech (Sunday, Nov. 20). Fans can use their tickets to the Husker contest to gain admittance to the other game that same day. The teams will continue to use the experimental rules during the six games that weekend.