Huskers Set to Face Redhawks

After picking up three wins in three days to take the title of the John Thompson Foundation Basketball Challenge, the Nebraska men's basketball team returns to the court on Sunday, Nov. 27, when it plays host to SoutheastMissouriState at the DevaneyCenter.

 

The game will tip off at 2 p.m. and can be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com. Randy Lee will call the action and Matt Davison returns to add color commentary. Live stats are also available for free on Huskers.com while HuskersNside subscribers can watch a live video stream of the game.

 

The Huskers look to continue their undefeated start at home as they have won three straight at the DevaneyCenter. Nebraska will play a total of 19 regular-season games at the DevaneyCenter, the most in the 30-year history of the building.

 

Nebraska hopes to start the season 4-0 for the third time in the past five seasons. The Cornhuskers went a perfect 5-0 to open the year in 2003-04 before reaching the postseason NIT, and was 6-0 to begin play in 2001-02.

 

The Matchup

The Huskers and Redhawks will face off for the first time in series history when they meet on the hardwood Sunday.

 

It will be the Huskers' fourth straight game against a first-time opponent. Nebraska will face two more first-time opponents during the regular season in Alabama A&M (Dec. 21) and FloridaState (Dec. 31).

 

NU Tries to Continue Its Winning Ways

With a young team ? nine players had never seen a minute of action in a Husker uniform before the opening weekend ? the Huskers knew they would have some ups and downs early in the season. The primary focus of the early games was to be able to get players on the court to see them in live-game situations and to see improvement each day. Along the way, the Huskers picked up three wins at the John Thompson Foundation Basketball Challenge and now are looking to improve to 4-0 against SoutheastMissouriState.

 

Nebraska hopes to find an improved shooting touch after connecting on just 39.8 percent from the floor in the opening three games. Only three players who had at least 10 attempts over the first three games hit better than 40.0 percent from the floor with senior Jason Dourisseau leading the way by draining 53.6 percent from the field.

There is plenty of room for improvement, but the Huskers were right in the middle of the pack in terms of shooting from the outside, as only one of the four teams at the exempt tournament hit better than 32 percent from outside the arc. As part of the NCAA's experimental rules for exempt tournaments, the 3-point line was moved back one foot to 20-9.

 

Nebraska's opponents did not fare any better as NU held them to 38.5 percent shooting and just 61.7 points per game. The Huskers made their biggest mark at the free throw line as they made it to the charity stripe an average 30.0 times per game, hitting 60-of-90 attempts, while opponents had just 38 combined tries in three games, making 22 attempts.

 

Scouting the Redhawks

After finishing its season-opening tournament last weekend, Nebraska gets into the grind of the regular season Sunday when it plays host to the SoutheastMissouriState Redhawks at the DevaneyCenter.

 

The Redhawks will be coming to Lincoln to face their first major Division I competition of the year after playing TrumanState, IPFW and South DakotaState in their first three games.

After struggling in a pair of exhibition games, SEMO defeated TrumanState 59-56 to open the season. The Redhawks got 17 points and eight boards from senior guard Roy Booker while David Johnson came off the bench for 11 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Last Monday, the Redhawks fell to IPFW, 65-64, at home. The Mastodons ran to a 13-point halftime lead but SEMO made a strong second-half surge that came up just short.

 

Southeast MissouriState followed with a game at South DakotaState ? also a Nebraska opponent ? before coming to Lincoln on Friday. The Redhawks picked up a 75-68 victory in their first road game of the season with four players scoring in double figures. Johnson led the way with 16 points while Terrick Willoughby added 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Booker added 12 points despite hitting just 4-of-14 attempts from the floor while Andrais Thornton added 11 points.

 

SEMO returned just three lettermen, including two starters, from last season's 15-14 squad that finished 9-7 in the OhioValley Conference. Willoughby is the Redhawks' top returning scorer after averaging 9.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

 

Booker sat out last season under NCAA transfer rules, after averaging 9.3 points per game as a junior at Montana in 2003-04. He spent his first two seasons of college at AllenCountyCommunity College, where he was named the best junior college shooting guard in the nation by The Sporting News.

 

Southeast MissouriState is coached by Gary Garner (Missouri, 1965), who is in his ninth year at SEMO and 23rd season as a head coach. Garner owns a 121-113 record at SEMO entering Sunday's contest, and a 368-278 career record.

NU Takes Three Games in Three Days at Basketball Challenge

Lincoln -- A trio of Huskers were named to the all-tournament team as they lead Nebraska to a perfect 3-0 record and the title of the John Thompson Foundation Basketball Challenge last weekend at the DevaneyCenter.

 

Senior Jason Dourisseau, sophomore Aleks Maric and freshman Jamel White each earned a spot on the all-tourney team, along with Yale's Sam Kaplan, Longwood's Michael Jefferson and tournament MVP Paul Millsap of Louisiana Tech.

 

The Huskers had to scratch out two of the wins as NU's victories over Yale and LaTech were not decided until the final minutes. Nebraska used a solid defensive effort that held its opponents to a tournament-low 61.7 points per game while shooting just 38.5 percent from the field.

 

Nebraska had a balanced offensive attack as Maric and Dourisseau each averaged 12.7 points per game during the three-game tournament to lead the Huskers. Maric also pulled in 10.7 rebounds per game to rank second in the four-team field while Dourisseau was fourth overall and second on the team with 8.7 rebounds per contest. As a team, NU averaged 41.0 rebounds per game despite being outrebounded by two of three opponents.

 

Along with Maric and Dourisseau, sophomore Joe McCray averaged 11.3 points per game while Wes Wilkinson put in 9.5 points and White had 9.3 points per game.

 

White sparked the Huskers on both ends of the court as he took several charges on defense and added double-figure points twice. He finished with 10 points, seven boards and five assists against one turnover in the hard-fought win over Yale.

 

First-Timers

Husker fans are already seeing several new faces on the court in 2005-06. Nebraska's 16-man roster entering the season included nine players (six newcomers, three redshirts) who had never played a minute in a Husker uniform during a regular-season game.

 

During NU's three games last weekend at the John Thompson Foundation Basketball Challenge, six players saw action for the first time in their Husker careers, including three true freshmen (Marcus Walker, Jamel White and Kyle Marks), a redshirt junior (Marcus Perry), a redshirt freshman (Jim Ledsome) and a junior college transfer (B.J. Walker).

 

Marcus Walker earned a starting nod in each of NU's first three games, and was just the second true freshman to start his first career game at Nebraska since Cookie Belcher in 1996-97. Walker has started each of NU's five games this season (including two exhibitions), but is not the only newcomer to earn a start, as B.J. Walker was in for the tip off against Holy Family in NU's final exhibition game.

 

Through three regular-season games, Jamel White leads the newcomers as he is averaging 9.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while ranking third in minutes played with 80 off the bench. Marcus Walker has gained 5.7 points and 2.0 assists per game while Marcus Perry has grabbed 5.0 points and 1.3 assists per game after sitting out last season as a redshirt.

 

B.J. Walker, another junior college transfer, has provided solid minutes in the paint and is averaging 4.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Marks and Ledsome have seen a combined 25 minutes of action in three contests, with Marks gaining two points and three boards while Ledsome has four rebounds.

 

Last year, the Huskers had two freshmen (Joe McCray and Aleks Maric) see significant time early in the season before setting NU records. McCray posted the best scoring average by an NU freshman in history after gaining a team-best 15.5 points per game. He also set records for 20-point games (10) and broke the Big 12 freshman record with 80 3-pointers. Maric set the NU freshman rebound record with 169 boards on the year.

 

Hot Hand

Senior guard Jason Dourisseau has continued his hot hand from last year when he ranked second on the squad by hitting 49.1 percent of his attempts from the floor. While the Omaha native continues to work on his game at the free throw line, where he hit 72.7 percent in the season-opening three-game tournament, he has been exceptional from the field over his last 11 regular-season games dating back to last season.

 

During that span, Dourisseau has hit 54.4 percent (43-of-79) from the floor, including 15-of-28 (53.6 percent) in three games this season. Dourisseau is tied for the team lead with 12.7 points per game so far this season and is second with 8.7 rebounds per game. He was one of three Huskers named to the all-tournament team at the John Thompson Foundation Basketball Challenge.

 

Passing Grade

Freshmen guards Marcus Walker and Jamel White have made solid first impressions for the Huskers. The duo has combined for 15.0 points, 4.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game while hitting 17-of-24 attempts from the free throw line. 

 

The pair made a strong impression during the exhibition season while taking the place of NU's only returning point guard, Charles Richardson Jr., who was sidelined with an injury.

Walker started both exhibition games at point guard and led the team with 13 assists, including an eight-assist, no-turnover game against Holy Family in the second exhibition game. While Walker struggled from the field in exhibition play, he went 6-of-6 at the free throw line, including four crucial freebies sandwiched around a driving layup in the final minutes of a five-point win over Nebraska-Omaha.

 

White has come on to play at both the point and shooting guard and ranked fourth on the team with 8.0 points per game in the exhibition contests. White hit 6-of-8 attempts at from the line and was 4-of-8 from the floor while adding three steals.

 

Read to Succeed Book Drive

The Nebraska Athletic Department's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is sponsoring Read to Succeed book drives in November. Student-athletes are asking fans to donate new or good-condition used picture and reading books. The books will be given to the Title 1 Lincoln Public Elementary Schools to encourage families to practice reading and develop a love for reading.

 

Books will be collected on three dates at different sporting events over the next three weeks. At each book drive, fans who donate a book can enter to win a prize awarded the night of the game. An autographed volleyball will be given away at the volleyball match, while four prime tickets will be given away to upcoming men's and women's basketball games.

 

Husker student-athlete volunteers first collected books at the NU women's game against Creighton on Nov. 21 and at the Nov. 23 NU volleyball match vs. Colorado). The final drop off time is scheduled for:

?Nov. 30, at NU men's basketball (vs. Marquette)

 

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 had 80 3-pointers to his credit after one season and now with 85 in his career, needs just 10 treys to break into the Husker career top 10. Former Huskers Jake Muhleisen and Jamar Johnson currently rank 10th with 95 career 3-pointers.

 

With 15 more 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 United States at the Under-22 World Championships in 1997. Bill Johnson played at the World Championships while helping the United States 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 titled '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 an 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 Barry 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 who 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.

 

Huskers Name Captains

After losing four veterans who had combined to play in more than 380 games over the past four seasons, it didn't take long for the Huskers to figure out who would take on more of a leadership role in 2005-06. Seniors Jason Dourisseau and Wes Wilkinson and sophomore Aleks Maric were selected as team captains for the upcoming season.

 

Dourisseau and Wilkinson are the only two scholarship players on the roster from Nebraska and have stepped up over the past seven months to provide leadership on and off the court. After a strong summer of play with the Australian Under 21 National Team, Maric is believed to be only the second sophomore in school history to be named a captain. Former Husker Jake Muhleisen was a three-year captain between 2003 and 2005.

 

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.

 

Huskers Open Practice 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. Overall, the Husker roster consists of players from 10 states and two countries.

 

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 virtue of it being the host school for the John Thompson Foundation Basketball Challenge. Since the tournament was exempt, all six games were 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 played with all three experimental rules during both of its exhibition games as well as opening weekend.

 

Tough Schedule Ahead

Nebraska will face 11 teams in 2005-06 that reached the postseason last year. Among the eight teams to reach the 2005 NCAA Tournament were six Big 12 opponents in Texas Tech (Sweet 16), Oklahoma State (Sweet 16), Oklahoma (Second Round), Iowa State (Second Round), Texas (First Round) and Kansas (First Round), along with two non-conference foes in UAB (Second Round) and Creighton (First Round).  Nebraska opponents Texas A&M (Third Round), Missouri (First Round) and Marquette (First Round) reached the 2005 National Invitation Tournament.

 

Tournament Time

Nebraska opened the season by playing host to the John Thompson Foundation Basketball Challenge in Lincoln. The four-team tournament marked the first time NU hosted a tournament since the 2000 Husker Classic. It was NU's first regular-season tournament since 2002 when NU played in the Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska, and the ASU Hoops Classic in Tempe, Ariz.

 

Home Sweet Home

The Huskers will play a BobDevaneySportsCenter single-season record 19 home games this season. The Huskers will break the record of 18 home games at the DevaneyCenter, last tied during the 2003-04 campaign when Nebraska picked up an NIT victory over Niagara on its way to a 15-3 home record. The 15 wins tied for second all-time on the building's single-season win chart. Nebraska owns a 345-109 all-time record in its 30th year at the DevaneyCenter.

 

What's On Tap Next

Following the contest against SoutheastMissouriState on Sunday, Nov. 27, the Huskers return to the DevaneyCenter for a tough week of competition as it hosts a pair of teams that played in the 2005 postseason.

 

First up is a contest against 2005 NIT participant ? and 2003 Final Four entrant ? Marquette on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the DevaneyCenter. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be seen in the state of Nebraska on FSN Midwest and can be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and Huskers.com.

 

Following the matchup with the Golden Eagles, NU will play host to UAB on Saturday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m. The Blazers have been in the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons, winning at least one game each year.