Huskers Soar Past Golden Eagles

Lincoln --- Nebraska raced to a 19-point halftime lead and never looked back as three Huskers poured in 15 points apiece to lead Nebraska past Marquette, 84-74, Wednesday night at the BobDevaneySportsCenter.

 

With the win, Nebraska improved to a perfect 5-0 on the season, the Huskers’ first 5-0 start since beginning the 2003-04 campaign with five consecutive victories and the third perfect record at the five-game mark under Coach Barry Collier. Marquette fell to 4-2 on the year in its first true road game.

 

Senior forward Wes Wilkinson, junior forward B.J. Walker and sophomore center Aleks Maric each scored 15 points. Walker’s 15 points and eight rebounds were a career high, while Maric pulled down 11 rebounds to post his third double-double of the young season. Senior guard Jason Dourisseau added 11 points in a balanced scoring effort for NU.

 

Nebraska’s size paid dividends for the Big Red, as NU enjoyed a plus-nine rebounding advantage over Marquette, 49-40. The Huskers also scored 34 points in the paint to the Golden Eagles’ 18 and poured in 20 second-chance points, while Marquette managed just eight.

 

Nebraska led for nearly the entire first half, exploding for 48 points in the opening period, the Huskers’ highest point total in a half this season. NU hit 19-of-42 shots from the field for 45 percent, including 5-of-13 from beyond the arc. The Huskers hit the glass hard in the opening 20 minutes as well, out rebounding Marquette 27-10 and outscoring the Golden Eagles 15-2 on second-chance points.

 

Wilkinson and Walker paced the Huskers with 13 and 10 points, respectively, in the first half, with Walker adding five rebounds.

 

Dunks by Dourisseau and Maric gave Nebraska a quick 6-2 lead before Marquette answered with five points to take its first only lead of the game at 16:18 of the first half. Maric answered with a rebound and a put back to regain the lead for NU a possession later, a lead the Huskers would not relinquish.

 

Sophomore guard Joe McCray nailed a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 11-7 and the Huskers opened up a six-point lead at 16-10 after a basket from Maric and another 3-pointer from Wilkinson.

 

Junior guard Marcus Perry and freshman guard Jamel White buried back-to-back 3-pointers on consecutive Husker possessions to give NU a 26-14 lead and force the Golden Eagles to take a timeout with 11:03 remaining in the first half. Walker capped a 12-0 Husker run over a 2:18 stretch that gave NU a 28-14 lead with 10:30 remaining in the first period. After Marquette ended the run, Wilkinson answered with a 3-pointer to give Nebraska a 31-16 advantage.

 

Marquette cut the lead to single digits at 35-27 on a dunk by Dominic James with 5:33 remaining in the half. James was called for a technical foul on the dunk and Perry sank two free throws and McCray nailed a lay-up, as the Huskers capitalized with a four-point possession.

 

Nebraska closed the period with a 7-0 run to take a 48-29 lead into the locker room. The Huskers held Marquette without a field goal over the final 3:40, while Walker chipped in four points during the run.

 

The Huskers enjoyed their largest lead of the game with 18:25 left in the game after freshman guard Marcus Walker nailed a 3-pointer to give Nebraska a 53-31 lead. Marquette cut the lead to 12 at 55-43 with a 12-2 run, but Walker scored a pair of buckets to stall the comeback.

 

After the Golden Eagles’ run, the Nebraska defense turned up the heat, harassing Marquette to 0-of-11 shooting during a 5:59 stretch where MU did not record a field goal. When Wesley Matthews ended the drought, he cut the lead to 59-46 with 9:44 remaining.

 

Steve Novak cut the Huskers’ lead to 10 with just over eight minutes left in the game after he hit an open 3-pointer. Jerel McNeal hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to eight with 6:23 remaining and hit two more 25 seconds leader to pull the Golden Eagles to within six, the closest they had been since the 12:01 mark of the first half.

 

Maric answered for NU with a lay-up off an assist from Dourisseau. Maric was fouled on the shot and converted the three-point play to push the lead back up to nine. Junior guard Charles Richardson Jr. was then fouled bringing the ball up the court and converted both ends of a one-and-one to give the Huskers a 67-56 lead with 5:23 left in the game.

 

Maric came up big for Nebraska again, rebounding a missed free throw from Perry and scoring a basket to put NU up 69-56. With the lead cut to 71-61, Maric nailed consecutive free throws to extend the Huskers’ advantage.

 

James hit a 3-pointer for Marquette to make it a 10-point game and after a shot-clock violation on Nebraska, Matthews hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to cut the Huskers’ lead to 75-66 with 2:12 remaining.

 

 

James banked in a long 3-pointer to make the score 77-69 with just 1:13 left in the game. The Huskers successfully broke the Golden Eagles’ press on their next trip, culminating with a Wilkinson alley-oop dunk. Freshmen Jamel White and Marcus Walker then hit 4-of-4 free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the Huskers’ 84-74 victory.

 

Although Marquette put up 45 points in the second period, the Huskers held the Golden Eagles to 27 percent shooting from the field, but Marquette countered by hitting 17-of-22 free throws to keep the game in doubt.

 

Nebraska looks to remain perfect when the Huskers return to action Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip off against UAB at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.