Huskers Run Past Jackrabbits

Lincoln?Four players scored in double figures and the Huskers posted a decisive edge in the transition game, as the Nebraska men’s basketball team bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 76-67 win over South DakotaState Thursday at the BobDevaneySportsCenter.

 

NU moved to 6-1 on the season with the victory, while the Jackrabbits dropped to 1-7.

 

Senior forward Wes Wilkinson posted his second straight double-double with a game-high 17 points and 10 rebounds, while senior forward Jason Dourisseau and sophomore guard Joe McCray each added 12 points to power the Huskers. Freshman point guard Marcus Walker chipped in 11 points and junior forward B.J. Walker finished with eight points and a career-high 11 boards in his first career start.

 

NU made its mark by dominating SDSU in the transition game to regroup from Sunday's loss to UAB. While the Huskers lost the rebounding battle, 49-45, they posted a 14-0 advantage over the Jacks in fastbreak points.

 

Trailing 34-26 at the half, SDSU came out firing in the second period and quickly cut Nebraska’s lead to three points at 36-33 with help from a 3-pointer from junior forward Ben Behran and a pair of jumpers by junior center Mohammed Berte, who led the Jacks with 14 points.

 

NU quickly responded with a thunderous dunk by Wilkinson and two layups from sophomore center Aleks Maric. Maric added a free throw after his second layup to push NU’s lead back to nine at 42-33. Nebraska did not look back from there, shooting 52 percent from the field in the second half.

 

The Huskers put together another big run to extend their lead to 55-40 with just under 13 minutes remaining. Following Wilkinson’s second 3-pointer of the game, Dourisseau notched a layup and a free throw before McCray gave NU a 15-point lead with a layup of his own.

 

Sophomore forward Michael Loney tried to keep SDSU close, as he drilled his first trey and added two free throws to cut Nebraska’s lead to 11 with 9:18 remaining. The Huskers were able to answer with a jumper from Marcus Walker and a free throw by B.J. Walker to put NU back up by 14 with just over eight minutes to play. The lead extended to 17 after McCray added his second 3-pointer of the night.

 

The Jacks made one final run at the Huskers by cutting the lead to seven with an eight-point streak with just over four minutes left. Junior guard Eric Heien, who shot 4-for-6 from behind the arc, nailed a pair of 3-pointers to close the gap to 66-59 after freshman guard Matt Caldwell started the rally with a jumper to the right of the free-throw line.

 

Nebraska missed a chance to ice the game at the charity stripe with a 1-for-3 effort on subsequent possessions, but aggressive work on the offensive glass kept the ball in the Huskers’ grasp. Wilkinson’s 3-pointer at 2:51 put NU up 72-59. The two teams traded points down the stretch to close out the contest.

 

Both teams started the game cold from the floor, combining to shoot 2-for-13 from the field in the game’s first four minutes. SDSU slowly built an 8-4 lead by the 11:42 mark after B.J. Walker opened the scoring with a turnaround jumper from the right block.

 

The Huskers went 2-for-10 from the floor in the early going before Marcus Walker provided a spark to key a 9-0 run. Walker hit a 3-pointer from the left corner, then nailed a pair of free throws after a transition seal and subsequent drive to the bucket. The true freshman then hit another jumper to give Nebraska a 13-8 advantage at the 9:38 mark.

 

Following a Loney jumper that stopped the run, McCray continued the Huskers’ hot streak, including scoring on a driving layup and a foul shot, to give NU an eight-point lead. Heien ended the streak for the Jacks with his first trey of the game, while junior guard Jose Frias added two free throws on the following possession.

 

After SDSU cut Nebraska’s lead to five, NU responded by pushing the lead to 10 at 25-15 after junior guard Marcus Perry drained a 3-pointer and McCray added a layup off a steal.

 

NU controlled the game’s tempo following its cold stretch to open the game. While the Huskers were outrebounded, 27-22, in the first half, they won the turnover battle, 8-4, and posted a 13-2 advantage in points off turnovers.

 

Nebraska eventually pushed the lead to 12 before the Jackrabbits responded with a run of their own. Beran and Heien each drilled 3-pointers, and Berte later added a layup as the lead dwindled to four with 1:31 remaining in the first period. The Huskers finished the half with a four-point run on buckets from freshman point guard Jamel White and Marcus Walker for an eight-point advantage at 34-26.

 

Next up for Nebraska is its annual in-state matchup with Creighton on Sunday. The Huskers meet the Bluejays at 1 p.m. at the QwestCenter in Omaha.