Nebraska Set to Battle Bears

The Nebraska men's basketball team hits the floor at the BobDevaneySportsCenter for the first time in 2006 in its final non-conference game of the season as NU plays host to Northern Colorado on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

 

The Huskers and Bears will tip off at 7:05 p.m. and the game will be carried live on the Pinnacle Sports Network around Nebraska and can be heard worldwide on the Internet at Huskers.com. Randy Lee will handle the play-by-play duties while Matt Davison adds color commentary.

 

Nebraska enters the midweek matchup looking to pick up its 10th win of the year. A victory over the Bears would give Nebraska 10 wins in the non-conference slate for the second time in three years and only the second time since the start of the Big 12 Conference in 1996-97.

 

A win Tuesday would also mark the 13th time NU posted at least 10 non-league regular-season wins since 1983-84, and each of the previous 12 times the Huskers went on to play in the postseason with five NCAA Tournament berths (1986, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994) and seven NIT berths (1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1995, 1996, 2004).

 

Final Tune-Up Before Big 12

After playing their first road game out of the state last weekend in a 74-60 loss to Florida State, the Huskers hope to start a new trend in their first game at home in the new year. Nebraska looks to take advantage of its size Tuesday against Northern Colorado, as the Bears have just two players listed over 6-6 on the roster.

 

A win would be a good stepping stone into Big 12 action, as the Huskers would have 10 victories heading into league play. Nebraska opens the conference slate at home for the second time in as many seasons when it plays host to Oklahoma on Saturday, Jan. 7. The game will be seen on ESPN+ at 12:47 p.m. In total, 15 of the Huskers' 16 conference tilts will be on television this season.

 

The Huskers have received better all-around play from forward B.J. Walker over the past few games and hope to carry that trend into two contests this week. A native of Cincinnati, Walker has averaged 8.0 points and 4.8 rebounds over the past four games, including his second double-figure scoring effort of the season last Saturday against the Seminoles. Walker hit 5-of-8 attempts from the field against FSU for 10 points as NU's second-leading scorer in the game.

 

Sophomore guard Joe McCray chipped in 14 points to pace Nebraska while adding seven boards. It was his fifth straight game with at least five boards as he has averaged a team-best 14.4 points to go with 7.2 rebounds per game. Only senior captain Jason Dourisseau has hit the boards harder in the past five contests. During that span, Dourisseau has averaged 8.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, including posting a season-high 11 boards ? one off his career best ? on two occasions.

 

Senior captain Wes Wilkinson also looks to get back on track after being held without a shot attempt in the first half of each of the last two contests. Wilkinson leads NU with 13.5 points per game, but has had seven or fewer shot attempts in each of the past three games after gaining at least 10 attempts in six of his first eight games this season.

 

The Matchup

Nebraska and Northern Colorado will be facing off for the third time in series history. The Huskers own a 2-0 record in head-to-head competition with the Bears with the last contest taking place in 1949. Nebraska won 63-43 that season in Lincoln and also owns a 58-54 road victory in 1948.

 

Nebraska owns a 5-0 record all-time against Division I independents, including a pair of victories this season. The Huskers defeated Longwood in the season opener, 80-65, on Nov. 18 and picked up a 76-67 victory over South DakotaState on Dec. 8.

 

Scouting the Bears

Northern Colorado heads into Tuesday's contest looking to turn its fortunes as the Bears have won just one of their first 16 contests this season.

 

UNC, which is playing its third game in six days and its 12th road game of the year, won for the first time on Dec. 30 when it picked up a 76-70 victory over Eastern Michigan at home as it had 21 assists on the day while committing a season-low 10 turnovers and hit 49.1 percent from the floor. The win snapped a 14-game losing streak to open the season and a 17-game losing streak overall.

 

After getting the monkey off its back, Northern Colorado opened 2006 with a loss at Northwestern on New Year's Day. The Bears were held to 2-for-15 shooting from 3-point range and committed 25 turnovers while the Wildcats hit 56.6 percent from the field. UNC held a 38-20 advantage on the glass, including a dominating 18-7 lead on the offensive end, but failed to convert in an 82-47 loss. Northwestern had 23 assists on 30 baskets and committed just seven turnovers.

 

Sophomore Sean Taibi, who was named to the All-Independent second-team last year, hit for his average and led the Bears with 13 points Sunday. Cory Lowe and Dwayne Birden each scored nine points and added nine rebounds while Matt Kline added 10 assists.

 

Taibi leads UNC with 13.5 points per game while hitting 47.1 percent from the field. He paces the squad with 39 3-pointers, nearly half of the team total (85), and has connected at a sizzling 82.9-percent clip from the charity stripe. Kirk Archibeque has come off the bench recently and ranks second with 11.5 points per game while adding a team-high 8.0 boards per contest.

 

The Bears are averaging just 61.9 points per game this season and have been held under 60 points seven times, including two times under 50 points. UNC has hit 42.7 percent from the floor while allowing opponents to connect on 46.9 percent, including 38.8 percent from 3-point range. The Bears hold a +0.4 rebounding advantage (34.4-34.0) but have committed 20.4 turnovers per game as opponents are averaging 76.2 points per contest.

 

Northern Colorado is coached by Craig Rasmuson (Ashland, 1990), who is in his seventh year guiding the Bears and 11th year as a college head coach. Rasmuson owns a 125-186 career record and is 59-120 with UNC.

 

Quick Shots

? Nebraska is looking for its 10th win in its first 13 games this season when it ends non-conference play. Nebraska has had at least 10 wins in non-conference play just twice since the formation of the Big 12.

? Nebraska is holding opponents to 64.9 points per game on 38.1 percent shooting. Nebraska ranked 17th nationally in opponent shooting percentage as of Dec. 19 and is currently third in the Big 12 Conference.

? Charles Richardson Jr. has been outstanding taking care of the ball this season, as he has a 2.5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio (30:12). He has had 18 assists against just five turnovers in the past four games, and is averaging just 1.3 turnovers per contest this season.

? Wes Wilkinson leads the conference with 28 blocked shots in 11 games this season (2.5 bpg), and needs just five more to tie his career high of 33 blocks set in 27 games last year. He needs 28 blocked shots to move onto the Nebraska single-season chart.

? Wilkinson has played in 97 career games and will be one of two Huskers (also Jason Dourisseau, currently 96 games) who will play in their 100th career game this season.

? Marcus Walker has 16 3-pointers this season to rank third on the team. He needs just one more to move into 10th place on the Nebraska freshman chart. Walker also has a team-best 36 assists and needs 25 assists to move into the Nebraska freshman top 10.

? The Huskers set a season high with 28 assists as a team against North Carolina A&T, the highest total in Coach Barry Collier’s tenure, bettering the 27 assists set in 2001 against Texas A&M. The 28 assists are the most by the Huskers since recording 35 assists in a 101-60 win over Northeastern Illinois on Dec. 21, 1994.

? Nebraska recorded seven turnovers against North Carolina A&T, the fewest turnovers in a game since posting seven against ArizonaState on Dec. 3, 2003.

? Nebraska recorded a season-high 16 3-pointers against North Carolina A&T, just two off the school record of 18 set in 2002 in a one-point home loss to No. 1 Kansas. The Huskers’ 36 attempts from 3-point range were also one off the school record of 37 also set against No. 1 Kansas in 2002.

 

Walker Named Big 12 Rookie of the Week

Freshman guard Marcus Walker became the first Husker this season to earn a league honor as he was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week, the conference office announced Dec. 27. A native of Kansas City, Walker led Nebraska to a pair of wins during the week of Dec. 19-25 by averaging a team-best 16.5 points and 5.5 assists per game.

 

In Nebraska’s first victory of the week, Walker helped the Huskers top the century mark for the first time since 1996 as NU posted a 107-57 win over North Carolina A&T. Walker added 13 points and a career-high tying six assists against the Aggies before coming back with a career-best 20 points and five assists against Alabama A&M in a 67-60 win. He posted just four turnovers against 11 assists on the week.

 

Walker hit an impressive 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from the floor, including 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from 3-point range. Against NCA&T, he helped the Huskers to a season-high 16 3-pointers, the second-highest total in school history trailing only the 18 treys Nebraska recorded in a one-point loss to No. 1 Kansas in 2002.

 

Walker is the third Husker to win league rookie of the week honors in the past two seasons. Last year, guard Joe McCray earned the honor twice while center Aleks Maric was tabbed once. Walker was joined by Big 12 Player of the Week David Monds, who recorded his first career double-double in OklahomaState’s win over No. 23 Tennessee in the All-College Classic.

 

Wilkinson Adds Another Dimension For Huskers

Senior forward Wes Wilkinson missed the Louisiana Tech game with an injury but returned in fine fashion against SoutheastMissouriState (career-high 25 points, nine rebounds) and has had the hottest hand on the team in the Huskers' subsequent games.

 

The 6-10, 220-pounder has averaged a team-best 14.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.55 blocks per game over the past nine contests. He has hit 50-of-92 attempts (54.3 percent) from the floor and has played a team-high 27.9 minutes per game in that span.

 

Wilkinson has shown his versatility by connecting on an amazing 21-of-37 (56.8 percent) attempts from 3-point range over the past nine games. He had 10 treys combined in his freshman and sophomore seasons and owned 34 career 3-pointers entering the season. He averaged 0.39 treys per game in his first three seasons but has connected on 2.2 3-pointers per game in 2005.

 

On the year, Wilkinson has averaged a team-best 13.5 points to go with 7.3 rebounds per game. He has hit 53.3 percent (57-of-107) from the floor, including 24-of-45 (53.3 percent) from long range.

 

Following the game against FloridaState, Wilkinson led the Big 12 Conference in blocked shots per game and 3-point field-goal percentage, was seventh in rebounds per game, ranked ninth in field-goal percentage and was 18th in scoring. He was one of four seniors ranked among the top 20 scorers in the Big 12.

 

Block Party

Senior forward Wes Wilkinson owns 28 of Nebraska's 47 blocked shots this season, including a career-best six blocks against Creighton. He has had three other games in his career with at least five blocks, including five against Yale and Marquette this season.

 

Wilkinson is already eighth on the Nebraska class list and needs two to move into a tie for seventh. Wilkinson's career total (80) currently ranks eighth in the NU record book and he needs three more to move into a tie for seventh.

 

If he can keep up his current Big 12-leading pace of 2.55 blocks per game, Wilkinson could challenge for one of the top spots on the NU single-season chart. The Nebraska single-season record is 91 blocked shots by Derrick Chandler in 1992. Wilkinson, who ranked 23rd nationally in blocks per game on Dec. 19, is on pace for 74 blocks (assuming he plays every remaining game of the regular season), which would tie for fifth in the school record book.

 

McCray Heating Up

Sophomore guard Joe McCray took a little time to get into the flow, but the Fort Lauderdale native has been simply sensational the past four games. During that span, McCray has led the Huskers with team highs of 16.0 points and is second with 6.8 rebounds per game. He has also added 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per contest.

 

McCray has connected on 19 of his last 47 attempts (40.4 percent) in the past six contests after hitting just 7-of-34 (20.6 percent) in his first six games. With his recent hot hand, McCray has moved into the Nebraska career 3-point record book where he is eighth and needs 40 treys to take over seventh place (Tyronn Lue made 145 treys in 1996-98).

 

Last year, McCray set the Nebraska freshman scoring record with 15.5 points per game, the eighth-highest total by a league freshman since the formation of the Big 12 Conference. He was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week twice last year and was a Freshman All-Big 12 pick by the media and a third-team Freshman All-American by Rivals.com.

 

Boarding All Rows

For the second straight season, Nebraska dominated the boards against UAB and a Husker came away with a career game. Last year, center Aleks Maric recorded a double-double in his third career game when he posted 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds against the Blazers. The 15 rebounds were a team season high.

 

This year, it was senior forward Wes Wilkinson's turn to burn the Blazers. The Grand Island native recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and a career-best 16 rebounds, including 12 in the opening period. Wilkinson's 16 rebounds are the most by a Husker since John Turek also recorded 16 boards against Denver during the 2002-03 campaign.

 

Movement Pays Off

Nebraska's increased efficiency over the past four games has been due, in part, to better ball movement. The Huskers have recorded 71 assists on 109 baskets during the last four contests. Charles Richardson Jr. leads the way with 18 assists against just five turnovers in the past four games while Marcus Walker has added 17 assists.

 

Doubling Up

Wes Wilkinson went the first 90 games of his career without a double-figure rebounding game but had three straight performances with at least 10 boards between Dec. 3 and Dec. 11.

 

After posting a 17-point, 16-rebound effort against UAB for his first career double-double, Wilkinson added a 17-point, 10-board outing against South DakotaState. He came back with a game-high 13 rebounds against Creighton, although his double-double streak ended as he had just six points. Wilkinson's double-figure rebounding streak came to an end at three games as he had just seven boards against ChicagoState.

 

Wilkinson is not the only player doubling up this season, as sophomore center Aleks Maric owns the team lead with three double-doubles, which also ties for second in the Big 12 Conference this season. Junior forward B.J. Walker also got into the act as he posted a career-best 11 boards for his first double-figure rebound effort of the season against South Dakota State, while 6-5 guard Joe McCray picked up his second career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Alabama A&M.

 

Jason Dourisseau, who has just missed out on a double-double with nine boards three times already this year, grabbed his second career double-figure rebounding total with 11 boards against Creighton. He equalled his season-high mark with 11 rebounds and added nine points against FloridaState.

 

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, he has been exceptional from the field over his last 20 regular-season games dating back to last season. During that span, Dourisseau has hit 52.4 percent (75-of-143) from the floor, including 47-of-92 (51.1 percent) in 12 games this season.

 

Dourisseau is second on the team with 11.2 points and leads the squad with 7.5 rebounds per game this season. He also leads the Huskers with 16 steals.

 

Dourisseau was one of three Huskers named to the all-tournament team at the season-opening John Thompson Foundation Basketball Challenge, and was the only Husker to score in double figures in each of the first seven games this season.

 

Spreading the Wealth

Nebraska's offensive execution was outstanding in its 107-57 victory over North Carolina A&T. The Huskers recorded a season-best 28 assists on 33 made baskets with three players finishing with at least five assists. The 28 assists were the most by the Huskers since 1994 when they posted 35 in a 101-60 win over Northeastern Illinois. 

 

Charles Richardson Jr., a junior guard, led the way as he came off the bench to record a team season-high eight assists without a turnover. The total was one off his career high of nine assists set two years ago against Tennessee. Along with Richardson, Jason Dourisseau had a career-high tying five assists without a turnover while Marcus Walker tied his career high with six assists against just one miscue.

 

Charity Work

While the percentage is still not where they would like it to be, the Huskers have done an outstanding job of getting to the free throw line in non-conference games. Nebraska has averaged 24.5 free throw attempts per game (294 total attempts in 12 games) while allowing its opponents to get to the stripe just 15.6 times per game (188 attempts combined). NU has made nearly as many free throws as its opponents have attempted (181 to 188).

 

Nebraska has hit 61.6 percent from the line this season after connecting on 66.0 percent (409-of-620) last year. Jason Dourisseau has gotten to the line more frequently than any Husker at 76 times while no other player on the team has reached the line 50 times.

 

Record Night

Nebraska picked up its 350th all-time victory at the BobDevaneySportsCenter in high fashion as the Huskers scored at least 100 points in a contest for the first time since 1996 with a 107-57 win over North Carolina A&T on Dec. 19. Marcus Perry’s free throw with 3:00 left gave the Huskers’ their 100th point of the night.

 

The last time the Huskers scored at least 100 points came against Oklahoma on Jan. 13, 1996, in a 117-100 triple overtime loss to the Sooners. In fact, each of the last two times the Huskers hit the century mark they lost, including a 109-104 setback to Northern Iowa on Dec. 16, 1995. The last time Nebraska collected at least 100 points in a victory came on Feb. 8, 1995, in a 100-86 win over Colorado.

 

The 107 points are the most by the Huskers since a 114-106 victory over Oregon on Nov. 25, 1995, while the 50-point margin of victory tied for the third largest in Devaney Center history and tied for the seventh largest win in program history overall.

 

First-Timers

Husker fans are 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 at the season-opening 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 six games, and was just the second true freshman to start his first career game at Nebraska since Cookie Belcher in 1996-97. Marcus Walker, who now owns 10 career starts, is not the only newcomer to earn a start, as B.J. Walker has been in for the tip off five times this season.

 

Through 12 contests, Marcus Walker leads the newcomers by averaging 8.3 points per game while B.J. Walker has added 7.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest. Marcus Walker was especially strong in December, as he averaged 10.9 points and 3.3 assists per game over seven contests during the month. He also hit 49.1 percent from the floor, including 40.0 percent from 3-point range, while ranking third on the team in scoring.

 

Walker's 16 3-pointers this season leave him just one away from breaking into the NU freshman top-10 list, where he would equal the mark set by Jaron Boone when he had 17 as a Husker freshman in 1993.

 

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.

 

Passing Grades

Freshmen guards Marcus Walker and Jamel White have made solid first impressions for the Huskers. The duo has combined for 14.2 points, 5.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game this season.

 

Walker leads the team with 36 assists while White has added 26 to rank third. Walker has posted six assists on two occasions, while White has recorded five assists in two games. Walker has had at least five assists in four other contests. 

 

White has been efficient running the Husker offense this season, as he has 25 assists against 10 turnovers since the season opener when he had one assist and six turnovers.

 

The freshmen have made a strong impression since the start of the exhibition season when they took Charles Richardson's place, as he was sidelined with an injury. Richardson has led the team with a 2.5:1
assist-to-turnover ratio (30:12) since his return from injury.

 

McCray Moving Up Chart

Guard Joe McCray set several Nebraska freshman records last season and has already broke into the NU career record book as a sophomore.

 

McCray, who now has 106 career 3-pointers, moved into the Nebraska career top 10 against North Carolina A&T in just his 38th career game. McCray recorded five treys against the Aggies to pass former Huskers Jake Muhleisen and Jamar Johnson, who each had 95 career treys, for 10th place on the list. Against Alabama A&M, McCray became the 10th player in Nebraska history to reach 100 career treys. 

 

McCray is only the second Husker ever to reach 100 career treys during his sophomore season. He joined Cary Cochran, who had 101 3-pointers after two full seasons (61 games) playing for the Huskers, while McCray took just 39 games to reach the century mark. 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.

 

Awesome Aussie

A native of Sydney, sophomore center Aleks Maric is one of 29 Australians playing Division I college men's basketball this season. According to the NCAA, there are 396 foreign players competing at the Division I level.

 

Also from Sydney, New South Wales, are Blagoj Janev (New Hampshire), Martin Iti (New MexicoState) and Stefan Blaszczynski (NichollsState). Blaszczynski is one of five Australians on the NichollsState roster, the most of any school in the United States.

 

Along with Nebraska, major conference schools including Arizona, Baylor, Georgia, Indiana and WashingtonState have at least one Australian on its roster in 2005-06.

 

Family Affair

A new member was added to the Husker family on Friday, Dec. 16, when Akayla Perry was born to junior guard Marcus Perry and his wife, Portia. The couple also has another daughter, three-year-old Azzariah.

 

Following the birth, Perry missed the Huskers' game on Dec. 17 but came back to score a career-high 13 points against North Carolina A&T on Monday, Dec. 19, in his first contest following Akayla's birth. He also added an assist, steal and his first career blocked shot in 21 minutes of action.

 

Huskers Rise to Challenge

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 on the opening weekend of the 2005-06 season.

 

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. NU used a solid defensive effort that held its opponents to a tournament-low 61.7 points per game while shooting just 38.5 percent.

 

Maric and Dourisseau each averaged 12.7 points per game to lead the Huskers to the title. Maric also pulled in 10.7 rebounds per game on the weekend to rank second in the four-team field while Dourisseau was fourth overall and second on the team with 8.7 rebounds per contest.

 

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.

 

It was the first tournament title the Huskers have won since taking three straight games at the San Juan Shootout in 2000. Nebraska defeated Iona (81-80), KentState (69-68) and SMU (72-70) that season. The Huskers started that trip with a 72-64 win over Miami in the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic.

 

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 strength 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 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 B.J. 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.

 

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 2005-06 season.

 

Dourisseau and Wilkinson are the only two scholarship players on the roster from Nebraska and have stepped up during the summer 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.

 

Smith, Balham to Redshirt

Newcomers Chris Balham and Mike Smith have said they will sit out this season as redshirts, looking to gain strength, speed and improve their skills before stepping onto the court for the Huskers in 2006-07.

 

Balham is one of the strongest players in Nebraska men's basketball team history and has already bench pressed more than 300 pounds. Balham will continue to work on his offensive skills as he began playing basketball just five years ago when he moved to Chicago from his native Paris, France. Smith also has great physical ability but with a log-jam in the backcourt, he has decided to take the time to improve his skill set and basketball IQ in anticipation of helping the Huskers next season.

 

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 was to come this 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 perfect '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 returned 57.4 percent of its rebounding from the 2004-05 campaign when it led the Big 12 Conference in rebounding margin.

 

Through 12 games this season, Nebraska ranks third in the Big 12 Conference in rebound average at 41.8 boards per game with Jason Dourisseau (6th, 7.5 rpg), Wes Wilkinson (7th, 7.3 rpg) and Aleks Maric (9th, 7.3 rpg) ranking among the top 10 individuals in the league.

 

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.

 

Tough Schedule

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.

 

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 set three times before and 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 351-110 all-time record in its 30th year at the DevaneyCenter. The Huskers picked up their 350th all-time win in the building in grand fashion as they earned a 107-57 win over North Carolina A&T on Dec. 19. The win marked the seventh-largest victory margin in school history and the third-largest in building history. It was also the first 100-point scoring effort for the Huskers since 1996.

 

The DevaneyCenter is one of just three current Big 12 arenas where the home team has won at least 350 games, including Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse, Oklahoma's LloydNobleCenter and IowaState's Hilton Coliseum.

 

Graduate Work

Former guard Corey Simms can not suit up for Nebraska any more, but he had every reason to be proud to be a Husker as he stepped to the platform during the winter commencement ceremony on Dec. 17. Simms was the only former basketball player to graduate this winter, finishing his degree in four and one-half years, but was one of 30 current and former student-athletes to get their degree on the day.

 

Simms (2004-05) joins an extensive list of players who earned their degree after competing as a senior under Coach Barry Collier. In 17 years as a head coach, Collier has now had 51-of-55 seniors earn their degree with one (Marcus Neal Jr.) on pace to complete his requirements in 2006.