Huskers Return Home for Senior Night

Nebraska Returns to Lincoln for Final Home Game

The Nebraska men's basketball team hits the court at the BobDevaneySportsCenter for the final time during the regular season when it plays host to KansasState on Wednesday, March 1. The game will tip off at 7:05 p.m. and marks the school-record 19th home contest in the DevaneyCenter, surpassing the previous building record of 18 games on two occasions.

 

The Nebraska-Kansas State contest will be seen on FSN Midwest within the state of Nebraska, including: Channel 37 on Time Warner Cable in Lincoln; channel 47 on Cox Cable around Omaha; channel 26 on Charter Cable; channel 33 on Qwest; channel 32 on Cable One; channel 655 on DirecTV; and channel 446 on Dish Network. Greg Sharpe (play-by-play) and Matt Davison (color) will call the action.

 

All Nebraska men's basketball games can also be heard on the radio through the Pinnacle Sports Network. The 26-station network can be heard throughout Nebraska and parts of western Iowa, and is available worldwide on the Internet at Huskers.com. Randy Lee will handle play-by-play duties while Mike Babcock serves as color analyst for the radio broadcast.

 

Huskers Celebrate Seniors

During a pregame ceremony at Wednesday's contest, the Nebraska basketball program will honor four seniors who will be playing the final home of their career. Jason Dourisseau (Omaha), Wes Wilkinson (Grand Island), Bronsen Schliep (Fairfield) and Tony Wilbrand (Alliance) comprise the Huskers' senior class and are the only native Nebraskans on the roster.

 

Dourisseau and Wilkinson are completing their fourth season with the Huskers while Wilbrand and Schliep, who each redshirted in 2001-02, are in their fifth year with the program. It will be the 68th home contest during their career and they are looking for their 49th win at the DevaneyCenter. They will try to give NU its second 15-win season at home in the past three years, equalling the second-highest mark in building history.

 

Each senior will be accompanied by his immediate family during an on-court presentation that will begin with 11:00 on the pregame countdown clock (6:49 p.m). Among those in the ceremony will be Jason Dourisseau and his parents, Richard and Geneva; Wes Wilkinson and his mother, Teresa Schnase, and father, Kevin Wilkinson; Bronsen Schliep and his parents Raelene and Marvin Schliep; and Tony Wilbrand with his wife, Britni, and mother, Cathy.

 

Dourisseau Earns Scholarship

During the first media timeout of the opening period, senior Jason Dourisseau will be honored for receiving the David G. Toren Athletic Scholarship. The award is given to a Husker athlete who is a letterwinner on the basketball, gymnastics, tennis or swimming team, and recognizes academic excellence, leadership and citizenship.

 

Seedings Set? Not Yet

Like eight other teams in the league, Nebraska enters the final week of the regular season aiming for a couple more victories to improve its seeding at the Big 12 Championship, which will run from March 9 to 12 at the AmericanAirlinesCenter in Dallas. Mathematically, Nebraska still has a chance to finish anywhere from No. 4 to No. 8 in the final standings.

 

The Huskers opened the week sitting in sole possession of sixth place in the standings, which if the season were to end today, would represent their highest regular-season placement since tying for fifth in the league standings in 1999.

 

If the Huskers finish in seventh place or higher, it would mark their third consecutive improvement in the Big 12 standings. Nebraska was 12th in 2003, tied for ninth in 2004 and tied for eighth last season.

 

Nebraska still has its eyes on the No. 4 seed at the league championship, but will need help. In order to earn a bye at the league tournament, the Huskers would need to win both their games this week, have Texas A&M lose both its games and have Colorado lose at least one of two.

 

If the Huskers and Buffaloes finish tied for either No. 4 or 5 in the standings, NU would get the higher seed than CU based on a tiebreaker. A Nebraska tie with Texas A&M or Texas Tech would hand the Huskers the lower seed.

 

Huskers Hope to Find Rhythm at DevaneyCenter

Nebraska looks to get back on the winning track in its final regular-season home game of the year. The Huskers own a solid 17-10 overall record and stand sixth in the league standings with a 7-7 Big 12 mark.

 

Nebraska has been dominant at home this season, as the Huskers are 14-4 in the DevaneyCenter in 2005-06. Nebraska has recorded 15 wins in the DevaneyCenter three times, including the 2004 season when the Huskers last reached postseason play, while the school record is 17 wins set in 1983.

 

The Huskers have posted solid numbers at home, including averaging 71.5 points per game while hitting 43.6 percent from the field. Seniors Wes Wilkinson and Jason Dourisseau have done a great deal of the damage for Nebraska at home, as they have averaged 13.5 and 12.1 points while adding 7.2 and 6.5 rebounds per game, respectively. Dourisseau has hit 53.5 percent from the field at the DevaneyCenter while Wilkinson has hit 35 of his 48 3-pointers this season on his home court.

 

The seniors will look to get a pair of youngsters into the flow early as well. Sophomore Aleks Maric has averaged 10.5 points and 7.9 rebounds at home this season while freshman Jamel White has gained 7.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game.

 

Over the past five home contests, Maric has been impressive with 13.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. White has also shined by gaining 13.8 points per contest during the same span while hitting 48.7 percent from the field, including an impressive 55.0 percent (11-of-20) from 3-point range.

 

The Matchup

Nebraska and KansasState will be meeting for the 210th time in the series and the second time this season when they face off Wednesday in the DevaneyCenter. KansasState leads the series ? which dates back to the 1905-06 campaign ? by a 119-90 margin including taking three of the last five matchups and six of the last 10.

 

In Lincoln, the Huskers hold a 57-32 all-time lead, including a commanding 21-9 advantage when playing the Wildcats in the DevaneyCenter. Nebraska has won six of the last seven meetings in the DevaneyCenter.

 

After taking a 57-42 victory in Manhattan earlier this season, the Huskers are looking for their first regular-season sweep of the Wildcats since 2001 when the Huskers defeated KSU twice before losing by four in the conference tournament. The two wins in 2001 marked the only Husker regular-season sweep of KSU since winning both contests in 1994. 

 

In Manhattan on Jan. 11, the Huskers rolled to their second straight win to open the conference schedule and won their league road opener for the second straight season with a dominating defensive performance. The Huskers held KSU to 23.4 percent (11-of-47) shooting for the game, including 4-of-19 in the second period as they ran to a 57-42 victory. It was the fewest points NU had allowed in regular-season conference game on the road since 1966.

 

KSU junior guard Cartier Martin scored 20 points on 4-of-14 shooting but no other Wildcat was able to post more than five points, as the rest of the team combined for just seven field goals. Nebraska had four players in double figures, led by Aleks Maric who posted 15 points to go with a career-high 17 rebounds, which is tied for the top individual rebounding effort in the Big 12 Conference this season.

 

2005 in Lincoln (NU 95, KSU 85, 2OT) --- Marcus Neal Jr. scored 13 points in overtime and Wes Wilkinson added a season-high 22 points to lead Nebraska to a 95-85 double overtime victory over Kansas State at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

 

With the victory, Nebraska opened conference play with a win for the first time since the formation of the Big 12 before the 1996-97 season. The last time NU opened league play at home was in 1996 when the Huskers won 79-74 over Colorado.

 

Neal had a chance to seal the win in regulation, eerily similar to the situation he encountered just eight days before at Tennessee. Neal hit three free throws in the final second for a one-point win at UT, and had a chance to do the same against the Wildcats.

 

After Fred Peete missed two free throws with seven seconds remaining, Joe McCray grabbed the rebound and got it to Neal, who pushed it up the court. As KSU tried to trap Neal, he put up a shot and was fouled by Jeremiah Massey with 1.3 seconds left in the contest. Neal missed his first attempt, but drained the next two to tie it at 69-69 at the end of regulation.

 

In the first overtime, Neal had five points while Jake Muhleisen and Wilkinson each added three. Wilkinson’s 3-pointer with 2:26 left in the extra session pulled the Huskers even at 76-all. After pushing the lead back to three on Muhleisen’s free throw with 29 seconds remaining, Lance Harris tied it up at 80-all. Harris hit a 3-pointer with nine seconds left and forced NU’s first double-overtime game since the 1999-2000 season opener, a victory over Eastern Illinois.

 

Nebraska struck first in the second overtime before Wilkinson started an 11-1 Husker run to seal the victory. The Grand Island native hit a 3-pointer with 1:31 left to play in the second overtime to give the Huskers an 87-84 lead. Following a Justin Williams free throw, Neal came back with another 3-pointer 17 seconds later to put the Huskers ahead by five. Neal then sandwiched two pair of free throws around an Aleks Maric charity shot to put Nebraska up by the final double-figure margin.

 

Despite letting KansasState come back from a 12-point deficit midway through the second half, the Huskers finished the game hitting 52.5 percent from the floor. The Husker drained 58.3 percent from the field in the overtime sessions.

 

Wilkinson led the way with a then-career-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting while adding four boards, three assists and one blocked shot in 34 minutes. Muhleisen played a career-high 48 minutes and picked up six points, five boards and nine assists while John Turek added 17 points.

 

Nebraska struggled from the floor early in the contest, hitting just one of its first five shots with four turnovers. After coming into the game averaging just 14.2 turnovers per game, the Huskers had nine in the first half before finishing with 16 in the game.

 

The Huskers started to find their stroke midway through the period as Nebraska hit nine of its next 10 attempts to start a 16-6 run. The Huskers then finished the first half on a 7-2 run to head into the locker room with a 36-26.

 

In the second period, NU opened the lead to 12 points, 50-38, on Maric’s jumper with 14:33 to play before the Wildcats came storming back. KSU went on a 7-0 run fueled by five points from Cartier Martin to cut the lead to five. Martin finished the game with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

 

Nebraska extended the lead back out to nine points on Turek’s jumper with 11:12 remaining, but the ?Cats would not go away as they whittled the lead to one point, 62-61, with just under five minutes to play. Marques Hayden then gave KSU its first lead since 3-2 with a jumper at the 3:32 mark. The lead exchanged hands two more times before KSU went ahead by three points with 43 seconds left on Clent Stewart’s free throw. McCray cut the lead to one with a jumper with 26 ticks left on the clock and, following a Stewart free throw, Neal stepped up big again for the Huskers.

 

Scouting the Wildcats

Kansas State heads into the mid-week matchup trying to get back on the winning track as it has lost its last two contests and four of its last five while dropping to 14-11 on the season and 5-9 in league play.

 

KSU has won just twice in February (2-6), and hopes to reverse a recent trend of hard-luck losses when it goes on the road to face the Huskers. KansasState is 1-8 away from Manhattan, Kan., this season, with its only win an improbable come-from-behind victory over Kansas.

 

The Wildcats have dropped each of the last two games by a single point to nationally ranked teams, including Saturday's 71-70 setback on the road against No. 22 Oklahoma. In its previous game, KansasState fell at home by a single point to No. 6 Texas, 65-64.

 

Against the Sooners on Saturday, Cartier Martin showed why he is considered by many to be a first-team All-Big 12 selection, as he scored a game-high 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting while adding five rebounds and four assists without a turnover in 39 minutes. Martin leads the Wildcats with 18.4 points per game to rank fourth this season in the league statistics.

 

Martin leads KSU with 6.7 rebounds per game and has added a team-best 47 3-pointers on 44.3 percent shooting from outside the arc. Martin has hit 48.2 percent from the field overall although he has been slowed in league play where he has hit 42.5 percent from the floor while averaging 17.6 points per game.

 

Along with Martin, guards David Hoskins and Lance Harris have averaged double figures this season with 12.8 and 11.0 points per game, respectively. All three of the Wildcats' top scorers have hit better than 70.0 percent from the charity stripe this season, including Martin who ranks first in the conference by hitting 85.1 percent (120-of-141) from the line.

 

As a team KSU has hit 72.2 percent from the line and 44.7 percent from the field while averaging 69.1 points per game. Defensively, the Wildcats have allowed opponents to hit just 39.7 percent from the floor while gaining 63.4 points per game on the year. Big 12 Conference teams have not fared much better, as they have hit just 40.5 percent while gaining 65.6 points per contest.

 

The Wildcats are guided by head coach Jim Wooldridge (Louisiana Tech, 1977). Wooldridge is in his sixth year at KSU where he owns a 82-88 record. Overall, he is in his 19th year as a head coach and has posted a 311-235 career record. Wooldridge is 6-6 against Nebraska.

 

Quick Shots

? Nebraska has had seven players lead the team in single-game scoring, but until this past weekend, no one had led the team in scoring more than two games in a row. Wes Wilkinson paced the squad against Southeast Missouri State (25) and tied for the lead against Marquette (15), which was the only time a Husker had led the squad in scoring in consecutive games until Jamel White paced NU against Texas Tech (18), tied Wilkinson for the lead against Colorado (17) and the posted Nebraska's high total with 16 points against Texas A&M.

? Freshman Jamel White came off the bench to score 28 points for the Huskers against Missouri, the most points by any non-starter in a Big 12 contest this season. White outscored the MU bench 28-0.

? Nebraska's freshmen have been prolific from beyond the 3-point line this season. Jamel White (33) and Marcus Walker (25) are the first Husker freshmen to record at least 20 3-pointers in the same season. Only nine freshmen in NU history had recorded at least 20 treys before this year. White is fifth among Big 12 freshman this season in made 3-pointers. 

? Sophomore Aleks Maric (8.1), senior Jason Dourisseau (7.1) and senior Wes Wilkinson (6.7) are on pace to give Nebraska its first trio of rebounders with at least 6.0 boards per game since the 1991-92 campaign. That season, Derrick Chandler (8.2), Dapreis Owens (6.8) and Eric Piatkowski (6.3) each reached the mark.

? The Huskers tied their second-best start at home in the past 15 years by winning 11 of their first 12 tilts in Lincoln. The Huskers now own a 14-4 record at the DevaneyCenter this season, marking the 10th time in the building's 30-year history that NU has had at least 14 home wins.

? With a 10-3 mark through non-league play, the Huskers won at least 10 non-conference regular-season games for just the second time since the formation of the Big 12 (also 2003-04 season when Nebraska went on to reach second round of NIT).

? With 17 total victories this year, Nebraska has secured a winning record in the regular season for the third straight campaign. Nebraska earned a 14-13 mark in the regular season last year and finished 14-14 overall. That campaign followed an 18-13 season which included a 16-11 regular season. NU's 29 regular-season games are its most in five years.

? NU is 14-0 this season when outshooting its opponent and 14-1 when leading with 5:00 remaining in the game.

? With a 93-77 win over Colorado, Nebraska scored its most points in a Big 12 Conference game since posting a 95-85 double-overtime victory over Kansas State to open league play in the 2005 conference slate (Jan. 8, 2005). It is the most points against a conference team in regulation since a 99-82 victory over KansasState on Feb. 9, 2002.

? The 11-point deficit the Huskers overcame against Baylor was the largest deficit they erased to win a game this season and the largest since NU came back from an 11-point deficit in a 74-67 victory over fourth-ranked OklahomaState on Feb. 22, 2005. NU also erased a six-point deficit with four minutes left in a win over OklahomaState on the road and a 10-point deficit against Oklahoma at home to open league play.

? The eight-point halftime deficit against Oklahoma was the largest the Huskers have overcome since also coming back from eight down at the intermission against Kansas State on Jan. 30, 2001. It is tied for NU's second-largest halftime deficit overcome in the Big 12 era, trailing only the 18-point deficit Nebraska fought back from against KansasState on Jan. 15, 1997.

? Before the Oklahoma game, the last time Nebraska won after trailing at halftime was on Feb. 15, 2004, against No. 12 /13 Kansas when the Huskers rebounded from a one-point, 28-27, deficit at the intermission to win 74-55 over the Jayhawks. NU had lost 15 straight contests when trailing at the half before the win over Oklahoma.

? The Huskers held KansasState to 42 points in a 15-point victory in their first conference game away from home. It was the fewest points the Huskers had allowed a conference opponent in a true road game since 1966 when NU won 45-41 in overtime at OklahomaState.

? Nebraska’s 58 points in the opening frame against North Carolina A&T were its most points in any half this season and its 49 points in the second half rank third this season. It was the most points by the Huskers in any half since scoring 60 in the first half against Texas A&M on Feb. 28, 2001.

? Wilkinson played in his 100th career game at KansasState and Jason Dourisseau joined him in reaching 100 career games on Jan. 17 against IowaState. It is the second straight season the Huskers had at least two seniors reach their 100th career game.

? Nebraska recorded seven turnovers against North Carolina A&T, a season-low and the fewest turnovers in a game since posting seven against ArizonaState on Dec. 3, 2003. The only other time this season Nebraska recorded 10 or fewer turnovers in a game came in a one-point victory over No. 12/14 Oklahoma, when NU had nine miscues.

? Nebraska recorded a conference season-high 16 3-pointers against North Carolina A&T, two off the school record of 18 set in 2002 against No. 1 Kansas. NU's 36 attempts from 3-point range were also one off the school record of 37 also set against KU in 2002.

 

Scorching the Net

Sophomore center Aleks Maric etched his name into the Nebraska record book with a dominating performance at IowaState. The Sydney, Australia, native scored a career-high 37 points with 16 rebounds and four blocked shots.

 

Maric's point total was the fifth-highest in school single-game history and is now tied for the third-most by a Big 12 player this season. It was the most points by a Husker since Eric Piatkowski set the school record with 42 points in the 1994 Big Eight Tournament against Oklahoma and the first 30-point performance by a Husker since Tyronn Lue had 31 against Colorado in 1998.

 

The total was also the most points ever scored by a Husker in a regular-season road contest and set the NU sophomore single-game record, which previously was 33 points shared by Fred Hare in 1964 and Jerry Fort in 1974.

 

Maric scored 18 points in the first half and grabbed eight rebounds. He came back with 19 points and eight more rebounds in 16 minutes in the second period. Maric finished the game hitting 13-of-15 attempts from the field and 11-of-15 from the charity stripe. In his previous three games, Maric combined to hit 16-of-42 field-goal attempts and 7-of-11 from the line.

 

Double Trouble

Since taking an extra few days off over the Christmas break, Aleks Maric has been nearly unstoppable in the paint for the Huskers. After returning from Australia before the Huskers' contest against FloridaState, Maric has led the team with 11.3 points and 8.5 rebounds over the past 16 games while hitting 49.6 percent (65-of-131) from the field. He has also led the team with 18 steals and is second with 20 blocked shots.

 

Most recently, Maric recorded three consecutive double-doubles against OklahomaState, Baylor and Kansas, the most by a Husker since Andrew Drevo had four straight double-doubles in 2002-03. Venson Hamilton, the Huskers' all-time leading rebounder, also had four straight double-doubles in 1998-99 to tie Drevo for the most by a Husker since at least 1975-76.

 

Maric's impressive totals also included five straight double-figure rebounding efforts (vs. Oklahoma State, Baylor, Kansas, Texas and Iowa State), the most by a Husker in at least 30 years.

 

Maric owns nine double-doubles this season to lead the Huskers and rank third in the Big 12 Conference. He needs one more to equal the most double-doubles by a sophomore at Nebraska in the past 30 years. Venson Hamilton also had 10 double-doubles as a sophomore in 1998 and Carl McPipe added 10 double-doubles during his sophomore campaign in 1977.

 

Wilkinson Adds Another Dimension For Huskers

Senior forward Wes Wilkinson has made the most of his opportunities this season when healthy. After missing a game with an injury, Wilkinson returned to post a career-high 25 points against Southeast Missouri State and has been on a roll ever since.

 

The 6-10, 220-pounder has averaged a team-best 11.8 points with 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game this season. He has hit 45.0 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from 3-point range.

 

Wilkinson had 10 treys combined in his freshman and sophomore seasons and owned 34 career 3-pointers entering the season (he has 48 treys this year). He averaged 0.39 treys per game in his first three seasons but has connected on 1.84 3-pointers per game in 2005.

 

Wilkinson led the Big 12 Conference in blocked shots per game and 3-point field-goal percentage for the majority of the season, but currently ranks third in blocks and does not have enough 3-pointers made to rank on the percentage chart. He also ranks in the top 15 in rebounds per game.

 

Scoring Explosion

Nebraska has had a pair of freshmen produce impressive single-game results this season.

 

Most recently, guard Jamel White, a freshman from Brooklyn, N.Y., burst onto the Big 12 radar with a 28-point performance off the bench against Missouri. The rookie had the second-highest scoring game ever by a Husker freshman and became just the eighth freshman in NU history to produce at least 25 points in a contest.

 

In his first 18 games as a Husker, White had scored 95 total points to average 5.3 points per game. He had shot 28.0 percent (28-of-100) from the floor and 26.0 percent (13-of-50) from 3-point range, but drained 7-of-9 attempts from the field against the Tigers, including all four of his 3-point attempts. White also nailed 10-of-11 attempts at the free throw line against the Tigers to produce the most points by a Husker freshman in a decade.

 

In the last nine games, White has ranked second on the team with 13.3 points per contest while hitting 44.3 percent from the floor, including 46.5 percent (20-of-43) from 3-point range. He just missed his second career 20-point contest when he scored a team-high 18 points against Texas Tech and came back with 17 points in a 93-77 win over Colorado in Lincoln and 16 points at Texas A&M.

 

Freshman Marcus Walker and White joined an elite club as they are just the 17th and 18th freshmen, respectively, in school history to post a 20-point game. Walker had 20 points against Alabama A&M to help him win Big 12 Rookie of the Week honors. It is the fourth time in NU history a pair of freshmen recorded 20-point contests in the same season.

 

On the Mark

For the second straight season, a pair of Husker freshmen have played a large role in Nebraska's offensive success.

 

Marcus Walker's 25 3-pointers this season rank fourth on the team and are ninth in the NU freshman record book, one behind Beau Reid who is eighth. Walker is the fourth freshman to play under Coach Barry Collier to gain a spot on the Husker freshman top 10 3-pointer list.

 

Jamel White became the fifth freshman under Collier to make the list when he recorded his 20th trey of the year against Kansas, matching Tyronn Lue's freshman output that ranked 10th at the time. He then added two more against No. 6/7 Texas to knock Lue off the list and currently sits in fifth on the list with 33 3-pointers this season, which ranks third on the team.

 

White needs seven treys to become only the third Husker freshman in NU history to post 40 3-pointers. He has had three 3-pointers in three of the past four games.

 

White is fourth on the team while averaging 9.9 points per game in Big 12 contests and has hit a team-best 41.5 percent from 3-point range against league foes. On the season, White has posted solid numbers with 8.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per game while adding 46 assists to rank third on the squad.

 

White and Walker's solid play comes a year after the Huskers had a pair of freshmen earn league and team honors. Last year, Joe McCray and Aleks Maric saw 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 while breaking the Big 12 Conference freshman record with 80 3-pointers. Maric set the Nebraska freshman rebound record with 169 boards.

Block Party

Senior forward Wes Wilkinson owns 52 of Nebraska's 102 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 sixth on the Nebraska senior class list in 2005-06 and became the seventh player in NU history to record 100 career rejections when he picked up three blocks against Colorado in Lincoln. Wilkinson will finish his career ranked seventh on the NU blocks chart.

 

Despite a slowdown in production recently, Wilkinson can still 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 while 10th place is held by Venson Hamilton with 56 in 1997.

 

Taking the Floor

Charles Richardson Jr. has become the Huskers' floor general this season and has taken control of the point guard spot in the starting lineup the past 14 games (17 times overall).

 

The Maywood, Ill., native has proven effective at getting the team up the floor and into the offense and leads the team with a career-high 79 assists against 46 turnovers in 24 games this season. Richardson, who has had at least four assists 12 times this season, ranks sixth in the league in assist:turnover ratio and 13th in assists per game.

 

Richardson has shown glimpses of a better offensive game, setting career highs for single-game points (15) and 3-pointers made (3) in a win over No. 12/14 Oklahoma, easily surpassing his point total of 10 last year against Colorado. It was the second double-figure scoring mark of his career.

 

Richardson hit three 3-pointers on five attempts against the Sooners after entering the game hitting just 2-of-6 treys in his first 10 games combined. He also had two offensive rebounds after posting just seven offensive boards in his first 66 career games.

 

Richardson has had at least five points in a game 10 times in league play, mostly in part by getting to the free throw line a career-high 50 times (made 43, 86.0 percent). He also scored 12 points in a home victory over Colorado, his third career double-figure scoring effort and second straight year with double figures at home against the Buffs.

 

Sharing Time

Entering the season, Nebraska had nine players on the roster who had never suited up in a Husker uniform. With so many new faces, the coaching staff knew it would be important to find minutes for several players and the result has been eight current players averaging double-figure minutes, including five gaining at least 20 minutes per contest.

 

Jason Dourisseau leads the way with 29.4 minutes per game while Wes Wilkinson is second as he has averaged 28.6 minutes per game. Over the past five games, Dourisseau has been an iron man as he has averaged 34.8 minutes per contest, while Jamel White (33.6) and Wes Wilkinson (31.2) have also averaged at least 30.0 minutes per game in that span.

 

On the road against OklahomaState, the Huskers had five athletes ? all the starters ? play at least 30 minutes in a contest for the first time this season. NU's previous high this year was four players with at least 30 minutes on one occasion ? during a road win at KansasState.

 

Before the win over OklahomaState, the last time the Huskers had five players record at least 30 minutes of action in a game was Jan. 8, 2005, when NU defeated Kansas State, 95-85, in double overtime at home. The last time NU had five players record at least 30 minutes in a regulation game was March 13, 2003, as NU fell to Missouri, 70-61, at the Big 12 Tournament. 

 

Fast Break

Nebraska got off to its best start in six seasons under Coach Barry Collier with a 12-3 record through 15 games, equalling the program's best start since the 1995-96 campaign. That year, Nebraska had a 12-3 record before going on to win five straight games in the NIT and earn its only postseason men's basketball championship in program history.

 

Nebraska's 2-0 record to open conference play also matched its best mark to start a league slate since the formation of the Big 12. The Huskers' 5-3 record to open league play was their best through eight conference games since posting an identical 5-3 mark to open the 1999 Big 12 season ? and is only the second time in the Big 12 era the Huskers finished the first half of the season with a record above .500.

 

The Huskers own a 7-7 league record through 14 contests this season, their best Big 12 mark heading into the final two games of the regular season since posting a 9-5 mark during the 1998-99 season. The seven conference wins ties for the most by the Huskers since 1998-99, when NU finished with a 10-6 league record.

 

Opening Up

Nebraska opened the Big 12 Conference slate with a home win for the second consecutive year when it knocked off No. 12/14 Oklahoma, 59-58, at the DevaneyCenter on Jan. 7. The Huskers won their second straight conference opener after dropping their first eight attempts in the Big 12 era with each loss taking place away from the DevaneyCenter.

 

Hitting the Road

The Huskers continued their winning ways away from Lincoln as they won their league road opener for the second straight season with a 57-42 victory over the KSU Wildcats. NU snapped a 10-game losing streak in conference road openers last year with a 68-61 victory at Colorado. Before the win over the Buffaloes, Nebraska had not won a league road opener since a 78-72 victory at IowaState in 1994.

 

Nebraska already has three road wins in conference play this season after posting a 59-57 victory at OklahomaState and a 73-63 win at IowaState. The Huskers are now 5-6 in their last 11 regular-season Big 12 road contests dating back to last season, including 3-4 this year. In 2005, the Huskers were 3-5 on the road in league action, posting their most wins away from home in conference play since 1999 (4-4).

 

Doubling Up

Sophomore center Aleks Maric has been dominant in the paint since the start of conference play and now owns the team lead with nine double-doubles. His total ranks third in the Big 12 Conference this season behind Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge (13) and P.J. Tucker (10).

 

Maric's most recent double-double came against Colorado at home when he posted 13 points and 13 rebounds in a 93-77 victory. He helped Nebraska to a season-high 51 rebounds in the contest and a +21 rebound margin.

 

Maric scored a career-high 37 points and 16 rebounds on the road against IowaState, his third double-double away from Lincoln this season. Earlier during conference play, Maric had 15 points and 17 rebounds against KansasState, which ties P.J. Tucker for the highest single-game rebounding mark this season in the Big 12 Conference (Wes Wilkinson and Maric each have 16-board games to tie for third).

 

Senior 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 seven boards against ChicagoState.

 

Wilkinson added his third career double-double and first in league play when he broke out of a slump with 17 points and 13 rebounds at home against Colorado.

 

Maric and Wilkinson are not the only ones hit the boards hard, as Nebraska has had three other players record at least 10 rebounds in a contest this season, including B.J. Walker (11 boards vs. South Dakota State) Joe McCray (14 points and 10 rebounds against Alabama A&M) and Jason Dourisseau, who has just missed out on a double-double with at least 10 points to go with nine boards seven times this year.

 

Dourisseau picked up his second career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds on the road against Colorado and added another against Baylor with 16 points and 10 boards. He also had 11 boards against Creighton and equalled his season-high mark with 11 rebounds against FloridaState but did not reach double-figure points in those contests.

 

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 this season. Nebraska has averaged 23.0 free throw attempts per game (621 total attempts in 27 games) while allowing its opponents to get to the stripe just 15.9 times per game (428 attempts combined).

 

Nebraska has hit 66.7 percent (414-of-621) 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 146 times while only two other Huskers (Aleks Maric, 130; Jamel White, 71) have gotten to the line 60 times.

 

Dourisseau has hit just 57.5 percent from the stripe on the season but has made a dramatic improvement in conference play as he ranks 15th in league-only games by hitting 66.2 percent (45-of-68).

 

Nebraska ? which hit 61.8 percent from the line in non-conference play ? has seen that number rise to 71.4 percent to rank fourth in league-only games. The Huskers have hit better than 70 percent in eight of their last 12 contests, including a season-high 90.9 percent (20-of-22) against Baylor. The Huskers had topped 70 percent at the line in three of their first 15 games.

 

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.

 

The last time the Huskers scored at least 100 points was 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 was 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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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 had a new look on the bench this season 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.

 

Board Games

Nebraska looked 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.

 

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.

 

Nebraska enters the week ranked fourth in the Big 12 Conference in rebound average at 39.1 boards per game and is sixth in rebounding margin at +3.7. Aleks Maric (3rd, 8.1 rpg), Jason Dourisseau (6th, 7.1 rpg) and Wes Wilkinson (11th, 6.7 rpg) rank among the top 15 individuals in the league.

 

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 state following Nebraska with the most current Huskers is New York with two, while the other nine players are from eight other states and one foreign country. Overall, the Husker roster consists of players from 10 states and two countries.

 

Tough Schedule

Nebraska has faced 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.

 

What's On Tap Next

Nebraska ends the regular season on Sunday, March 5, when it heads to Columbia, Mo., to take on the Missouri Tigers at 1 p.m. on ESPN+. The Huskers and Tigers will play the next-to-last game of the regular season for Big 12 teams, as only the Texas-Oklahoma contest at 3 p.m. will follow.

 

The Huskers then head to Dallas for the Big 12 Championship, which begins on March 9 at the AmericanAirlinesCenter.