Kansas State Blocks Husker Comeback Effort

Lincoln ? Akeem Wright blocked Jamel White’s game-winning attempt at the buzzer, as Nebraska nearly pulled out an improbable comeback before falling, 66-64, to Kansas State Wednesday evening at the Devaney Center.

Trailing 65-58 with 11 seconds left, Marcus Walker hit a 3-pointer with 7.0 seconds remaining to pull the Huskers within four points. White then stole the subsequent in-bounds pass and drained another 3-pointer to make it 65-64 with four seconds remaining. 

KSU’s Cartier Martin then split a pair of free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining, giving the Huskers a final opportunity for the win. Wes Wilkinson threw a strike to White 25 feet from the basket, but White’s three-point attempt was blocked by Wright, allowing Kansas State (15-11, 6-9 Big 12) to escape with a two-point win.

Aleks Maric led three Huskers (17-11, 7-8 Big 12) in double figures, as he posted his 10th double-double of the year with 16 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Marcic, who hit 10-of-14 shots from the foul line, had 12 points in the second half, as Nebraska nearly rallied from a 10-point deficit.
 
Senior Wes Wilkinson matched Maric for game-high honors with 16 points, while adding six boards and three blocks. Jason Dourisseau joined the two Huskers in double figures with 14 points, including 13 points in the second half, and eight rebounds before fouling out with 1:10 remaining. 

Maric and Dourisseau combined for 25 of Nebraska’s first 31 points in the second half, as the Huskers stayed within four points of KSU for nearly the entire final 10 minutes.

Martin tied Wilkinson for game-high honors with 16 points, while David Hoskins finished with 14 points, including 10 in the first half, as KSU shot 56 percent and took a 33-27 lead into the locker room.

The team traded the lead for most of the first half, until Lance Harris came off the bench to spark a 7-0 Kansas State run. Harris capped the spurt with five straight points, as his 3-pointer at the 3:01 mark gave the visitors a 27-20 lead.

KSU built the lead to as many as nine points on two occasions, taking a 33-24 lead after a David Hoskins’ basket with 50.9 seconds left in the half. Wilkinson answered right back for NU, hitting a 3-pointer to pull the Huskers within 33-27 at the break. Kansas State, which shot just 23 percent in the first meeting in January, hit on 56 percent of its shots in the first half, while Nebraska shot just 35 percent, including 2-for-9 from beyond the arc.

Dourisseau got the Huskers off to a good start to open the second half, hitting two straight baskets to pull NU within 33-31 with 19:20 left.  The Huskers then went three minutes without a point, as the Wildcats ran off eight unanswered points to take its largest lead of the game at 41-31 at the 16:31 mark after a Deilvez Yearby free throw.

Nebraska’s seniors answered the challenge, as Dourisseau and Wilkinson combined for eight points during a 10-2 Husker spurt that pulled NU within 43-41 on a Dourisseau 3-pointer from the corner with 13:57 left. Maric later got the Huskers within 44-43, but two straight baskets by Martin pushed the Wildcat advantage to 48-43.

Nebraska trailed 54-48 before Maric led the Husker comeback, as the 6-foot-11 sophomore found his way inside KSU’s defense, making a trio of foul shots in a 5-1 run to close within 55-53 with 4:19 remaining. The Huskers eventually pulled to within 60-57 on a Wilkinson basket with 59 seconds left, but Cartier’s putback of a Wright miss and two free throws stretched the margin to six points with 20 seconds remaining. After a Wilkinson miss, Yearby split a pair of free throws, giving KSU a seemingly comfortable seven-point lead before NU’s dramatic comeback.

The Huskers close out the regular season on Sunday, March 5, when they travel to Missouri for a 1 p.m. tipoff. The game will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network and shown on ESPN Regional (Ch. 8 in Lincoln).

Kansas State vs Nebraska (3/1/06 at Lincoln, Neb. (Devaney Center))

Box Score

Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Kansas State vs Nebraska 3/1/06 7:05 p.m. at Lincoln, Neb. (Devaney Center)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Kansas State 15-11, 6-9 Big12 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 21 Diarra, Dramane..... f 2-4 0-0 0-0 3 0 3 5 4 0 1 2 0 18 22 Taybron, Mario...... f 3-7 1-2 1-2 1 2 3 1 8 5 0 0 0 32 34 Wright, Akeem....... f 5-6 0-0 1-2 1 5 6 2 11 6 1 1 0 40 15 Hoskins, David...... g 5-9 0-0 4-7 2 4 6 0 14 1 4 0 2 25 20 Martin, Cartier..... g 6-15 0-2 4-6 2 1 3 3 16 1 2 0 0 28 01 Thomas, Schyler..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 03 Harris, Lance....... 3-10 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 0 7 2 0 0 0 19 05 Stewart, Clent...... 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 8 14 Afeli, Serge........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 5 32 Yearby, Deilvez..... 1-2 0-0 4-6 1 2 3 3 6 1 1 0 2 14 55 Hughes, Tyler....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 5 0 0 1 0 0 10 TEAM................ 1 3 4 1 Totals.............. 25-55 2-8 14-23 12 20 32 21 66 16 12 4 5 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-25 56.0% 2nd Half: 11-30 36.7% Game: 45.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 0-2 0.0% Game: 25.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 11-18 61.1% Game: 60.9% 4

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 17-11, 7-8 Big12 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 11 Wilkinson, Wes...... f 5-14 2-5 4-4 2 4 6 2 16 0 3 3 2 34 15 Schliep, Bronsen.... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 45 Wilbrand, Tony...... f 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 7 01 Dourisseau, Jason... g 5-9 1-2 3-4 4 4 8 5 14 2 2 1 2 33 03 Richardson, Charles. g 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 3 3 3 0 0 1 0 0 24 04 Perry, Marcus....... 1-4 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 7 10 Walker, Marcus...... 2-4 1-2 1-2 0 2 2 2 6 3 2 0 0 21 21 Maric, Aleks........ 3-6 0-0 10-14 5 7 12 3 16 1 4 1 1 30 31 White, Jamel........ 3-9 2-6 0-0 0 1 1 2 8 2 1 0 1 34 50 Marks, Kyle......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 TEAM................ 1 1 Totals.............. 20-53 6-20 18-24 15 23 38 18 64 8 15 6 7 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-26 34.6% 2nd Half: 11-27 40.7% Game: 37.7% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 4-11 36.4% Game: 30.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 7-10 70.0% 2nd Half: 11-14 78.6% Game: 75.0% 4

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Scott Thornley, Bill Kennedy, Gerry Pollard Technical fouls: Kansas State-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 9978 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Kansas State.................. 33 33 - 66 Nebraska...................... 27 37 - 64

Points in the paint-KS 26,NU 28. Points off turnovers-KS 19,NU 15. 2nd chance points-KS 8,NU 8. Fast break points-KS 6,NU 0. Bench points-KS 13,NU 32. Score tied-5 times. Lead changed-4 times. Last FG-KS 2nd-00:25, NU 2nd-00:05. Largest lead-KS by 10 2nd-16:31, NU by 1 1st-15:39.