Huskers End Regular Season vs. Tigers

The Nebraska men's basketball team makes its final regular-season road trip when it heads to Columbia, Mo., to take on Missouri on Sunday, March 5, at the Mizzou Arena. The contest will be the next-to-last game of the regular season for Big 12 teams, as only the Texas-Oklahoma contest will remain (3 p.m. Sunday).

 

Nebraska and Missouri will tip off at 1 p.m. and the game will be seen nationally on ESPNU and regionally on the Big 12 syndicated television package.  In Nebraska, the Big 12 package can be seen on Channel 8 KLKN in Lincoln, Cox2 in Omaha and KIIT in North Platte. Fred White will call the action while Steven Bardo adds color commentary for the telecast.

 

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 Matt Davison returns to serve as color analyst for the radio broadcast.

 

NU Looks for Strong Finish

The Cornhuskers are aiming for a strong finish to end the regular season when they travel to take on the Missouri Tigers Sunday. Nebraska hopes to improve its seeding at the Big 12 Championship and its chances for a postseason berth with a victory in Columbia.

 

No matter the outcome of Sunday's game, Nebraska has already assured itself of its best finish in the conference standings since the 1998-99 season, when NU finished 10-6 in league play to tie for fifth. The Huskers have made their third straight improvement in the standings, moving from 12th in 2003 to tied for ninth in 2004 and tied for eighth last year.

 

This season, the Huskers are guaranteed to finish no worse than sixth in the regular-season standings, and entering the weekend still have a chance to tie Colorado for fifth place. A win Sunday would also give Nebraska its first season at .500 in conference play since 1999, and would be a one-game improvement for the third straight season.

 

Nebraska has been solid on the road this season, especially in conference play. The Huskers own a 3-4 road record and with a win Sunday would be .500 in conference road play for only the third time since the formation of the league. A win would also give Nebraska 18 regular-season victories, its most since 1998.

 

Seedings Set? Not Quite Yet

Nebraska enters the final weekend of the regular season like 10 other teams in the Big 12 Conference: still looking to solidify its seeding in the league championship, which will run from March 9 to 12 at the AmericanAirlinesCenter in Dallas.

 

One thing going in NU's favor is that it will know exactly what it has to do heading into the contest with Missouri to get the best possible seed. All of the other teams that could affect NU's seed and eventual opponent will play on Saturday, giving NU the final say in its seeding.

 

Mathematically, Nebraska still has a chance to finish anywhere from No. 5 to No. 9 in the seedings, but can finish no worse than in a tie for sixth in the final regular-season league standings.

 

A win Sunday coupled with a Colorado loss would put Nebraska into a tie for fifth in the standings and give NU the No. 5 seed, as CU is the only team the Huskers could tie mathematically and still own the tiebreaker. In that scenario, the Huskers would play Missouri at 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 9.

 

A win Sunday coupled with a Colorado win would leave Nebraska in sixth place in the standings and as the No. 6 seed in the championship. In this scenario, NU would then play Baylor at 8:30 p.m. on March 9.

 

Nebraska's scenarios get more complicated with a loss Sunday, as the Huskers would finish sixth in the standings but could be seeded anywhere from No. 6 to No. 9. In these scenarios, the Huskers would face any of six teams ? Iowa State, Kansas State, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Missouri or Baylor.

 

The Matchup

Nebraska and Missouri are meeting for the 206th time in the series that dates back to the 1907-08 campaign when Nebraska won a pair of contests. Overall, Missouri holds 120-85 advantage after winning  nine of the past 11 games.

 

Nebraska is looking for its first regular-season sweep of the Tigers since 1992-93 when NU won a pair of one-point contests, 88-88 in overtime at home and 76-75 on the road. That season sweep is NU's only over the Tigers since 1973-74.

 

The Tigers own a 65-25 advantage in Columbia, Mo., with the Huskers' last road win in the series coming in 1995, by a 78-75 score. The Huskers and Tigers are meeting in the Mizzou Arena for only the second time in the series with MU holding a 1-0 advantage.

 

The Huskers snapped a three-game Tiger win streak earlier this season in the last meeting between the teams, a 65-52 affair in Lincoln. Freshman guard Jamel White scored a career-high 28 points off the bench to lead the Huskers.

 

The Brooklyn, N.Y., native came off the bench to score 10 points in the first half and finished with 28 points on the day, tying Erick Strickland for the second-highest scoring game by a freshman in NU history. Only Tyronn Lue, who had 30 points against Oregon in 1995, scored more than 28 points in a single contest as a Husker freshman.

 

White helped the Huskers erase a 14-13 Missouri lead with a 10-0 run that gave Nebraska a nine-point cushion with 6:28 left in the opening half. Following a Jason Dourisseau layup and free throw by Aleks Maric, White scored seven straight points with a pair of baskets ? including a traditional three-point play ? and a pair of free throws to put the Huskers ahead 23-14. White then scored his 10th straight point at the 5:32 mark with the first of a career-high four 3-pointers on four attempts to push NU’s lead to 26-19.

 

The Huskers, who went into halftime with a 30-23 advantage, saw the lead disappear quickly as the Tigers came out of the locker room on a tear.

 

Missouri pushed ahead on a 10-2 run that included a pair of 3-pointers by Thomas Gardner. The junior guard hit six 3-pointers on the day and had a team-high 22 points, but had just three points in the final 17:07. Jimmy McKinney was the only other Tiger in double figures on the day with 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

 

After falling behind, 33-32, on a Jason Horton layup, the Huskers responded with nine straight points, including a 3-pointer and four free throws by White and a jumper from Dourisseau. Nebraska’s lead was again short lived as the Tigers reeled off eight straight points over the next three minutes to tie the score at 41-all with 9:21 to play on a pair of Kevin Young free throws.

 

From there, Maric, Wes Wilkinson and Dourisseau hit shots on consecutive trips up the court to push the Nebraska lead to seven, 48-41. After MU pulled back within six at 49-43, Nebraska countered every Tiger shot with a basket of its own and eventually extended the lead to double figures.

 

White finished the game by hitting 7-of-9 from the floor and all four attempts from 3-point range, while nailing 10-of-11 tries from the charity stripe. He added four rebounds, including three in the final five minutes of play, and had one steal in 23 minutes of action.

 

Dourisseau and Wilkinson added 13 points apiece with Wilkinson leading the Huskers with eight rebounds. Nebraska, which held a slight 32-29 lead on the glass, got eight points and seven boards from Maric while Marcus Perry’s 3-pointer early in the contest provided the Huskers’ only other points.

 

 2005 in Columbia (MU 80, NU 70) -- Missouri used an 18-5 run midway through the second half to hold of Nebraska, 80-70, at the Mizzou Arena.

 

Freshmen Joe McCray and Aleks Maric combined for 30 points to lead the Huskers. Missouri hit 54.3 percent from the field, including 60.0 percent in the second period, while the Huskers hit 44.8 percent from the floor.

 

After a pair of Linas Kleiza free throws put MU ahead 44-39 with 17:12 remaining in the game, Nebraska made a surge to pull within one on three occasions before the Tigers pulled away.

 

Marcus Neal Jr. converted a conventional three-point play to cut MU’s advantage to 48-47 at the
14:40 mark and following another pair of Kleiza shots from the charity stripe, McCray hit a jumper to pull NU to 50-49. Maric then got the Huskers to within one at 52-51 at the 12:30 mark before MU’s decisive stretch, which included a 9-0 run capped by a Kevin Young free throw with 4:25 left that put Missouri ahead 70-56.

 

Kleiza finished with a game-high 31 points, including hitting 15-of-17 free throw attempts, while picking up 10 rebounds. The Tigers hit 26-of-31 from the free throw line while the Huskers hit 8-of-10.

 

In the first half, Nebraska took an 8-7 lead at the 15:12 mark on Wes Wilkinson’s 3-pointer before Missouri used a 12-0 run to gain a 19-8 advantage. NU then used a 12-4 run to pull within 23-20 at 7:19 on a Maric layup.

 

Trailing 27-20, the Huskers started hitting from outside the arc, as Wilkinson drained a pair of treys sandwiched around 3s from Jake Muhleisen and McCray. Wilkinson’s second 3-pointer in the stretch gave NU a 35-33 lead with 57 seconds left in the opening period. Wilkinson then added a dunk off a missed shot for a four-point Husker advantage before the Tigers scored the final five points of the half in 19 seconds to a take a 38-37 lead into the break.

 

McCray finished with a team-high 16 points, while Maric added 14 points off the bench for Nebraska. Wilkinson added 14 points and six boards, as the Huskers earned a 31-26 advantage on the glass.

 

Scouting the Tigers

Missouri enters the final game of the regular season looking to snap a four-game losing streak. MU's only win in its last 11 games came in a 74-71 win over KansasState at home. Overall, the Tigers own an 11-15 record this season and are tied for last in the Big 12 Conference with a 4-11 league mark.

 

Missouri is 10-5 at home this season, but owns just a 3-4 mark at Mizzou Arena against conference teams. The Tigers have averaged 66.5 points per game on the year while shooting 42.7 percent from the field, but have allowed opponents to hit 45.9 percent from the field while scoring 70.7 points per game. MU has also been outrebounded by a 34.4 to 33.9 advantage.

 

In league play, the Tigers have gained 63.7 points per game but have allowed 74.1 points per contest. Opponents have hit a hefty 48.2 percent from the field while holding the Tigers to 41.7 percent shooting, including 32.1 percent from behind the 3-point line.

 

Missouri is led by all-conference candidate Thomas Gardner, who ranks second in the league in scoring (all games and conference-only). Gardner has averaged 19.8 points per game and paces the league with 89 3-pointers on the year while hitting a solid 39.7 percent from beyond the arc. Gardner also adds 3.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

 

Gardner, who has averaged 19.7 points per game in league play, is one of just two Tigers scoring double-figures on the season, along with Jimmy McKinney, who has posted 12.7 points per game on 41.2 percent shooting. Kevin Young leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game while adding 8.7 points while Marshall Brown has gained 9.7 points per game.

 

The Tigers are guided by head coach Marvin Watkins (Charlotte, 1977) who took over the coaching duties in February. He owns a 1-3 record with the Tigers and is 110-135 overall in his career.

 

Quick Shots

? Nebraska has had seven players lead the team in single-game scoring, but until last 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 (35) and Marcus Walker (26) 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 (8.2), 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.

? 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 11.6 points and 8.7 rebounds over the past 17 games while hitting 49.6 percent (68-of-137) from the field. He has also led the team with 19 steals and is second with 21 blocked shots.

 

Maric has been increasingly dependable on the boards in league play as he has averaged 9.4 rebounds per game against Big 12 foes. The total currently leads all Big 12 players in conference-only games with one contest remaining in the regular season.

 

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 10 double-doubles this season to lead the Huskers and tie for second in the Big 12 Conference. His total equals 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 12.0 points with 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game this season. He has hit 44.5 percent from the field and 43.1 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 50 treys this year to tie for eighth on the NU senior class list). He averaged 0.39 treys per game in his first three seasons but has connected on 1.85 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 10 games, White has ranked second on the team with 12.8 points per contest while hitting 43.2 percent from the floor, including 44.9 percent (22-of-49) 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.

 

Dishing It

Rookie Marcus Walker has been solid at the point for the Huskers this season, averaging 5.9 points and 2.3 assists per game. His 64 assists are second on the squad and rank No. 9 on the NU freshman assists chart. With at least two games left this season, Walker has a chance to become just the fifth freshman in school history to record at least 70 assists in his rookie year.

 

Despite suffering through a recent shooting slump, Walker has also recorded seven double-figure scoring contests this season, including a 20-point outburst against Alabama A&M that led to him being named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week on Dec. 27. He snapped a streak of 13 missed 3-point attempts over nine games when he hit his second attempt against Colorado last week at home.

 

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, ranking third on the team in scoring.

 

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 26 3-pointers this season rank fourth on the team and are tied for eighth in the NU freshman record book with Beau Reid. 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 35 3-pointers this season, which also ranks third on the team.

 

White needs five 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 five games.

 

White is fourth on the team while averaging 9.8 points per game in Big 12 contests and has hit a team-best 40.7 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 48 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 55 of Nebraska's 108 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 needs just one block to move onto NU single-season top 10 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 15 games (18 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 47 turnovers in 25 games this season. Richardson, who has had at least four assists 12 times this season, ranks seventh in the league in assist:turnover ratio and 15th 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.

 

Rankings Game

Following a loss at No. 6/7 Texas on Feb. 11, Nebraska is now 1-1 against ranked teams in 2005-06. The Huskers opened conference play with a 59-58 victory over then-No. 12/13 Oklahoma in the DevaneyCenter.

 

Nebraska has won at least one game against a ranked squad each of the past six seasons. Dating back to last season, the Huskers have won two of their last three games vs. ranked teams, including knocking off No. 4 Oklahoma State at home in 2005.

 

The win over OSU last year was NU's first over a top-10 opponent since 1997, snapping a streak of 19 straight losses. Before last season, the Huskers' most recent win over a top-10 club was against No. 7 Iowa State, 74-69, in overtime on the road.

 

Nebraska has 26 victories over ranked teams ? including seven wins over top-10 teams ? in the past 15 years. Two of the 10 wins over top 10 teams were on the road, including at ISU in 1997 and over No. 3 Missouri, 98-91, in Kansas City as NU ran to its first-ever Big Eight Conference Tournament title in 1994.

 

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 29.6 minutes per game while Wes Wilkinson is second as he has averaged 28.8 minutes per game. Over the past five games, Dourisseau has been an iron man as he has averaged 34.4 minutes per contest, while Jamel White (34.2) and Wes Wilkinson (32.4) 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. 

 

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 10 double-doubles. His total is tied for second in the Big 12 Conference this season behind Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge (13) and alongside P.J. Tucker (10).

 

Maric's most recent double-double came against KansasState at home when he posted 16 points and 12 rebounds. He helped Nebraska its fifth straight game with a rebounding advantage.

Maric has posted seven double-doubles in league play and is currently leading all Big 12 players in conference-only games with 9.4 rebounds per contest.

 

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 has also had three other games with at least eight rebounds, but has picked up two double-doubles this season with 14 points and 10 rebounds on the road against Colorado and 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 (645 total attempts in 28 games) while allowing its opponents to get to the stripe just 16.1 times per game (451 attempts combined).

 

Nebraska has hit 67.0 percent (432-of-645) 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 150 times while only two other Huskers (Aleks Maric, 144; 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 is tied for 14th in league-only games by hitting 66.7 percent (48-of-72).

 

Nebraska ? which hit 61.8 percent from the line in non-conference play ? has seen that number rise to 71.6 percent to rank fifth in league-only games. The Huskers have hit better than 70 percent in nine of their last 13 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.

 

First-Timers

Husker fans are seeing several new faces on the court in 2005-06. Nebraska's 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). Redshirt freshman Paul Velander also made his career debut this season after returning from injury to play against Baylor.

 

Marcus Walker went on to earn 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 12 career starts, is not the only newcomer to earn a start, as B.J. Walker has been in for the tip off seven times this season.

 

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.

 

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 are sitting 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 six years ago when he moved to Chicago from his native Paris, France, following the sixth grade. 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 are continuing a recent tradition of success on the defensive end of the court.

 

Nebraska has held opponents to less than 64.0 points per game each of the past two years, and is limiting foes to 65.6 points per game in 2005-06. The last time Nebraska held opponents to fewer than 66.0 points per game in consecutive seasons was 1982 (55.3 ppg), 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 (not including 2005-06).

 

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 final weekend 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, 8.2 rpg), Jason Dourisseau (7th, 7.1 rpg) and Wes Wilkinson (10th, 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.

 

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. All four seniors on this year's roster are also on pace to complete their degree requirements in 2006.

 

Forcing Their Hand

Nebraska's foes hit just 41.4 percent from the floor last season as the Huskers ranked fourth in the Big 12 Conference. It marked the third straight year Nebraska has held opponents to 41.5 percent or less from the floor. Since 1965, NU has held opponents to a 41.5 field-goal percentage or less just eight times, although six of those seasons have come in the last decade.

 

This year, opponents are hitting 40.3 percent from the field through 27 games this season, including 42.5 percent in Big 12 contests.