Henry Leads Huskers in Final Exhibition Game

Lincoln - Freshman Sek Henry scored a game-high 19 points to lead Nebraska in scoring for the second straight game, but it wasn’t enough as SIU-Edwardsville got 19 points from Ty Johnson and 12 from Nick Arth in the Cougars’ 54-50 win over the Huskers in their final exhibition game of the 2006-07 season on Saturday. 

 

Johnson, who was 12-of-14 from the free throw line but only 3-for-10 from the field, also pulled in three steals in 35 minutes of action.  Arth was 5-of-8 from the field and tied for the team lead with eight rebounds, all on the defensive end.  Mike Hardiek matched Arth’s total, but picked up two of his eight boards on offense.

 

The Huskers were led by the Henry, who shot 6-of-15 from the field in 36 minutes on the floor. Fellow freshman Ryan Anderson had 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting for Nebraska, while 5-foot-9 senior guard Charles Richardson Jr., led the Huskers in rebounding for the second straight game with six. 

 

Nebraska was within striking distance for most of the game, after recovering from a slow start.  The Huskers were within one with 5:14 to go after an Anderson 3-pointer from the left corner.  However, after that basket, SIU-Edwardsville went on a 5-0 run to push the lead back to six with 3:38 to go.

 

Richardson hit an 18-foot jumper from the top of the key to draw Nebraska within four with 3:05 to go, but the Cougars would gain control of the game with seven points in the last 1:30 from Johnson, including five free throws.  In the second half, Johnson made his first nine free throws before missing his last attempt from the charity stripe with 10.8 seconds to go. 

 

SIU-Edwardsville started the second half on a 14-6 run through the first 6:18 of the period.  The Cougars, who shot 5-of-11 over that span, got five points from Arth and four free throws from Ty Johnson.  Nebraska answered the Cougars’ strong start to the second half with a 7-0 run to cut the deficit from a game-high 11.  Richardson capped the Huskers’ run with a three-point play after being fouled on a layup with 10:07 to go.

 

The game started slowly, as both SIU-Edwardsville and Nebraska combined for only 15 points in the first 14 minutes of the game.  The Cougars started the game on a 9-1 run on 4-of-9 shooting, including four points each from Arth and Hardiek.

 

But after Hardiek gave SIU-Edwardsville an eight-point lead with 14:05 to go in the half, the Huskers would not allow another field goal until 5:15 to go until halftime.

 

The staunch defensive effort allowed the Huskers to go on a run of their own to erase the lead the Cougars had built up.  Nebraska was able to go on a 12-4 spurt with the aid of seven Cougar turnovers to tie the game at 13 with 4:23 to go in the half after a pair of free throws from sophomore Jamel White.  The Huskers, who would force 16 turnovers in the game, got nine of their 21 first-half points off of 12 SIU-Edwardsville turnovers.

After finishing exhibition play, the Huskers open their 2006-07 regular season on Tuesday night against Nebraska-Omaha at 7 p.m. at the DevaneyCenter.