Huskers Shoot Past Chaparrals

Lincoln?The Nebraska men’s basketball team continued its early-season shooting success and ran its record to 3-0 Tuesday evening, as NU downed Lubbock Christian, 65-42, at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Huskers shot at better than a 56-percent clip for the third consecutive game during the win while limiting the Chaparrals to only 37 percent from the field.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

With the win, <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska reached a 3-0 start to the season for the second consecutive campaign, as well as the fourth time in six years.

 

NU received a balanced offensive effort that featured each starter scoring at least seven points. Junior center Aleks Maric led the squad for the second time in three games with a game-high 13 points on 6-of-6 shooting while adding six rebounds in only 25 minutes. Freshman guard Ryan Anderson added his second straight double-digit scoring effort with 10 points and six boards.

 

Senior point guard Charles Richardson and freshmen guards Sek Henry and Jay-R Strowbridge notched eight points each, with Henry contributing a team- and career-high six assists. Sophomore guard Jamel White scored seven points and totaled five assists in only 25 minutes of action.

 

LCU was paced by senior guard Max Eding and junior guard Munir Shakir, who recorded 12 points apiece. Eding and junior forward Bernardo Rocha each totaled five boards to lead the squad, while senior guard Jonah Broussard dished out six assists.

 

Leading 30-17 at the half, Nebraska exited the locker room and hit the court on fire in the final period to put the game out of reach. The Huskers nailed each of their first eight shots from the field to open up a 21-point lead by the 11:30 mark. Strowbridge notched a pair of buckets from 3-point range during the streak, while Henry added another as NU outscored LCU, 19-11, during the stretch.

 

Redshirt freshman Paul Velander made his first career shot count, as he drilled a trey at the 7:37 mark to extend NU’s lead to 25 at 56-31. The Huskers reached their largest lead at any point this season when freshman forward Kris Douse launched a 3-pointer from the right wing to put the squad up 63-34.

 

Nebraska was sharp from the field to open the game, utilizing high-percentage shots to take a 22-12 lead. Each of NU’s first 10 field goals came in the paint. In fact, NU dominated the inside early, notching an early 17-6 rebounding advantage in the first 15 minutes with six boards for Anderson and five for Maric. The Huskers also were strong defensively, holding LCU scoreless for nearly six minutes until the 3:14 mark. Nebraska led by as many as 13 points in the first half.

 

After Shakir closed the lead to seven on a trey for the Chaparrals with just under three minutes remaining in the half, the Huskers closed the period with a 6-0 run started by a White 3-pointer. Following White’s jumper, Anderson nailed a baseline shot from 18 feet on the next possession and Henry later added a free throw to send the Huskers into the locker room with a 30-17 lead.

 

Nebraska returns to the court on Monday, Nov. 27, when it plays host to Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Huskers will look to make Head Coach Doc Sadler the first NU coach to begin his Nebraska tenure 4-0 since Paul Schlisser guided his 1919-20 squad to a 6-0 start.