Husker Cagers Tame Lions

Lincoln?The Nebraska men's basketball team used strong first-half efforts on both the offensive and defensive ends and cruised to a 4-0 start for the first time in consecutive seasons since 1991-92 and 1992-93, as it defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 71-42, Monday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. With the win, Doc Sadler became the first Husker head coach to win his first four games at NU since Paul Schlisser went 6-0 to start the 1919-20 season.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Junior center Aleks Maric led NU with 19 points and seven rebounds in only 18 minutes of play on 6-of-10 shooting. He made 7-of-10 attempts at the free throw line. Sophomore guard Jamel White chipped in 13 points and tied a career high with seven boards, while senior point guard Charles Richardson Jr. directed another efficient night on the offensive end for the Huskers, dishing out seven assists.

 

Fellow senior Marcus Perry, who drilled three shots from behind the arc while notching 20 minutes in his first game action of the season, scored 11 points, and freshman guard Ryan Anderson fell just shy of recording his first career double-double with eight points and a game-high 10 boards. Freshman guard Sek Henry added seven points.

 

Junior forward William Byrd paced Arkansas-Pine Bluff with 10 points, while senior guard Jason Frierson and senior forward Torian Noel pitched in eight points apiece. Frierson and junior guard Larry Williams each pulled down a team-high six boards.

                                                     

The Huskers led 40-20 at intermission, and by as many as 21 points during a first half that saw them dominate both ends of the floor. NU shot 50 percent and forced 15 turnovers that directly led to 22 points. Despite attempting only three shots in the first half, Maric led the way with nine points, five of which came at the charity stripe.

 

White opened the scoring for <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska with the Huskers’ first five points on a baseline jumper and trey from the right wing in the game’s initial three minutes. The Golden Lions matched each White score with buckets of their own before NU opened up a 15-point edge with a 14-point flourish that saw the Huskers score 11 in just over a minute.

 

Following a layup and 1-for-2 effort from the charity stripe from Maric, Perry drilled a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Richardson added a trey of his own to give the Huskers a 19-4 lead. Fierce Husker defensive pressure that resulted in 11 Golden Lion turnovers by the 8:23 mark factored heavily in the run, while Pine Bluff also was held scoreless for more than six full minutes.

 

Henry turned in the highlight-reel play of the first half at the 1:34 mark to push the Nebraska lead to 34-15. Trying to make a layup on a baseline drive to the basket, Henry reversed mid-air and scored on a finger roll over his head on the other side of the rim while falling to the floor with his back to the hoop.

 

Maric and the Huskers continued to pour it on in the second half, opening the period with a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 28 points. The 6-11, 270-pound center scored six points in just under four minutes during the stretch.

 

Nebraska reached its first 30-point lead on an opponent this season on a pair of free throws by White to push the score to 57-26 with just over 11 minutes remaining. The Husker defense continued to flourish in the second half, as the Golden Lions made only one of their first 13 field-goal attempts in the frame before senior guard V’Angelo Smith drilled a trey at the 8:14 mark. The lead grew at one point to 34 points in the second half.

 

Nebraska returns to the court on Wednesday when it plays host to North Texas in a 7 p.m. game. The matchup will be televised live in the state of Nebraska on FSN Midwest.

 

Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs Nebraska 11/27/06 7:05 p.m. at Lincoln, Neb. (Devaney Center) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-4) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 23 Byrd, William....... f 4-7 0-0 2-2 1 3 4 2 10 0 4 1 2 30 25 Hamilton, Timothy... f 1-6 0-0 0-2 0 1 1 4 2 2 0 0 1 26 44 Glass, Tyree........ f 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 15 12 Frierson, Jason..... g 3-8 1-4 1-1 1 5 6 0 8 0 1 0 0 29 35 Williams, Larry..... g 3-12 0-4 0-0 2 4 6 2 6 1 4 0 1 32 14 Calvin, Terrance.... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 2 0 5 0 1 18 22 Noel, Torian........ 3-6 0-1 2-2 2 3 5 2 8 0 2 0 0 26 24 Goins, Marcelle..... 0-2 0-2 1-2 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 9 30 Smith, V'Angelo..... 1-3 1-2 1-2 0 0 0 2 4 1 3 0 0 13 40 Davis, George....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 TEAM................ 4 4 2 Totals.............. 16-49 2-13 8-12 7 21 28 17 42 5 24 2 6 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-21 38.1% 2nd Half: 8-28 28.6% Game: 32.7% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-7 14.3% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 15.4% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 66.7% 1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska (4-0) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 21 Maric, Aleks........ c 6-10 0-0 7-10 1 6 7 0 19 0 0 0 0 18 01 Henry, Sek.......... g 2-5 0-2 3-4 1 0 1 0 7 5 1 0 1 26 03 Richardson, Charles. g 2-6 1-2 0-0 1 0 1 2 5 7 2 0 3 29 31 White, Jamel........ g 4-7 1-3 4-4 1 6 7 2 13 1 3 0 1 24 44 Anderson, Ryan...... g 3-7 0-1 2-2 2 8 10 1 8 1 4 0 2 29 04 Perry, Marcus....... 4-9 3-6 0-0 1 3 4 1 11 0 2 2 0 20 05 Strowbridge, Jay-R.. 1-2 1-1 1-2 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 14 11 Krenk, Nick......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 1 4 23 Smith, Mike......... 0-1 0-0 2-4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 32 Balham, Chris....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 12 33 Douse, Kris......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 34 Ledsome, Jim........ 0-1 0-0 2-2 2 2 4 0 2 0 2 2 0 14 40 Laam, Choul......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 TEAM................ 2 2 1 Totals.............. 22-50 6-15 21-28 9 29 38 12 71 14 18 4 8 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-26 50.0% 2nd Half: 9-24 37.5% Game: 44.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-10 50.0% 2nd Half: 1-5 20.0% Game: 40.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 9-14 64.3% 2nd Half: 12-14 85.7% Game: 75.0% 5

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: John Higgins, Rick Hartzell, Kevin Mathis Technical fouls: Arkansas-Pine Bluff-TEAM. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 9661 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Arkansas-Pine Bluff........... 20 22 - 42 Nebraska...................... 40 31 - 71 Actual Attendance: 6032

Points in the paint-UAPBM 16,NU 24. Points off turnovers-UAPBM 17,NU 28. 2nd chance points-UAPBM 8,NU 7. Fast break points-UAPBM 6,NU 4. Bench points-UAPBM 15,NU 19. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-0 times. Last FG-UAPBM 2nd-01:07, NU 2nd-03:27. Largest lead-UAPBM None, NU by 36 2nd-06:44.