Lincoln --- Aleks Maric recorded his second double-double of the season while Nebraska held North Texas to 24 points below its season average, as the Huskers picked up a 76-57 victory over the Mean Green Wednesday at the Devaney Center.
Playing in front of a crowd of 7,013 and a state-wide audience on FSN Midwest, the Huskers improved to 5-0 on the season while dropping North Texas to 5-2. The win marked the second straight season and third time in four years the Huskers have won their first five contests. The last time NU won six straight to open a season was 2001-02.
Maric once again led Nebraska with another dominating and efficient performance. He scored 26 points in only 26 minutes on 9-of-11 shooting. He added game- and season-high totals of 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Ryan Anderson chipped in 18 points and five boards, while Charles Richardson Jr. tied his season high with 11 points.
Leading North Texas were Calvin Watson and Michael Sturns with 18 and 11 points, respectively. Sturns and Rich Young notched a team-high eight boards apiece.
Nebraska held UNT well below its season scoring average of 81.2 points per game. UNT had topped 90 points twice in the first six games of the season, and surpassed the 80-point plateau four times before being held to a season-low. North Texas's previous season low was 65 points in a two-point victory over Tulsa.
After shooting 48.2 percent from the floor in their first six contests, the Mean Green were limited to 34.4 percent shooting on the night. UNT also served up 25 turnovers, a Nebraska opponent season high, helping the Huskers hold their fifth straight opponent to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor. On the offensive end, Nebraska executed well at times and finished the game draining 52.7 percent, its fourth of five contests hitting better than 50.0 percent from the field.
Nebraska dominated from the opening tip as the Huskers used a 12-0 run to set the tone. Maric began the scoring in dramatic fashion as the 6-11, 270-pound center nailed a 3-pointer, the first of his career, at the 18:43 mark to give the Huskers a 3-0 lead. Jamel White added a layup and Anderson drained a trey and scored an easy layup to give Nebraska a quick 10-0 lead less than three minutes into the game. White pushed the Husker run to 12 straight points with an offensive rebound and scoop shot layup before NU forced the first of 15 first-half UNT turnovers on the next trip down court.
North Texas' Harold Stewart finally snapped the Huskers' run with a jumper from the elbow at the 15:51 mark, but that was one of the few easy baskets in the opening period for the Mean Green. UNT finished the first period hitting just 26.7 percent (8-of-30) from the floor before halftime while committing 15 turnovers. Nebraska recorded nine steals off the first-period miscues, a season high.
After NU pushed the lead to 16 points at 18-2, Ben Bell added a jumper off an offensive rebound for the Mean Green's second basket of the game. Nebraska extended to a 25-4 lead before Rich Young hit a pull-up 3-pointer to cut the UNT deficit to 18. North Texas made it two straight possessions with a basket just a minute later, but could not extend the run as Richardson's 3-pointer ran the Husker advantage back to 21, 30-9.
A pair of Maric putback dunks ran the Husker lead back up to 20 points, 36-16, before UNT started chipping away. The Mean Green cut the deficit to 16, 39-23, just over a minute remaining in the half on a 3-point play by Keith Wooden, but the Huskers scored the last three points for a 19-point margin.
In the second half, Nebraska continued its strong play, keeping the lead in double figures throughout the period. NU led by as many as 28 points at 65-37 with just under 10 minutes remaining..
Nebraska returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 2, when it makes its first road trip of the season to take on Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J. The Huskers and Scarlet Knights tip off at 3 p.m. CST Saturday and the game will be heard on the Internet only at Huskers.com.