<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln ? Freshman Ryan Anderson tied his career high with 19 points to lead a superb scoring effort from Nebraska’s first-year players in an 82-55 win over Alabama A&M on Sunday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
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In addition to Anderson’s 19 points, freshman Sek Henry scored a career-high 11 as five Husker freshmen combined to score 43 of NU's season-high 82 points.
Sophomores Jamel White and Paul Velander added 10 points each, as Nebraska tied a season high with four players scoring in double figures. For Velander, it was his second straight double-figure scoring effort. In his last two contests, the Blacksburg, Va., native has scored 23 points after scoring just three points in the first four games of his career.
The Huskers struggled to pull away from the Bulldogs for much of the first half until a 16-2 run over the final 5:44 opened up a 44-20 halftime advantage. Anderson poured in eight points during the run, as three freshmen accounted for 11 of the Huskers’ final 16 points of the half.
Henry added all 11 of his points in the first half as he, Anderson and fellow freshman Jay-R Strowbridge combined for 29 points in the opening period to outscore the entire Alabama A&M squad.
Henry provided the offense early, scoring on a pair of transition layups before draining his first 3-pointer to put the Huskers ahead 7-2.
A Velander 3-pointer and a pair of free throws from senior Charles Richardson Jr. extended the Huskers’ lead to 10 at 18-8 with 12:01 remaining in the first half. The baskets were part of a 10-2 Nebraska run that turned a 13-8 lead into a 13-point Husker advantage at 23-10.
Alabama A&M pulled within nine on two occasions in the first half, but could get no closer. Henry helped keep the Bulldogs at bay by scoring in double-figures in the opening period, adding his 10th and 11th points with an emphatic steal and one-handed slam dunk.
The Huskers continued to extend the lead with solid play on both sides of the court. Great ball movement led to a Kyle Marks layup and a Marks block on the defensive end led to an Anderson 3-pointer during an 8-0 run that gave the Huskers a 36-18 lead with 4:07 remaining in the first half.
After the Bulldogs broke the 8-0 Husker run with a lone free throw, Nebraska used another quick 8-0 spurt to jump out to a 44-19 advantage en route to taking a 44-20 lead into the locker room.
The Huskers’ 44 first-half points tied their season high, while the 24-point halftime lead was Nebraska’s largest of the season and the largest since NU ran to a 26-point lead against North Carolina A&T on Dec. 19, 2005.
With both offenses struggling to score early in the second half, a quick 5-0 run by Alabama A&M took the Huskers’ lead under 20 for the first time in the half as the Bulldogs trailed 52-33 near the midway point of the second half.
Alabama A&M would get no closer however, as a pair of free throws from Velander opened up a 30-point Husker lead at 72-42 with under five minutes to play in the contest.
In addition to the play of the freshmen, Marks added five points on 2-of-2 shooting. His five points marked his first points of the season and were just one shy of his career high.
Sophomore Jim Ledsome, who earned the start in place of junior center Aleks Maric played well, scoring a career-high six points while also adding a career-high nine rebounds in 21 minutes.
Nebraska (6-2) returns to action on Wednesday, when the Huskers face the Wyoming Cowboys in the first round of the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, at 9 p.m.