Huskers Drop Tight Game at Rutgers

Piscataway, N.J. --- Playing its first road game of the season, the Nebraska men's basketball team was in position for the victory but saw a four-point lead in the final minute disappear as Rutgers overcame NU's hot shooting for a 75-73 win at the Louis Brown Athletic Complex Saturday afternoon.

After JR Inman tied the game at 69-all with 2:03 left in the game, Nebraska looked to be in perfect position to grab its first win in a road opener in a decade. Junior center Aleks Maric pushed in a go-ahead basket with 1:40 to play and senior guard Charles Richardson Jr. recorded his second steal of the contest before adding a layup for the four-point margin.

Maric, who scored a game-high 20 points for his third 20-point contest of the season, then fouled out with just under one minute to play as Marquis Webb drove the lane and got Maric off-balance before the blocking call took the Huskers' big man out of the contest. Webb scored the basket and converted the conventional 3-point play to cut the defecit to one, 73-72.

Seconds later, the Scarlet Knights forced a turnover and JR Inman scored on a layup following an offensive rebound of Webb's missed 3-pointer to put RU ahead for the first time since leading 40-38 with more than 17 minutes left in the game. A foul with less than one second remaining put Webb on the line where he made 1-of-2 for the final margin.

The ending was a back-and-forth tussle much like the rest of the game. Neither team led by more than seven points and the teams combined for 12 ties and nine lead changes while five players fouled out, including Maric, Jamel White and Sek Henry for the Huskers.

Both teams were hot from the floor and defense was in little demand at times. Nebraska finished the contest hitting an impressive 59.6 percent from the floor in its first trip away from the Devaney Center. NU drilled 61.5 percent (16-of-26) from the field after the intermission, including dropping in 8-of-11 3-point attempts.

Freshman Ryan Anderson led the Husker long-range barrage as he connected on all five of his attempts from beyond the arc, tying the Nebraska single-game record for 3-point percentage (minimum five attempts). He joined Cary Cochran (5-of-5 on Jan. 6, 2001, vs. Missouri) and Brian Conklin (5-of-5 on Feb. 7, 2004, vs. Missouri) as the only Huskers to be perfect from beyond the 3-point line while attempting at least five treys in a game.

Anderson trailed only Maric in the game as the rookie finished with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Marcus Perry came off the bench to score 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from downtown.

The Huskers' strong shooting helped them post a season-high 21 assists, including a career-best 15 assists by senior guard Charles Richardson Jr. The Maywood, Ill., native is the first Husker since Jake Muhleisen in 2002 to record double-figure assists, and finished just three assists shy of the Nebraska single-game mark of 18 set by Brian Carr on Jan. 3, 1985, against Evansville.

The Huskers couldn't be satisfied though, as Rutgers sizzled the nets to the tune of 63.6 percent on the game, including making 10-of-18 attempts from 3-point range. Jaron Griffin led the Scarlet Knights with 16 points while Webb had 13 and Inman added 12, including nine points in the second half.

Griffin got Rutgers out to a strong start as he posted 13 first-half points, including hitting three 3-pointers. After a slow start, the pace picked up quickly as Griffin made five of the Scarlet Knights' first eight shots. Behind his play, Rutgers raced to a 19-15 lead at the 10:55 mark on Griffin's third 3-pointer of the opening period.

With center Maric sitting out after picking up his second and third fouls just 11 seconds apart with more than six minutes left on the clock, Nebraska looked to turn up the intensity on defense.

Nebraska finally shut the Scarlet Knights' offense down a little as RU scored one basket over a six-minute period. The Huskers got back into the game behind Perry, who drained a pair of 3-pointers in the final three minutes of the half, the final one giving NU a 30-29 lead with 1:29 left in the period.

Rutgers pulled ahead with a pair of Webb free throws with just over a minute left and extended the lead to three points with a layup by Ollie Bailey with 29 seconds left. Richardson was called for a charge with six seconds remaining and the Scarlet Knights made NU pay as Frank Russell slammed home the final two points of the period with one second left on the clock.

The 35-30 deficit was the largest the Huskers had faced at halftime this season, surpassing the three-point deficit NU faced against nationally ranked Creighton. NU trailed by as many as seven in the first half, its largest deficit of the season.

Nebraska gets some practice time this week as it returns to the court before going on the road for the second straight weekend when it travels to take on undefeated Oregon in Portland, Ore. The game will be played at the Rose Garden, the home of the NBA's Portland Trailblazers.

 

Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score NEBRASKA vs RUTGERS 12/02/06 4:00 pm at Louis Brown Athletic Ctr; Piscataway, NJ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: NEBRASKA 5-1 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 44 Anderson, Ryan...... f 6-11 5-5 0-0 0 1 1 3 17 1 2 0 1 35 21 Maric, Aleks........ c 8-14 0-0 4-9 0 3 3 5 20 0 3 0 0 22 01 Henry, Sek.......... g 2-3 0-0 0-1 1 2 3 5 4 0 4 0 1 23 03 Richardson, Charles. g 2-4 1-3 2-2 0 2 2 3 7 15 4 0 2 40 31 White, Jamel........ g 2-4 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 5 5 2 2 0 0 15 04 Perry, Marcus....... 4-7 3-6 0-0 1 0 1 2 11 1 1 0 0 32 05 Strowbridge, Jay-R.. 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 2 0 0 0 11 12 Marks, Kyle......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 32 Balham, Chris....... 0-0 0-0 0-2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 33 Douse, Kris......... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 3 34 Ledsome, Jim........ 2-2 0-0 0-0 3 2 5 2 4 0 0 0 0 11 TEAM................ 1 2 3 Totals.............. 28-47 11-17 6-14 7 12 19 26 73 21 17 0 4 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-21 57.1% 2nd Half: 16-26 61.5% Game: 59.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 8-11 72.7% Game: 64.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 42.9% 3,2

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: RUTGERS 2-5 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 HILL, Adrian........ f 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 5 0 1 2 0 0 6 15 INMAN, JR........... f 4-9 1-3 3-4 1 2 3 2 12 2 5 2 1 31 32 GRIFFIN, Jaron...... f 6-7 4-5 0-0 1 1 2 1 16 1 2 1 2 32 01 WEBB, Marquis....... g 4-6 1-3 4-5 0 1 1 1 13 1 3 0 0 34 02 FARMER, Anthony..... g 4-7 1-3 0-3 0 3 3 2 9 3 4 0 1 29 03 NELSON, Courtney.... 3-6 3-4 0-0 1 0 1 0 9 5 0 0 1 25 05 N'DIAYE, Hamady..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 5 0 0 1 2 0 7 13 BAILEY, Ollie....... 2-3 0-0 1-1 0 1 1 2 5 1 1 0 0 7 33 KEATING, Shayle..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 42 RUSSELL, Frank...... 5-5 0-0 1-5 4 6 10 4 11 1 0 0 0 28 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 28-44 10-18 9-18 9 17 26 22 75 15 18 5 5 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-20 65.0% 2nd Half: 15-24 62.5% Game: 63.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-8 50.0% 2nd Half: 6-10 60.0% Game: 55.6% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-10 50.0% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 50.0% 3

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Tim Higgins, Frank Scagliotta, James Breeding Technical fouls: NEBRASKA-Henry, Sek. RUTGERS-N'DIAYE, Hamady. Attendance: 4202 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total NEBRASKA...................... 30 43 - 73 RUTGERS....................... 35 40 - 75 ID-497643

Points in the paint-NU 26,RUTGERS 24. Points off turnovers-NU 23,RUTGERS 18. 2nd chance points-NU 9,RUTGERS 10. Fast break points-NU 4,RUTGERS 0. Bench points-NU 20,RUTGERS 25. Score tied-12 times. Lead changed-9 times. Last FG-NU 2nd-01:14, RUTGERS 2nd-00:18. Largest lead-NU by 6 2nd-15:37, RUTGERS by 7 1st-12:00.