Huskers Topple Cougars for Third Place in Hawaii

Manoa, Hawaii --- Aleks Maric recorded his third double-double of the year and Sek Henry scored a career-high 20 points, but it was Nebraska's defense that made the biggest difference as the Huskers overcame a double-digit deficit to defeat Houston, 70-57, Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawaii campus.

Nebraska finished the Outrigger Rainbow Classic with a 2-1 record to place third in the eight-team field, its best showing in four trips to the tournament. The Huskers also improved to 8-3 on the season with their second victory away from Lincoln this week.

After trailing by five points at the intermission, Nebraska's defensive pressure forced Houston in numerous bad shots and rattled the Cougars. UH managed to hit just one of its first 16 attempts from the field in the second half while watching Nebraska pull away for the victory.

Jahmar Thorpe started and ended the drought for the Cougars. After pushing the UH lead to five points, 41-36, at the 18:23 mark, Thorpe missed a jumper to start a streak of 13 missed shots until Thorpe connected on a jumper with 3:52 remaining in the game. All told, the drought lasted 14:31 between baskets, likely one of the longest streaks in school history.

By that point it was too late as the Huskers had opened a 61-49 lead as UH hit just eight free throws during the dry spell. UH shot just 17.9 percent (5-of-28) in the second period as the Cougars were held to an NU opponent season-low 17 points in the frame.

Houston finished the game hitting just 37.0 percent from the field after scorching the nets at a 57.7-percent clip in the opening frame. UH was 2-of-14 from 3-point range in the second half after starting the game on a torrid pace.

Nebraska's impressive second-half defensive stand led to a season-best 16-0 run keyed by Maric and Henry. The duo combined for 10 of the Huskers' 16 points in the spurt and helped Nebraska hit 50.0 percent from the floor in the second period.

Maric finished the game with 21 points and a season-high 15 rebounds as Nebraska bounced back from a tough night on the glass Friday to post a 37-26 rebounding advantage over the Cougars. Henry scored a career-best 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including dropping in three 3-pointers. Marcus Perry came off the bench to spark the Huskers with eight points and two blocked shots while Charles Richardson Jr. provided a steadying force with six points, seven assists and a steal.

The second-half defensive performance was a complete opposite of the first half as Houston came out on fire, hitting nearly everything it put in the air in the opening period.

UH drained its first five shots from the floor and connected on seven of its first eight 3-point attempts while running out to a 24-14 lead on Robert McKiver's trey with 10:14 remaining. McKiver's basket was part of four straight made 3-pointers by the Cougars as UH hit 8-of-12 from long range in the opening frame.

Despite UH's hot shooting, the Huskers battled back as they pulled within two at 34-32 on Richardson's conventional three-point play at the 3:30 mark. Maric and Perry provided much of the scoring punch as the pair combined for 13 points in a six-minute stretch before the defense took over, limiting UH to two baskets over the final 4:49 of the half. 

Maric finished the first period with 10 points and six rebounds while Henry, who scored the team's first seven points to open the game, had nine points, three boards and two steals in the opening period.

Houston scored five of the last seven points of the half to take a 39-34 lead into the locker room, and it could have been larger but the 24-footer McKiver hit at the buzzer was waived off by the officials after a review.

The Huskers leave Hawaii Saturday night on the late plane and get back to Lincoln on Christmas Eve afternoon. Nebraska then takes a couple days off for Christmas break before getting back together for practices on Dec. 27. The Huskers travel to Miami, Fla., to take on the Miami Hurricanes on Dec. 30 at the BankAtlantic Center as part of the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic.  

Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Houston vs Nebraska 12/23/06 5:00 p.m. at Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu, HI

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Houston 5-5, 1-2 RC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 01 DOWELL, Dion........ f 7-18 4-7 6-7 1 6 7 2 24 1 2 0 1 40 02 LEE, Robert......... g 4-11 3-6 1-2 1 1 2 4 12 0 2 0 3 37 03 McKIVER, Robert..... g 3-9 1-6 0-0 0 2 2 2 7 2 5 0 0 39 04 MOSLEY, Nick........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 05 MALONE, Marcus...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 6 20 LAFAYETTE, Oliver... g 4-10 2-7 0-1 0 3 3 5 10 2 4 0 3 37 24 THORPE, Jahmar...... f 2-5 0-0 0-0 3 6 9 3 4 3 2 3 5 33 42 TONEY, Tafari....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 5 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 20-54 10-27 7-10 6 20 26 19 57 10 17 4 12 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-26 57.7% 2nd Half: 5-28 17.9% Game: 37.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 8-13 61.5% 2nd Half: 2-14 14.3% Game: 37.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-1 100 % 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 70.0% 2

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 8-3, 2-1 RC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 01 Henry, Sek.......... g 8-15 3-7 1-1 3 2 5 0 20 1 4 0 2 29 03 Richardson, Charles. g 1-4 0-1 4-5 0 2 2 1 6 7 3 0 1 37 04 Perry, Marcus....... 3-7 2-6 0-0 0 3 3 1 8 1 0 2 1 15 05 Strowbridge, Jay-R.. g 1-2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 7 12 Marks, Kyle......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 8 21 Maric, Aleks........ c 9-13 0-0 3-5 3 12 15 2 21 2 4 2 0 34 25 Velander, Paul...... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 1 3 0 1 14 31 White, Jamel........ 1-4 1-2 3-4 1 1 2 2 6 2 0 0 2 19 34 Ledsome, Jim........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 44 Anderson, Ryan...... g 3-7 0-3 0-0 0 5 5 4 6 2 3 0 0 36 TEAM................ 2 1 3 1 Totals.............. 26-53 7-21 11-15 9 28 37 15 70 16 19 4 7 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-31 48.4% 2nd Half: 11-22 50.0% Game: 49.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% 2nd Half: 4-11 36.4% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-1 100 % 2nd Half: 10-14 71.4% Game: 73.3% 2,1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: John Higgins, Mike Littlewood, Bryan Barr Technical fouls: Houston-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Houston....................... 39 18 - 57 Nebraska...................... 34 36 - 70 Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic 3rd Place Game

Points in the paint-HOU 12,NU 34. Points off turnovers-HOU 10,NU 22. 2nd chance points-HOU 6,NU 12. Fast break points-HOU 0,NU 0. Bench points-HOU 0,NU 14. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-1 time. Last FG-HOU 2nd-00:12, NU 2nd-01:18. Largest lead-HOU by 10 1st-10:14, NU by 15 2nd-01:18.