Huskers Fall at Home for First Time

Lincoln ? Trailing by one with less than a minute remaining, the Huskers had two chances to hit the game-winning shot, but neither would fall as Nebraska lost for the first time at home, dropping a hard-fought 62-61 decision to the Texas Longhorns.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

The Huskers held <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Texas to its second-lowest scoring output of the season, but the Longhorns made the plays when they needed to while improving to 14-5 on the season and 4-1 in the Big 12 Conference. Freshman phenom Kevin Durant led Texas with game-high totals of 26 points and 15 rebounds.

 

Aleks Maric recorded his fifth double-double of the season, scoring 15 points while pulling down 12 rebounds for Nebraska. Marcus Perry paced NU with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. The Huskers fell to 12-6 with the loss and 1-3 in the league. The setback was also the first regular-season home loss for NU under head coach Doc Sadler, who entered the game with a perfect 9-0 record at the Devaney Center.

 

After a back-and-forth first half, Texas led for much of the second half until the Huskers made a late charge. As Nebraska tried to come back, Durant and Texas had an answer for every Husker possession.

 

Trailing 54-49 with 6:34 remaining, a

three-point possession pulled Nebraska to 54-52 with just over six minutes remaining but A.J. Abrams knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the lead to two possessions.

 

An offensive rebound and dunk by Maric brought the crowd of more than 10,000 to its feet and Ryan Anderson drilled a 3-pointer the next trip down the court to give Nebraska a 57-56 advantage -- the Huskers' first lead since the 3:24 mark of the first half.

 

Just as they had all game, the Longhorns had an answer when Abrams knocked down a long 3-pointer.

 

Maric then tied the game at 59 all with another offensive rebound and put back, but Texas answered with a 3-pointer by Mason to take a three-point lead with under two minutes remaining. Anderson responded with an easy lay-in off an inbounds play that cut the lead to 62-61 with 1:35 left.

 

Following a Texas timeout, Nebraska forced the Longhorns into a contested jumper and Jamel White pulled down the offensive rebound. The Huskers then called their final timeout trailing by one with 1:08 showing on the clock.

 

After Perry missed a 3-pointer, Texas took control of the ball with an eight-second differential between the shot clock and game clock. The Huskers forced a miss and White pulled down the rebound and drove down court, but missed an off-balance baseline jumper.

 

J.D. Lewis then missed the front end of a one-and-onej for the Longhorns, but the rebound was tipped around until the final 1.2 seconds ticked off the clock.

 

Nebraska managed just two points in the final 3:23 of the game after scoring just four points over the final 8:11 of the first half. The scoring droughts at the end of both halves proved too much for the Huskers to overcome against a talented Texas squad.

 

Despite a slow offensive finish to the first half, Nebraska came out strong at the start.

A combination of hot shooting and tough interior defense created a 3-point barrage for most of the first half. On the Husker side, it was the Marcus Perry show as he hit his first four attempts from behind the arc to finish with 12 points in the half.

 

As a team, the Huskers hit 7-of-14 3-pointers in the first half, while Texas hit 6-of-13, led by a 3-of-4 effort from Abrams, who finished with 14 points. The Longhorns were able to build a three-point halftime lead by outscoring the Huskers 12-4 in the paint and shooting 46.2 percent overall compared to just 41.7 percent for Nebraska.

 

Nebraska forced Texas into three turnovers in its first five possessions, but the Huskers were unable to score until a steal and a Maric layup cut the Longhorns’ lead to 4-2 just 2:53 into the first half.

 

Abrams quickly answered with his second 3-pointer of the game to put Texas up by five before Perry came right back with a trey of his own. Following another Husker steal, a tip-in by Maric pulled NU even at 7-7.

 

Another Perry three capped an 8-0 Husker run that put Nebraska up 10-7 five minutes into the game. The Longhorns quickly answered with a Durant bucket and another 3-pointer by Abrams before Perry fought right back with his third three to put the Husker back up by one.

 

Texas pulled even at 14-14 before the red-hot Perry hit his fourth 3-pointer in as many attempts to put Nebraska ahead by three.

 

The Huskers continued their first-half 3-point barrage, with Ryan Anderson and Sek Henry adding treys to put Nebraska up 23-19.

 

Durant and Justin Mason added threes of their own to pull Texas to within one. Jay-R Strowbridge responded with the Huskers’ seventh 3-pointer in the first 12 minutes as he banked in a shot from the top of the key with the shot clock running down.

 

Texas regained the lead when Durant answered a White bucket with a 3-pointer to give the Longhorns a 29-28 lead with a little over three minutes remaining in the half.

 

The game remained a one-point Longhorn lead until Mason took an inbounds pass with 0.4 seconds left in the half and nailed an eight-foot jumper that was initially ruled no good, but the basket was allowed after the play was reviewed by the officials. The basket, which proved to be a key play in the one-point Longhorn victory, capped a 9-2 Texas run over the final 8:11 of the first half.

 

Nebraska will try to rebound from Wednesday's tough loss when the Huskers hit the road for Manhattan, Kan., for a Big 12 contest against the Kansas State Wildcats on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 5 p.m. The game will be televised in the state of Nebraska on Fox Sports Midwest.