Huskers End Non-Conference Play with 82-71 Win

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln ? The Nebraska men’s basketball team finished its non-conference slate with a hard-fought 82-71 victory over a tough Western Kentucky squad that left the Huskers with an 11-3 record entering Big 12 Conference play on Wednesday.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Sophomore Jamel White paced the Huskers with a season-high 23 points. Senior Charles Richardson Jr. added a career-high 16 points and junior Aleks Maric rounded out the Huskers in double figures with 16. Sophomore Kyle Marks tied a career-high with six points while pulling down a career-high four rebounds.

 

Tyrone Brazelton led Western Kentucky (12-5) with 14 points and was one of four Hilltoppers in double figures.

 

Both teams shot well, as Nebraska hit 28-of-45 (62.2 percent) shots on the night to finish with its second consecutive game shooting at least 60 percent from the field. Western Kentucky wasn’t far behind, connecting on 29-of-55 attempts for a 52.7 percent mark.

 

The teams played a back-and-forth first half that featured two ties and 10 lead changes. Nebraska’s largest lead of the half was eight, while Western Kentucky’s largest lead was just two.

 

The game remained tight for the entire period as the Huskers’ were the only team to enjoy a two-possession lead and did so for only 1:31, meaning for 18:29 of the first half, neither team led by more than three points.

 

Sophomore Jim Ledsome got Nebraska off to a quick start, scoring four points in the game’s first four minutes. He opened the scoring by slamming home a wide-open dunk off an assist from Maric for the first points of the game. Ledsome then gave Nebraska a 7-4 lead at the first media timeout when he followed up a Maric miss with a thundering two-handed slam.

 

Maric extended the lead with a conventional three-point play and White nailed a long jumper to cap a 10-0 Husker run that turned a 4-2 deficit in to a 12-4 advantage.

 

After taking a timeout, Western Kentucky responded with a 9-0 run of its own to take a 13-12 lead. Butch Jointer came off the bench to lead the run, scoring four points as the Hilltoppers scored on three consecutive possessions. On the fourth possession, Jointer kept the possession alive with an offensive rebound before Western Kentucky took the lead on a basket by Orlando Mendez-Valdez.

 

NU freshman Ryan Anderson, after missing two straight games, nailed his only shot of the game, a 3-pointer from the corner to give NU a 15-13 lead.

 

The two teams would exchange leads until the Huskers opened up a two-possession advantage at 24-18 following a Maric basket and a 3-pointer from White.

 

The Hilltoppers answered with a 3-pointer of their own and added a layup two possessions later to close the gap to 24-23. White then reached double-figures as he hit another long jumper to extend the lead to three and give him 11 points in the half.

 

Western Kentucky continued to answer back, scoring five quick points to take a 28-26 lead after a 3-pointer by Ty Rogers.

 

After Maric tied the game with a pair of free throws, sophomore Paul Velander nailed a 3-pointer to give Nebraska a 31-28 lead.

 

The Huskers kept the Hilltoppers at bay in the opening minutes of the second half, using a 6-2 opening run to build up a five-point lead at 39-34. Western Kentucky quickly pulled back to within one after back-to-back 3-pointers before Sek Henry answered with a trey of his own to give NU a 44-40 lead with 16:22 remaining.

 

The teams traded baskets until White converted a three-point play and Richardson nailed a jumper to put the Huskers up 51-45 and force a Western Kentucky timeout at 13:50.

 

Just like they did on the first half, the Hilltoppers responded after the timeout by scoring four quick points before Nebraska barely beat the press and ended up with an uncontested Kyle Marks dunk to put the Huskers back up by four. Henry then got an uncontested layup of his own, but Western Kentucky answered right back with a 3-pointer to close the gap to three at 55-52 with 11:52 remaining.

 

After holding a steady lead of at least three points, Nebraska enjoyed a 69-64 lead at the final media timeout with just over three minutes to play. Following the break, Nebraska expanded the lead to 73-66 on the strength of its inside game as Maric and Marks added buckets, while Western Kentucky converted just 2-of-4 free throws on two straight possessions.

 

After leading by at least three points, a Boris Siakim tip in cut the lead to 64-63 with 5:16 remaining and marked the closest the Hilltoppers would get the rest of the way.

 

Nebraska then went up 69-64 on a pair of Maric free throws and led by at least four points the rest of the way.

 

Western Kentucky began fouling with just over one minute remaining and Richardson converted two free throws to give the Huskers their biggest lead of the game at 75-66 with 1:11 remaining.

 

White added four free throws in the final minute to propel the Huskers to the 11-point victory. Each of Nebraska’s 11 wins this season have come by at least 11 points.

 

After concluding its non-conference season, the Huskers will open Big 12 Conference play against IowaState at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Ames, Iowa.