Husker Comeback Falls Short at Baylor

Waco, Texas --- Charles Richardson Jr. led three Huskers in double figures but Baylor's 3-point barrage and NU's cold shooting in the second half helped the Bears to a 63-59 victory over the Huskers Wednesday at the Ferrell Center.

Richardson scored 16 points to tie his career high while Ryan Anderson added 14 and Aleks Maric had a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards for the Huskers, who fell to 15-11 on the season and 4-8 in conference action. The double-double was Maric's sixth of the season and third in Big 12 play, and moved him into a tie for fifth all-time on the Nebraska charts. Maric now has 19 career double-doubles, equaling the total set by Derrick Chandler in 1992 and 1993.

Baylor hit its first two shots from long range and ran to an 8-4 lead with Anderson and Maric combining for the Huskers' points. Anderson's 3-pointer at the 18:18 mark pushed him into the Nebraska freshman top 10 scoring list. He surpassed Erick Strickland for 10th place on the frosh scoring chart with 253 points, while Anderson now ranks fourth with 43 3-pointers, one shy of moving into a three-way tie for second place.

Jay-R Strowbridge's trey pulled NU within one before Maric's first basket put the Huskers ahead for their first lead of the game, 9-8, at the 14:21 mark. The lead was short-lived as BU's Kevin Rogers answered with his second straight basket but Anderson responded with another bucket for a 11-10 Husker advantage.

Kyle Marks' free throws then put the Huskers ahead by three before Curtis Jerrells' 3-pointer tied the game at 13-all with just over 11 minutes to play. Henry Dugat then put Baylor ahead 16-13, where it would stay for the next six minutes. Dugat added another trey to extend the Bear lead to six before Richardson's shot from beyond the arc snapped a five-minute field-goal drought for the Huskers.

Following a Tweety Carter trey, Anderson added his second from long range and Richardson added a pair of free throws to help NU climb back within one. Marcus Perry added two free throws -- remaining perfect on the season at the charity stripe -- and Anderson posted his third 3-pointer of the half to push the NU lead to four, 26-22, before the Bears made a late run. 

Dugat's putback basket started a 7-0 Baylor surge over the final three minutes to help the Bears end the opening period ahead by three. Rogers followed with a jumper to knot the score at 26-26, and the Bears went into the break with a lead as Carter drained a 21-footer with 21 seconds remaining in the period.

Baylor finished the first half with seven 3-pointers, hitting 50.0 percent from beyond the arc while the Huskers hit just 28 percent (7-of-25) from the floor. NU also trailed on the boards where the Bears held a 20-13 advantage early despite 7-0 sophomore center Mamadou Diene picking up two quick fouls early in the period.

Anderson and Strowbridge hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Huskers back up and, following a BU six-point run, Richardson's second trey tied the score again at 35-all. Eight of the Huskers' first 10 baskets were 3-pointers, while eight of the Bear's first 12 made baskets were treys.

Maric hit the second of two free throws to give Nebraska a one-point lead and the Huskers held BU scoreless for four minutes before Dugat added another 3 and Carter made a tough driving layup in the lane to put the Bears up four, 40-36, with just under 14 minutes to play. Following a Husker timeout, Carter added another 3 and Rogers had a putback to push Baylor to a nine-point lead, 45-36.

Baylor's run extended to 17-5 as the Bears moved the lead to 12 points, 52-40, on Josh Lomer's basket at the 8:26 mark. Maric's basket 2 1/2 minutes later pulled NU back within 10 and cut it to single digits with the end of the conventional three-point play.

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska made a late comeback effort, cutting the lead to eight at 54-46 on a Richardson 3-pointer with 4:48 remaining. Richardson made another three for NU’s next points that cut the Bears’ lead to 57-49 with just 2:26 left.

<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Perry then buried a trey on the next possession to pull the Huskers within five. After Nebraska forced a missed shot, Kevin Rogers grabbed the offensive and was fouled. He missed both free throws, but Daniel Bruce pulled down another offensive board and connected on 1-of-2 free throws to push the lead to 58-52 with 41.5 seconds remaining.

 

Following an Anderson missed 3-pointer and another Baylor free throw, Paul Velander hit a quick three to pull Nebraska to with four at 59-55 with 20.3 seconds showing on the clock.

 

After Baylor hit just 1-of-2 free throws, Mike Smith was fouled on a 3-point attempt and went to the line with Nebraska trailing by five with 12.7 seconds remaining. Smith hit 2-of-3 to make it a one possession game before a quick foul put Bruce back on the line.

 

Richardson made a layup to pull the Huskers to within two with 4.3 seconds left. After missing 4-of-8 free throws, Henry Dugat stepped up and hit a pair to put the game out of reach. Nebraska didn't allow BU a basket in final 8:26, but the Huskers couldnt capitalize, hitting just 40 percent from floor in second half.

 

On the game, the Huskers managed to hit only 34 percent of their shots, their second-lowest mark of the season, trailing only the 31.4 percent Nebraska shot at Kansas in its last game. NU did hit 12-of-33 from behind the arc - the Huskers' second-highest 3-point total of the season - but Baylor tied an NU opponent high by hitting 11 treys.

The Huskers return home to start a two-game homestand beginning on Saturday, Feb. 24, when Nebraska plays host to Missouri at the Devaney Center. The Huskers and Tigers tip off at 12:30 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN Regional.