Husker Rally for Win at Missouri

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Columbia, Mo. --- Marcus Perry scored 15 points, Aleks Maric had 14 and Charles Richardson Jr. added 12 as Nebraska scratched out a 66-61 road victory over Missouri on Saturday to snap a three-game losing streak. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

With the win, the Huskers improved to 13-8 on the year and 2-5 in conference play while earning their fourth victory of the season away from Lincoln. The true road win ? NU’s first of the year ? also snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Huskers in Columbia.

Missouri, which has dropped three of the last four matchups with the Huskers, fell to 13-8 and 2-6 in conference action. Reserve guard Keon Lawrence finished with 18 points to pace the Tigers while Darryl Buttefield was the only other Tiger in double figures with 10 points. MU’s leading scorer entering the night, Stefhon Hannah was held nearly 10 points below his average as he scored six points on 2-of-5 shooting before fouling out.

The Huskers earned the hard-fought victory by taking care of the ball and getting it inside the paint to Maric, especially in the second half.

NU had just five turnovers after the intermission against MU’s ball-hawking defense, and continually fed the ball down low to Maric, who scored all but two of his points following the break. The Big 12 leader in field-goal percentage, Maric hit 5-of-9 shots from the floor, including 4-of-5 in the second half, to help the Huskers overcome a 28-25 halftime deficit.

Lawrence fueled the Tigers after the intermission as he scored 15 second-half points, nearly half of the team’s total point production (33). He had seven straight points in one stretch and kept MU in front until the Huskers surged ahead just minutes into the second period.

Following Lawrence's trey at the 16:36 mark, Ryan Anderson countered for the Huskers with a 3-pointer to start a 10-2 Husker run that swung the game in NU’s favor. Paul Velander nailed a long-range bomb that gave the Huskers a 40-39 lead before a nifty pass by Anderson over the top of the Tiger defense to Maric in the post led to Maric's third basket of the second half. Maric stretched the Huskers' lead to three, 43-40, with a free throw one possession later.

MU pulled back within one point two more times before Perry hit a 3-pointer with 9:05 to play that put the Huskers ahead 48-44. Butterfield countered as he scored in transition on the other end to make it 48-46 in favor of the visitors, but Missouri pulled within two points only one more time ? at 60-58 with 2:16 to play -- when Lawrence hit the final of three straight free throws after being fouled on a shot from beyond the arc.

Down the stretch, the Huskers held Missouri to just two baskets in more than eight minutes until Lawrence’s 3-pointer at the final buzzer. Missouri finished the game hitting just 37 percent from the field while the Huskers shot 43.2 percent, including 52.6 percent in the second half.

NU also hit its free throws, led by Richardson who was a perfect 10-for-10 at the charity stripe. Richardson hit four straight in the final minute to seal the game while Chris Balham hit 3-of-4 at the line after getting fouled following two key offensive rebounds in the final 4:10. Overall, Nebraska hit 20-of-30 attempts at the charity stripe.

Nebraska also took the edge on the glass for the first time in conference play as the Huskers held a 37-31 rebounding advantage, including Maric recording his third effort with at least nine rebounds in conference play. Nebraska also finished the game with 14 turnovers against the pressing and trapping Missouri defense, the same total NU forced on Missouri.

Nebraska opened the game in solid fashion as Richardson got the Huskers going strong with a pair of free throws barely a minute into the game and helped NU open a 5-0 lead after Perry burried his first 3-pointer of the contest. MU quickly regrouped behind baskets from Darryl Butterfield and Kalen Grimes before Buttefield tied the contest at 7-7 with a trey at the 16:00 mark.

Missouri took control of the first half from that point, using a 10-2 run keyed by 3-pointers from Hannah and Lawrence to open a 17-9 lead with just under 13 minutes left in the opening period. Perry ended the run with a layup high off the glass but the Huskers didn't score again for more than three minutes until Jay-R Strowbridge started an NU rally.

Strowbridge connected on back-to-back 3-pointers in just over a minute and Perry added a pull-up jumper to cut the Tiger lead to three, 22-19. Strowbridge, who started the second half for the Huskers, went on to record a career high with three 3-pointers and scored a personal high for points in a conference game by finishing with nine off the bench. He had hit just 3-of-11 from long range in the first five Big 12 games before nailing all three of his attempts beyond the arc against the Tigers. 

After a Hannah trey at the 5:39 mark and a free throw from Butterfield one minute later extended the MU lead back to six, 25-19, the Huskers put the clamps on on defense to help it climb back in the game. Hannah's 3-pointer was the last basket the Huskers allowed in the period, as MU hit just one basket to go with three free throws in the final eight minutes of the half.

Perry added another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to four with 4:40 left in the first period before Maric got on the board with a basket at the 3:24 mark. Sek Henry then hit the front end of a pair of free throws with nearly 90 seconds remaining to pull the Huskers within one before Nebraska went into the halftime trailing by three.

Nebraska’s win was its third of the year when trailing at the intermission and second away from Lincoln. Last year, the Huskers won only once when trailing at the half away from the DevaneyCenter.

Nebraska returns to the road on Tuesday, Feb. 6, when the Huskers take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock, Texas. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and can be seen in Nebraska on FSN Midwest.