Balanced Performance Carries Huskers Past Cowboys

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln ? Marcus Perry shined in his final appearance at the BobDevaneySportsCenter, hitting seven of Nebraska’s 13 3-pointers to finish with a career-high-tying 25 points and Aleks Maric added his fifth straight double-double as Nebraska ran past Oklahoma State, 85-73, Monday night in the Huskers’ regular-season finale.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Nebraska seized control of the game with superb play immediately before and after the halftime break. In a span of 7:24 that covered the final 3:33 of the first half and the first 3:51 of the second half, NU hit 6-of-7 from behind the arc ? including three from Perry ? to mount a 30-4 run that turned a 26-21 Husker lead into a 56-27 advantage.

 

A late OklahomaState surge that included 11 second-half 3-pointers pulled the Cowboys to as close as seven, but Nebraska held on to secure a winning season in the first year of the Doc Sadler era by improving to 17-13. The Huskers also finished with a 6-10 mark in league play, good enough for a tie for seventh place in the Big 12 standings.

 

Nebraska’s hot shooting and OklahomaState’s need for quick points turned the game into a 3-point shootout. The Huskers shot a blistering 61.9 percent from behind the arc, knocking down 13-of-25. The Cowboys hit 11-of-15 treys in the second half to finish the game 14-of-24 from 3-point range (58.3 percent).

 

In addition to Perry’s performance, Paul Velander hit 4-of-9 from behind the arc to finish with a career-high 20 points. The hot outside shooting opened up the middle for Maric, who hit six of his final seven shots to finish with 23 points. The big man also pulled down 13 boards, as the Huskers enjoyed their second-largest rebounding advantage of the season, 32-21.

 

Nebraska parlayed the hot shooting hand of Perry, the inside play of Maric and a stellar effort on the defensive end to race to a 36-23 halftime lead. Perry poured in 18 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting from behind the arc and connected on his last five 3-point attempts.

 

With Perry firing away from the outside, Maric had room to work inside and he responded with eight points and nine rebounds.

 

Defensively, Nebraska held the Cowboys scoreless for the first 6:20. The Huskers weren’t much better until Perry drilled a 3-pointer at the 16:35 mark for the game’s first points. OklahomaState didn’t score until after the first media timeout, when Byron Eaton hit the Cowboys’ first field goal in six attempts with 13:40 to play.

 

Eaton’s basket ended an impressive game-opening 8-0 Husker run that was fueled by the defense as NU hit just three of its first 11 shots.

 

Perry’s second trey of the game put Nebraska up 16-8 with under 10 minutes remaining in the half. He added his third and fourth 3-pointers three minutes later to give the Huskers an 11-point advantage.

 

Obi Muonelo answered Perry’s hot shooting with two 3-pointers of his own to pull Oklahoma State within five points at 26-21 before the Huskers closed the period on a 10-2 run, led by a pair of 3-pointers from Perry.

 

Nebraska opened the second half on a 13-0 run and added another quick 7-0 spurt after an OklahomaState basket. The Huskers’ 20-2 run to open the period quickly turned a 13-point halftime advantage into a commanding lead the Cowboys could never overcome.

 

Led by Velander and Perry, NU hit its first four 3-pointers of the second half as the Huskers scored 18 points in just 4:26 to open up a 29-point lead, their largest of the game.

 

The Cowboys would not go quietly, as they crept back into the game on the strength of their 11 second-half 3-pointers, but the lead was ultimately too much to make up.

 

Muonelo hit 8-of-11 from behind the arc, while Eaton was 5-of-7 from long range as the pair combined to hit their final 10 3-pointers, with each player contributing five treys.

 

Eaton led OklahomaState (20-11, 6-10) with 25 points, while Muonelo added 24.

 

Charles Richardson Jr., who was also playing his final game at the Devaney Center, scored three points while posting game-high totals of eight assists and a career-best five steals.

 

Despite finishing tied in the league standings, Nebraska will face OklahomaState again at 6 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the Big 12 Championship at the FordCenter in Oklahoma City.

Official Basketball Box Score Oklahoma State vs Nebraska 3/5/07 7:05 p.m. at Lincoln, Neb (Devaney Center)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Oklahoma State 20-11, 6-10 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 Boggan, Mario....... f 5-9 0-0 0-1 2 3 5 1 10 0 3 0 0 29 40 Cooper, Kenny....... c 0-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 3 0 2 1 0 0 29 01 Harris, Terrel...... g 2-9 1-4 0-0 0 4 4 4 5 2 2 0 1 36 02 Muonelo, Obi........ g 8-13 8-11 0-0 2 3 5 3 24 0 1 0 0 29 24 Curry, JamesOn...... g 2-8 0-2 3-3 0 2 2 3 7 3 2 1 0 33 00 Eaton, Byron........ 9-12 5-7 2-2 0 1 1 3 25 4 2 0 3 21 05 Dove, Marcus........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 18 23 Hatch, Tyler........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 27-55 14-24 5-6 7 14 21 20 73 12 12 1 4 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-25 40.0% 2nd Half: 17-30 56.7% Game: 49.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 11-15 73.3% Game: 58.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 5-6 83.3% Game: 83.3% 0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 17-13, 6-10 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 21 Maric, Aleks........ c 9-13 0-0 5-7 3 10 13 1 23 1 4 1 1 33 03 Richardson, Charles. g 1-8 0-3 1-2 1 2 3 2 3 8 3 0 5 40- 04 Perry, Marcus....... g 8-12 7-10 2-2 3 3 6 0 25 1 1 0 2 40- 05 Strowbridge, Jay-R.. g 3-5 2-3 3-4 1 3 4 1 11 5 2 0 0 38 25 Velander, Paul...... g 5-10 4-9 6-7 0 1 1 4 20 1 1 0 2 21 01 Henry, Sek.......... 0-0 0-0 3-4 0 0 0 2 3 2 1 1 0 12 12 Marks, Kyle......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 23 Smith, Mike......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 30 Goldenstein, Chase.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+ 32 Balham, Chris....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 TEAM................ 2 2 4 Totals.............. 26-48 13-25 20-26 10 21 31 11 85 18 12 2 10 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 48.1% 2nd Half: 13-21 61.9% Game: 54.2% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 8-16 50.0% 2nd Half: 5-9 55.6% Game: 52.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 18-24 75.0% Game: 76.9% 4

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Ted Hillary, John Higgins, David Hall Technical fouls: Oklahoma State-TEAM. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 10195 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Oklahoma State................ 23 50 - 73 Nebraska...................... 36 49 - 85 Actual Attendance:7,259 Game is makeup contest from originally scheduled date of Jan. 13, 2007

Points in the paint-OS 20,NU 20. Points off turnovers-OS 11,NU 16. 2nd chance points-OS 7,NU 10. Fast break points-OS 4,NU 2. Bench points-OS 27,NU 3. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times. Last FG-OS 2nd-00:39, NU 2nd-05:20. Largest lead-OS None, NU by 29 2nd-16:19.