NU, ASU Face Off in Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series

 

|+| Game Information

Game: Game 6                         
Game Date: Dec. 2, 2007

Game Time: 1:02 p.m. CST                   
Release Date: Nov. 29, 2007

Television: ESPNU (Dan McLaughlin, play-by-play; Doug Gottlieb, color)

Radio: Husker Sports Network (Kent Pavelka, play-by-play; Matt Davison, color)

Internet: Huskers.com (live radio, stats)

Satellite Radio: Channel 152

Venue: BobDevaneySportsCenter (13,595)

 

|+| Huskers Host Sun Devils as Part of Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series

After nearly a week of practice, the Nebraska Cornhuskers hit the court on Sunday, Dec. 2, in their first nationally televised game of the season when they take on the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.

The game at the DevaneyCenter will tip off at 1:02 p.m. Central and will be telecast around the country on ESPNU (Channel 235 in Lincoln; Channel 220 on Cox Cable in Omaha). The action will be called by play-by-play man Dan McLaughlin and he will be joined by color analyst and former Oklahoma State Cowboy Doug Gottlieb.

The game can also be heard on the radio as the Husker Sports Network, which consists of 30 stations around Nebraska and Iowa that provide coverage of Nebraska athletic events, will broadcast every Husker game this season. Veteran play-by-play man Kent Pavelka will call the action while Matt Davison adds color commentary. The broadcast will be carried throughout the country and around the world live on the Internet on Huskers.com.

NU's games can typically also be heard on satellite radio. The Nebraska broadcast of Sunday's contest against ASU will be heard on Sirius Satellite Radio on channel 152.

Arizona State is the highest profile team to come to the DevaneyCenter so far this season. The Sun Devils are off to a solid 4-1 start to the year including an overtime victory against LouisianaState in the Maui Invitational last month. Sunday's game in Lincoln will be the Sun Devils' first experience this season in a true road game.

Nebraska will welcome ArizonaState with senior Aleks Maric, the preseason all-conference center who exploded for a season-best 30 points to go with nine rebounds in last Monday's victory over IPFW. The Sydney, Australia native is the Huskers' go-to player and is looking for consistency on the offensive end, where he has had two 20-plus point games and two games in single figures this season.

Several NBA scouts will be in attendance for Sunday's matchup to see Maric and other players, much like the last time the Sun Devils came to the DevaneyCenter. That was the 2003-04 campaign when Nebraska earned a 68-60 victory over an ASU squad led by All-American forward Ike Diogu. A future first-round NBA Draft selection, Diogu was held to 13 points and six rebounds in 39 minutes.

Maric, who is averaging 16.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game this year, hopes to see the same results as last week when he dominated IPFW. Maric hit 13-of-18 shots from the floor versus the Mastodons and was an offensive force throughout the contest. It was the fifth 30-point game of his career, tying him for third on the NU all-time chart with Jerry Fort. Only Dave Hoppen, the school's all-time leading scorer, and Tyronn Lue, a first-round NBA pick currently with the Atlanta Hawks, had more 30-point games at Nebraska with seven each.

Much of Maric's success came as a result of Nebraska taking better care of the ball compared to two days before when NU dropped its first contest of the season at Creighton. The Huskers posted 17 turnovers in the first half alone and had 21 on the day against the Bluejays in the first road contest of the year. Against IPFW, Nebraska had just 11 miscues in the contest, including only three in the second half, while posting a season-high 23 assists. Three players ? Cookie Miller (5 without a turnover), Sek Henry (5 without a turnover) and Jay-R Strowbridge (5 with 2 turnovers) ? had five assists apiece while helping get the ball inside to Maric.

The Huskers have found consistent scoring complements to Maric in sophomore Ryan Anderson and junior college transfer Ade Dagunduro. Anderson, who led the team with 48 3-pointers last season, has been solid with 8.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, while Dagunduro has averaged 9.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

Nebraska will be looking to shore up its 3-point defense as opponents have averaged 9.0 3-pointers per game while hitting 40.2 percent from beyond the arc. The numbers are similar to ArizonaState, which also has had trouble defending the long shots with foes connecting on 9.8 3-pointers per contest by hitting 35.8 percent from long range.

 

|+| Husker, Sun Devil Ties

Nebraska and ArizonaState do not have a long history together on the hardwood, as there have only been five games played in the all-time series (ASU leads 3-2). But there are some interesting ties between the two team's this year.

Husker head coach Doc Sadler and assistant coach Tony Benford have each worked the sideline in Tempe for the Sun Devils. Sadler was an assistant coach under Bill Freider from 1994 to 1997 before taking the head coaching position at Arkansas-Fort Smith while Benford was on the Sun Devils bench from 1998 to 2006, including the last two years as associate head coach.

Benford worked with Pac-10 Players of the Year Eddie House (2000) and Ike Diogu (2005), and brought in current junior Jeff Pendergraph. Benford also recruited Sek Henry, an NU sophomore who originally signed with ArizonaState out of high school before going to prep school and eventually landing at Nebraska. Another player tie comes from the Pacific Northwest, where Husker Ryan Anderson (Rainier Beach HS) and Sun Devil Jamelle McMillan (O'Dea HS) played with each other (on the Friends of Hoop AAU teams) and against each other while growing up. McMillan is the son of former NBA player and current Portland Trailblazers head coach Nate McMillan.

 

|+| Hot Shooting Huskers

Five games into the season and it's obvious why Coach Doc Sadler has been optimistic about his team's shooting ability. Despite providing a solid offensive punch only in short surges, the Huskers have hit 50.2 percent overall from the floor during the opening weeks of the season.

Nebraska began the year by blistering the nets for an impressive 61.0 percent (25-of-41) from the floor in the season opener. It was the fifth time in the Sadler era the Huskers topped 60 percent shooting in a contest.

After connecting on just 42.3 percent of its attempts against Alabama A&M, NU got back into the groove against NorfolkState, knocking down 50.9 percent from the field, including 55.6 percent (15-of-27) in the second period. NU continued its trend by hitting at least 50 percent in every other game when it knocked down 56.1 percent (32-of-57) from the floor against IPFW in its last outing on Monday.

Three starters have hit at least 50.0 percent from the floor this season to help the Huskers' efforts, including Aleks Maric (58.5; 31-of-53), Ade Dagunduro (54.3; 19-of-35) and Steve Harley (52.0; 13-of-25). Two other players with at least 15 attempts this season ? Shang Ping (60.0) and Ryan Anderson (48.5)? have also hit at least 48 percent.

Maric has been at the front of the offensive charge during all four of his years at Nebraska. Last season he led the Big 12 Conference in field-goal percentage by hitting 56.5 percent for the season. In his career, Maric has hit 52.1 percent (429-of-823) from the field.

 

|+| By the Half

Nebraska has had several hot halves this season but is still looking to put together a complete game.

Near the top of the list for the best overall performance was a 51-point second period against NorfolkState. NU hit 55.6 percent in the frame while scoring the most points in any half during the Doc Sadler era. The previous high was 49 points in the second half of three separate games last year. Before the outburst, Nebraska had scored more than 34 points in only one of its previous five halves of play.

Against Creighton, Nebraska again picked up the pace after the intermission, posting 42 points in the second period while making a strong comeback attempt after scoring just 20 points in the first half. It was also the third straight game the Huskers had a better shooting percentage in the second half than the first.

Nebraska has hit at least 50 percent from the field in five halves this season, including each half against Presbyterian and IPFW. NU has scored at least 40 points in a period four times, but has scored more than 30 points in each half of the same game only once, against Norfolk State (32 first half, 51 second half).

 

|+| Little Guy, Big Plays

Diminutive freshman guard Cookie Miller has already shown early in his career that he can play with the big boys.

Miller's first explosive offensive game came against Creighton when he took over the Husker offense in its bid for a comeback victory that fell short. Miller, who had recorded 11 points in his first three games combined, posted a game-high 19 points against the Bluejays. After scoring eight in the first half, Miller came out on fire in the second period when he scored another 11 points to help NU outscore Creighton 42-27 after the intermission. Miller hit 7-of-13 attempts from the floor against CU.

While his offense has come in surges, Miller has been steady as a ball-distributor and defender. The true freshman leads the team with 18 assists (3.3 apg) against just eight turnovers and has posted a team-high 13 steals, including two games with at least four steals. Miller needs just eight steals to move onto the Nebraska freshman top-10 list. The NU freshman and career records are also owned by a Husker named Cookie, as Cookie Belcher had 87 steals as a freshman in 1997 and finished with 353 steals in his career.

 

|+| Meet the ArizonaState Sun Devils

Arizona State enters Sunday's matchup riding a four-game winning streak after suffering a setback in the season opener against Illinois, 77-54. Since then, ASU has picked up three blowout victories and a hard-fought, overtime win over Louisiana State, 87-84, at the Maui Invitational.

In their last outing, the Sun Devils blew past Florida Gulf Coast, 91-59, on Wednesday night. Freshman guard James Harden led the way with a game-high 22 points in 22 minutes of action as he hit 8-of-9 shots from the floor. Harden also tied for the team lead with six rebounds, and helped ASU to connect on 52.4 percent from the field.  Along with Harden, another freshman guard, Ty Abbott, added 15 points while junior forward Jeff Pendergraph posted 10 points, five boards and two blocked shots in 16 minutes. Sophomore guard Christian Polk came off the bench to score 15 points with three steals.

Harden has led the squad by averaging 17.6 points per game and has hit 82.4 percent from the charity stripe, where he leads the squad in attempted and made free throws. Harden also paces the squad with 10 steals and is second behind Pendergraph with 5.6 rebounds per game.

Pendergraph has added 6.2 boards per contest to go with 11.4 points per contest and has hit an impressive 61.1 percent from the floor. Abbott joins Pendergraph and Harden as the third double-figure scorer, posting 11.6 points per game while leading the squad with 14 3-pointers. The Sun Devils' 3-point ace, Abbott has hit 41.2 percent from downtown while connecting on just 3-of-7 attempts from inside the arc.

ASU is hitting 46.9 percent from the floor while averaging 73.6 points per game this season. The Sun Devils have held opponents to 60.6 points per contest on 40.2 percent shooting, although foes have knocked down 9.8 3-pointers per game on 35.8 percent shooting beyond the arc.

 ArizonaState is coached by Herb Sendek, who is in his second year guiding the Sun Devils and 15th year as a head coach. Sendek owns a 266-181 career record as a coach after previously serving stints at NC State and Miami (Ohio). Sendek led the Wolfpack to five straight NCAA Tournament berths between 2002 and 2006 before taking over at ArizonaState.

 

|+| Maric's 30 Helps NU to Win

Senior center Aleks Maric rebounded from a subpar game this past weekend to hit 13-of-18 shots from the field for 30 points while leading Nebraska to a 79-62 victory over IPFW at the BobDevaneySportsCenter. Maric’s effort helped the Huskers connect on 56.1 percent from the floor, the third time this season NU topped the 50-percent plateau.

Maric, who added nine rebounds to just miss his second double-double of the year, led NU to its fourth win of the season and 12th straight home non-conference victory under second-year coach Doc Sadler. It was the fifth time Maric reached the 30-point mark in his career, moving him into third on the NU all-time list.

Sophomore Ryan Anderson and juniors Paul Velander and Ade Dagunduro added stellar offensive efforts to help the Huskers ward off a dangerous 3-point game from the Mastodons. Anderson posted 11 points, all in the first half, while Velander added a season best with nine points, including hitting 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Dagunduro warmed up as the game wore on, hitting 4-for-4 in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers for a season-high 15 points.

Meanwhile, IPFW hit nearly 50 percent from the 3-point line with 10 treys on the game, and added 23-of-48 field goals to make a run at the hot-hitting Huskers, who were 9-of-18 from downtown.

IPFW got on the board first, but was quickly shut down following a plague of sloppy play by the Mastodons that led Nebraska to an eight-point run, including four points from Maric. IPFW gave up four turnovers in four minutes to start the game and open the door for Nebraska to set the offensive pace from the outset.

Maric was hot from the field, hitting 6-of-7 shots from the floor for 14 first-half points. When Maric got some rest midway through the first half, Anderson saw his opportunity to shine and took charge for the Huskers, pumping in nine points in just over five minutes, including his sixth 3-pointer of the season. 

With Maric and Anderson leading the way, the Huskers heated up from the floor, putting down 63 percent from the field in the first half for 42 points. The Huskers wrapped up the half hot from 3-point range, including three consecutive treys from Dagunduro, Velander and sophomore Jay-R Strowbridge that rolled up a 13-2 run over IPFW.

While the Huskers were heating up, the Mastodons thawed on the offensive end of the court, hitting five 3-pointers for 28 points on the half. Fortunately, Nebraska was dominant on the boards, pulling down 16 defensive rebounds, including five from Maric, to just six from IPFW. Additionally, Nebraska didn’t give up a single offensive rebound to IPFW in the first half, while limiting the Mastodons to shooting just 38 percent from the field. The strong effort helped NU end the half ahead 42-28.

After a chilly first half from the 3-point line that saw the Mastodons make 5-of-13 treys, IPFW continued to insist on its outside game at the start of the second half and began seeing early returns. The Mastodons opened the half hitting 5-of-7 shots from the field including back-to-back-to-back buckets from behind the arc from seniors Demetrius Johnson and Armend Ademi, and freshman Ben Botts to pull within 10 points. 

The comeback was fleeting however as Maric continued to dominate the paint, knocking down 12 points in the opening six minutes of the second half to tie his season-high of 21. Maric continued to have the hot hand throughout the second half, finishing the game with 30 points, including 16 in the second period. 

 

|+| Cranking It Up

One of the most highly anticipated JUCO transfers at Nebraska in years, Steve Harley took a little time to get acclimated but has started to find his groove in the Huskers' last few contests.

Against NorfolkState, Harley recorded his first double-figure scoring effort as he hit 3-of-5 shots from the floor, including both 3-point attempts, while posting 11 points in 20 minutes of action. He had scored just 11 points in the first two games combined.

Harley followed that performance with an impressive second-half effort at Creighton. After the Huskers trailed by 27 at the half, Harley added all of his points in the second period to lead a strong comeback attempt that fell just short as NU outscored CU by 15 points following the intermission. On the game, he hit 4-of-7 shots from the floor and 6-of-8 at the line for a season-high 14 points in 23 minutes.

 

 |+| Shut Down Defense

Nebraska has held opponents to 36.5 percent shooting from the field through five games, including limiting two opponents to less than 28 percent.

Over consecutive games, the Huskers held Alabama A&M to just 27.6 percent shooting from the floor while allowing NorfolkState to connect on only 26.8 percent of its shots. The percentages were the lowest under Coach Doc Sadler, respectively.

The last time Nebraska held back-to-back opponents to less than 28 percent shooting was in 2003 when Tennessee hit 27.9 percent followed by Bethune-Cookman hitting a DevaneyCenter opponent-low 21.2 percent. Bethune-Cookman scored just 26 points in that contest, also a building record opponent low.

Nebraska has now held opponents to less than 30 percent shooting 17 times during the Big 12 era.

 

|+| Slowing the Scoring

Nebraska has been solid on defense this season and has allowed just 56.2 points per game over the first five contests. NU has held teams to less than 50 points twice on the young season, including an opponent season-low 45 points against Alabama A&M.

Nebraska held its first three opponents to 52 or fewer points, the first time NU had accomplished the feat since 1946-47. The last time Nebraska held three straight opponents to 52 or fewer points at any point in a season was 1981-82.

The 145 combined points allowed through the first three games were the fewest allowed to open a season since 1949-50 when Nebraska allowed just 135 points while going 2-1 to open the year. That season, Nebraska finished 16-7 overall and 8-4 in the Big Seven Conference, the last time Nebraska earned a share of the conference regular-season title.

 

|+| Redshirt Decisions Made

Coach Doc Sadler announced on Saturday, Nov. 17, that two newcomers had made the decision to redshirt this season to better acclimate to Division I play. Sadler said that sophomore transfer Alex Chapman and freshman Brandon Richardson will redshirt this season.

Sadler also said that freshmen Alonzo Edwards and Toney McCray had not finalized their decisions of whether or not to redshirt, but could do so possibly by this weekend. Neither Edwards nor McCray has played in any of the first five games of the regular season.

 

|+| Huskers Continue Strong Non-Conference Run

Nebraska improved its mark to 9-1 in the month of November under second-year Coach Doc Sadler when it defeated IPFW last Monday. The Huskers hope to continue the strong surge into December, where they own a 4-3 record under Sadler. Nebraska is just 1-0 at home in the month of December under Sadler as last season the Huskers played 6-of-7 December contests away from Lincoln. 

Overall, Nebraska is 12-0 in home non-conference games under Sadler since he took over the program last season. The Huskers are 3-4 against non-league teams away from Lincoln (0-3 in true road games).

The Huskers have won 17 straight home non-conference games dating to a 73-72 loss to UAB in the 2005-06 campaign. Nebraska is 80-13 in non-league tilts at the DevaneyCenter since the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996-97.

 

|+| Under Pressure

Since his introductory press conference, Coach Doc Sadler has said that he wants to get to the point where his team can pressure the opponent for 94 feet. With an upgrade in athleticism, speed and talent, that philosophy will come into play more often this year.

If the early season has been any indication, Sadler's penchant for a disruptive defense will be widely embraced by the players and fans alike. Through five games, Nebraska has forced 80 turnovers and recorded 50 steals. Nine players have posted a steal in a game this year, including five players averaging at least one steal per game.

Nebraska posted a season-high 14 steals against Alabama A&M and came back with 11 steals against NorfolkState, giving NU five games with at least 10 steals under Coach Doc Sadler. The consecutive games with at least 10 steals was the first time at NU since 2005-06.

The Huskers have now posted at least nine steals in four straight games, and have had at least seven steals in every game this season. Nebraska had just four games with at least nine steals in 2006-07.

 

|+| New Faces Gain Court Time

Despite returning eight letterwinners from a year ago, the Huskers knew there would be a completely different look to the squad this season. Among the 19 players on the roster, eight are scholarship newcomers. There are also two walk-ons who redshirted last year in the program and one new invited walk-on.

Coach Doc Sadler started two newcomers in the opening lineup of each of the first two games of the season opener, including junior Ade Dagunduro and freshman Cookie Miller.  Junior Steve Harley also made a start in the Huskers' last contest against IPFW, making him the third newcomer to join the starting five.

Overall, Sadler has played a total of six players this season who had never worn a Nebraska uniform before, including bringing Shang Ping, Cole Salomon and Andrew Wicklund off the bench. Four of them ? Dagunduro, Miller, Harley and Ping ? have played in every game and are all averaging at least 13 minutes per contest.

 

|+| Sadler Opens Second Season with Huskers

After a whirl-wind first season that saw several solid performances despite fielding an undersized and oft-injured team, Coach Doc Sadler is back for his second year on the Husker sideline looking to return Nebraska to the postseason. Sadler, who owns a 69-33 record as a Division I head coach, guided the Huskers to 17 wins last season, making him the third-winningest first-year coach in Nebraska history.  NU also finished with a 6-10 record to tie for seventh in the Big 12 standings after earning a ranking of 10th or 11th in every preseason conference poll.

With a year under their belts coaching in the Big 12 Conference, Sadler and his staff brought in a recruiting class that ranked among the top 25 in the nation by several media sources, including ESPN.com's Bob Gibbons (21st) and CSTV.com's Van Coleman (12th). The class is considered one of the deepest in Nebraska history, and is possibly the largest ever with eight scholarship newcomers.

Sadler also has a strong staff helping him on the bench and on the recruiting trail. Overall, the Husker staff has combined for 85 years coaching on the sideline and helped 21 teams to Division I postseason appearances. Together the Husker staff has produced 31 NBA players and more than 660 career victories as head coaches.

 

|+| Opening It Up

Nebraska opened the regular season at home with a 67-52 victory over PresbyterianCollege. With the win, the Huskers improved to 55-11 in program history when opening the season at home in Lincoln (although information on two years in the early 1900s is incomplete), including winning their 18th straight season opener at the Devaney Center since falling 62-59 against Wyoming in overtime in 1980.

The Huskers will play a total of 19 home games during the regular season, including 18 at the BobDevaneySportsCenter, one off the facility record. The other home contest will be at the QwestCenter in Omaha when the Huskers take on Oregon (Dec. 15), a preseason top-15 team.

 

|+| All-American Aussie?

After a solid junior campaign that saw him average 18.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, center Aleks Maric is the top returning scorer and rebounder in the Big 12 Conference and will contend for All-America honors this winter.

A second-team all-league selection following last season, Maric was named an Athlon Sports magazine third-team  preseason All-American this fall and was a member of the  preseason All-Big 12 team selected by the coaches. If he picks up All-America honors, Maric would become just the ninth Husker ever to earn postseason All-America honors and the first since Carl McPipe in 1978.

In addition to the preseason honors, Maric is among 50 players named to the initial watch lists for two prestigious player-of-the-year honors, the Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy.

With continued improvement from last season, Maric will have a chance to earn several postseason honors as he is one of the top returning players in the country. Between players from BCS conferences, Maric is third among returning scorers from last year, trailing only Chris Lofton of Tennessee (20.8 ppg) and Sean Singletary of Virginia (19.0 ppg). Maric is also sixth among returning BCS conference players in field-goal percentage and seventh in rebounding average.

 

|+| Anderson Looks for Repeat Performance

Entering last season with only a handful of players with Division I experience meant that some newcomers would have to step up. The first to answer Coach Doc Sadler's call was Ryan Anderson, who despite standing just 6-4, played the majority of the season at the 4 spot and created offensive mismatches against opponents on a nightly basis.

As one of five returning scholarship players, the Seattle native hopes to improve on his stellar first season with the Huskers. A starter in each of the Huskers' first five contests, Anderson has been solid but has not had a breakout contest this season. He is averaging 8.4 points per game to rank third on the squad and has pulled down 6.2 rebounds per contest, second only to Aleks Maric's 9.2 boards per game. Anderson is tied for the team lead with six 3-pointers and has been on the floor more than anyone, averaging a team-high 29.4 minutes per contest.

Last year, Anderson was second on the team with 10.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, while ranking among the top 10 freshmen all-time at Nebraska in points scored, field goals, rebounds, 3-pointers and steals. Though he battled an injury early in the conference season that slowed his production for a couple of weeks, Anderson put up some of his best games against the top competition as he averaged a team-best 15.8 points over four games against ranked teams while hitting 55.0 percent from the floor.

Anderson was second on the squad with 48 3-pointers, the second-highest total by a freshman in Nebraska history. He tied the NU single-game 3-point percentage record with a 5-for-5 effort from beyond the arc at Rutgers and equalled NU freshman record with seven treys against Hawaii.

Anderson had a dominant performance against the Rainbows as he finished the game with 29 points, six rebounds, five assists (one turnover) and a steal in a career-high 38 minutes. The 29 points were the second-highest freshman single-game scoring total in NU history, trailing only Tyronn Lue's 30 points in a game in 1996.

 

|+| Strowbridge on the Mark

Sophomore guard Jay-R Strowbridge received great praise from Coach Doc Sadler during the preseason as one of the most improved players on the team.

Despite suffering an injury that slowed him in the preseason, Strowbridge came on strong enough to earn a starting nod in each of the season's first four games. He rewarded Sadler's faith with a strong opening performance against Presbyterian, as Strowbridge posted 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range while playing 27 minutes. Strowbridge's 12 points were two off his career high while the four treys tied his career-best total.

Last year, Strowbridge averaged 3.9 points and 1.5 assists per game as a true freshman, and was an extremely valuable asset from beyond the arc where he ranked fifth on the squad with 25 3-pointers. Strowbridge was on target more often than not as he led the team in 3-point percentage, hitting 46.3 percent from downtown. His mark ranked third in single-season history and was the highest mark in the freshman record book. Strowbridge is one of three Huskers who hit at least 25 treys last year.

 

|+| One for the Record Book

Already among the best centers all-time at Nebraska, Aleks Maric became only the second player in NU history to record at least 1,000 points and 600 rebounds before the end of his junior season. Entering Sunday's contest with ArizonaState, Maric now has 1,194 career points and 726 rebounds.

 By matching his production from last year (556 points, 260 rebounds), Maric would finish his career ranked fifth all-time on the Nebraska scoring chart and second in rebounds. He needs just 57 rebounds to take over second place on the career chart and has a chance to rank on top 10 career lists in at least eight other categories.

 

|+| Newcomers Earn Praise

While they still have a lot to prove on the floor, the newest group of Huskers were welcomed to Lincoln with impressive fanfare by the recruiting analysts. As a group, this year's recruiting class was ranked among the top 25 in the country by several top analysts, including No. 11 by Van Coleman (CSTV.com) and No. 21 by Bob Gibbons (ESPN.com). Clark Francis of HoopScoop had the Huskers as high as No. 5 among early signing classes.

Individually, several new Huskers joined the program after all-star caliber careers in junior college and high school. Guard Steve Harley, a transfer from South Plains (Texas) College, was a two-time All-American, including earning first-team honors last year, and was ranked No. 4 in the country among guards by nbadraft.net. Shang Ping was ranked No. 8 at small forward by the same service. Alonzo Edwards was No. 18 among small forwards and in the top 125 overall  by ESPN.com.

 

|+| Making History

Coach Doc Sadler is quickly making a name for himself at Nebraska. Last season, he was the third-winningest first-year coach in program history by helping the Huskers to 17 victories.

This year, Sadler became one of only two coaches in program history to win at least three straight games to open the season in each of his first two years on the Husker bench. He joined E.O. 'Jumbo' Stiehm who opened 1911-12 and 1912-13 with five victories each year.

This is the third consecutive season Nebraska opened with three wins in the first three games. The last time Nebraska won at least three contests to open a campaign in three straight seasons was 1977-78 to 1979-80.

 

|+| Chairman of the Boards

Senior center Aleks Maric is the top returning rebounder in the Big 12 Conference after posting 8.7 rebounds per contest last season, including 9.4 boards per game against Big 12 foes. Maric set his career high with 19 rebounds against Missouri at home last year, bettering his previous mark of 17 at KSU as a sophomore.

With 252 rebounds last season, Maric moved into ninth place on the Husker rebounds chart. Maric has already had a game with 16 rebounds (against Alabama A&M) this season ? his fifth career game with at least 15 rebounds ? and needs just 57 rebounds this season to take over sole possession of second place on the Husker chart.

|+| Doubling Down Low

Center Aleks Maric established himself as a dual threat in the post from his first career game when he recorded 12 points and 14 rebounds in the season opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2004. Maric went on to record three double-doubles as a freshman and had 10 as a sophomore. Each of the marks in his first two years tied the NU class record.

Maric added 10 double-doubles last season and now has 24 in his career, a total that ranks third in Nebraska history. Maric added his first double-double of the 2007-08 campaign with a workmanlike 21 points and 16 rebounds against Alabama A&M. He now needs just one more double-double to tie Carl McPipe for second on the all-time list.

|+| Last-Second Shots

? The Huskers’ 35-point victory against NorfolkState was the largest under Coach Doc Sadler at Nebraska, and also marked NU’s most lopsided victory since a 107-67 victory over North Carolina A&T on Dec. 19, 2005.

? Nebraska held its first three opponents to 52, 45 and 48 points, respectively, the first time since the 1946-47 that all of NU’s first three opponents failed to score more than 52 points. In the exhibition season, the Huskers’ opponents scored 50 and 51 points respectively. 

? The Huskers’ 83 points against NorfolkState were a season high as Nebraska improved to 7-0 under Coach Doc Sadler when scoring at least 80 points in a game.

? The loss at Creighton was Nebraska's 12th straight loss in a true road opener, including six losses at CU in that span.

? Aleks Maric has only eight turnovers in the first five games (1.6 per game) after posting 97 turnovers last season (3.2 per game).

? Maric also only has six fouls through five games (including three against Creighton) after averaging 2.7  fouls per game last year.