Huskers Fall in Overtime at Ole Miss

Oxford, Miss. --- Nebraska junior guard Ade Dagunduro scored five straight points in the final 2:15 of regulation to force the Huskers' fourth overtime game of the year, but Ole Miss' Zach Graham scored 10 of his 14 points in the extra session as the Rebels took an 86-75 victory Monday at Tad Smith Coliseum to advance to the third round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).

With the loss, Nebraska ended its season with a 20-13 record, including 1-3 in overtime games. Nebraska, which was making its 21st all-time postseason appearance, posted just its 12th 20-win season in 112 years of the men's basketball program. With the win, Ole Miss (23-10)  advances to play Virginia Tech on Wednesday in Blacksburg, Va., with the winner advancing to the NIT semifinals in New York City on April 1.

Husker center Aleks Maric, the lone senior on the squad, scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting to lead Nebraska. He added 10 rebounds for his 39th career double-double, which ranks fifth in Big 12 history and second in the NU record book, and had four assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

Maric ended his career fifth on the Husker all-time scoring chart with 1,630 points and ranks second on the NU rebounding chart with 1,015 boards. He tied the Nebraska single-season mark with 335 rebounds this year.

Maric's final rebound of his Husker career came with 1:33 remaining in overtime with the Huskers trailing by four. Maric was fouled on the putback attempt, but missed both the free throws and Graham added a bucket 30 seconds later to put the game out of reach.

Graham hit 5-of-7 attempts from the field, including all three shots and 4-of-5 free throws in the overtime. He helped Ole Miss hit 52.5 percent on the night, including 7-of-14 from 3-point range. Freshman point guard Chris Warren led the Rebels with 18 points despite playing just 27 minutes because of foul trouble. Four Rebel starters posted double figures, while the Ole Miss bench outscored Nebraska's reserves 22-16.

Along with Maric, Dagunduro had 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting while Steve Harley added 14 points. Jay-R Strowbridge came off the bench to score 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting in 30 minutes of action.

Nebraska fought back from behind nearly all night long. The Huskers scored the first five points of the game, but saw Ole Miss hit 64.3 percent from the floor in the first half, including making 11 shots on its first 14 possessions, to take a 40-36 at the intermission. It was the most points allowed by the Huskers in the first half since Feb. 13, an overtime loss to Missouri.

Mississippi led 25-16 before Huskers used a 9-0 run to knot the score at 25-all with 7:34 to play on Steve Harley's first basket of the game. The Huskers held Ole Miss scoreles for nearly four minutes in the run, but it was the only time in the first period Nebraska saw its trademark defense lead the charge.

Ole Miss again got the upper hand, as David Huertas added a 3-pointer and Warren scored on a layup by driving all the way to the basket from the wing to ignite the Rebels with a 9-2 run.

The Huskers trailed 38-29 with less than a minute left until the break before a late flurry pulled NU back within four. Harley had two of the three NU baskets in the final minute, including a 3-pointer from the corner with less than three seconds remaining to give Nebraska a surge going into the locker room.

In the second half, Ole Miss continued to hold the upper hand until Nebraska fought back midway through the period. The Huskers earned their first lead of the second period on Strowbridge's free throws with 11:14 remaining. As the back-and-forth tussle continued, Nebraska took its last lead of the game at the 7:42 mark on a Harley 3-pointer.

The Rebels extended the lead to five points twice in the final four minutes, but Dagunduro brought the Huskers storming back. He hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to three with 2:05 to play. Nebraska's defense picked up in the final two minutes, forcing three missed shots and a turnover before Dagunduro's basket on a driving layup off an assist from Strowbridge tied the game at 70-70 with 40 seconds to play.

In the extra session, Ole Miss hit all four of its field-goal attempts and 7-of-9 from the line while Nebraska was 1-of-8 from the field and 2-of-6 at the charity stripe.