Huskers Fall Just Short in Comeback Bid at Texas

Austin, Texas ---- Nebraska erased a 17-point, second-half deficit and had the game tied with less than 60 seconds to play, but Texas’ A.J. Abrams hit a huge 3-pointer and added four free throws in the final 23 seconds as the No. 9 Longhorns held on for a 70-66 victory over the visiting Huskers on Tuesday.

The FrankErwinCenter crowd saw a double-figure UT lead at the intermission quickly disappear as the Huskers came out in the second half as the aggressors and pushed the Longhorns to the brink of just their second home loss of the season. But behind Abrams’ clutch shots and D.J. Augustin’s strong play, Texas remained in a tie for the league lead with Kansas by improving to 12-3 in the conference and 25-5 overall. Nebraska dropped its second straight game and fell to 17-11 on the year and 6-9 in Big 12 action with one game to play.

Texas shot 53.8 percent from the floor in the opening frame and set the tone, with Augustin and Damion James each pouring in 14 points before the break. Nebraska trailed 38-25 at halftime and fell behind by 16 just seconds into the second period on Connor Atchley’s 3-pointer. After a Nebraska free throw, James scored his only basket of the second period as UT took a 17-point lead, 43-26, and looked to have the game easily in control.

But Nebraska would not go away, hounding the Longhorns on the defensive end while shots started to fall on offense. Nebraska hit 50.0 percent from the floor in the second half with the primary point of attack coming from beyond the arc where NU hit 6-of-10 3-point attempts in the second frame to climb back into the game.

After trailing by 17 points, Ade Dagunduro and Steve Harley made layups on consecutive possessions sandwiched around a UT turnover before the long ball started to really fall. Ryan Anderson’s 3-pointer at the 17:58 mark started the barrage, with Paul Velander and Harley each adding treys over the next three minutes to pull Nebraska within six.

The Huskers continued the aggressive defensive pressure, forcing UT into seven second-half turnovers after the Longhorns had just three miscues in the first 20 minutes.

After Abrams hit a jumper to push the Texas lead back to eight, Aleks Maric added a dunk and Velander dropped in his third 3-pointer of the game to get NU back within three. Augustin countered with a trey of his own but Maric added a layup, and Chris Balham hit a pair of free throws before Sek Henry’s layup with 9:39 to play pulled Nebraska even at 50-50.

The teams traded baskets before UT drilled a pair of 3-pointers and eventually pushed the lead back to seven, 61-54, with 4:45 to play, but Nebraska was not done.

The Huskers made three straight defensive stops and went to score on the other end with Anderson drilling a 3-pointer and Maric adding a pair of baskets to knot the score at 61-61 with 1:39 to play.

Nebraska forced UT into two missed shots, but the Longhorns came up with offensive rebounds each time before Abrams drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing to put Texas ahead 64-61 with 41 seconds remaining.

Velander missed on his 3-point attempt to tie and the Huskers were forced to foul. After Abrams buried the first two free throws, Henry again made things interesting with a long 3-pointer from the top of the key, pulling NU back within two with 18 seconds to play. But Texas knocked down its last four attempts at the charity stripe to seal the victory.

Texas finished the game hitting 48.0 percent from the floor and 72.2 percent from the free throw line, taking 18 charity attempts while Nebraska tried just nine free throws. The Huskers connected on 44.8 percent from the field in the contest and finished with just 10 turnovers despite playing the third straight game without point guard Cookie Miller.

Maric led the way for the Huskers with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, his 10th double-double in the last 11 games. It was also Maric’s 25th career double-double against a Big 12 team, giving him sole possession of the Big 12 career record for double-doubles in conference-only games.

Anderson added 14 points, including hitting 4-of-6 from 3-point range, while Velander and Harley each added nine points. Augustin led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting for Texas while James finished with 16 and Abrams had 15.

Nebraska started the game on a strong note as it opened the game with a 12-5 surge behind a pair of baskets from Maric and a 3-pointer from Velander. The Longhorns quickly stormed back behind James and Augustin, who had seven straight points during a 11-2 run that gave UT the lead for the first time in the game at the 9:07 mark of the opening period.

Following A.J. Abrams' first basket that made it 16-14, the Huskers called a quick timeout before Anderson responded, hitting two 3-pointers in the next two minutes for a 20-18 Husker lead.

Augustin then hit a 3-pointer for Texas and Abrams connected on two free throws after being fouled on a 3-pointer to start a game-changing run. The Longhorns produced 15 straight points in a run over the next sixminutes until Jay-R Strowbridge snapped the scoreless streak with a driving layup into the lane.

The Longhorns finished the half on a 20-5 run as Nebraska went into halftime down 38-25. Despite starting the game 1-of-6 from the field and scoring just one basket in the first six minutes of the game, Texas finished the half hitting 53.8 percent (14-of-26) with James and Augustin each scoring in double figures.

Nebraska returns home for its final regular-season game of the 2007-08 campaign when it plays host to Colorado at 2:05 p.m. on Sunday, March 9, in a game seen on FSN Midwest in the state of Nebraska and on ESPN360.com.

The Huskers will be honoring center Aleks Maric as part of the Senior Day festivities before the game. Fans should plan to come to the DevaneyCenter early to send off one of the top players in Big 12 history. Pregame ceremonies will start at approximately 1:30 p.m.