Huskers Fall at No. 15/18 Kansas

Lawrence, Kan. ---  Nebraska struggled to knock down shots in the first half and was outmuscled on the glass by the much taller Jayhawks as No. 15/18 Kansas raced to a 70-53 victory over the Huskers at Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday. With the loss, Nebraska fell to 16-9 on the season and 6-6 in league play, while KU improved to 22-5 overall and 11-1 in Big 12 contests.

KU’s Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich combined for 40 points and 14 rebounds for the Jayhawks, who won their nation-leading 39th straight home game by hitting 47.4 percent from the floor. Nebraska, which hit just 38.2 percent, was outrebounded by a 46-24 mark, with Kansas posting a 15-4 advantage on the offensive end as it continually sent four and five players to the boards on shots.

Ade Dagunduro led the Huskers with 13 points while Steve Harley started to come out of his recent offensive funk, hitting 5-of-11 shots for 11 points. Ryan Anderson also came off the bench to post 10 points while Sek Henry added seven points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Kansas came into the game the Big 12 Conference’s top team in field-goal percentage defense and showed why right from the beginning.

Nebraska struggled from the floor in the first half, hitting just 35.7 percent while falling behind by 11 points at the intermission, 34-23. The Huskers hit just two of their first 11 attempts from the floor and finished the period knocking down 10-of-28 shots, including only 2-of 10 from long range.

The Huskers lead 5-4 at the 16:36 mark behind baskets from Dagunduro and Sek Henry, but it was the last time Nebraska would lead in the game. The Jayhawks responded with their first big offensive run, opening a 15-5 lead at the 10:00 mark before Nebraska showed some life. Over the next 1:02, Harley hit his first shot of the game and Anderson added a pair of baskets, including a 3-pointer to help the Huskers scrape back within three points at 15-12.

Following baskets from Aldrich and Travis Releford, the Jayhawks surged further ahead behind Collins, who scored four straight buckets for Kansas, starting at the 6:19 mark. Collins, who had not scored before that point, changed the intensity of the game as he hit all four of his first-half baskets in under three minutes, fueling KU’s 12-4 run to open a 27-16 lead.

Paul Velander’s 3-pointer at the 2:46 mark got the Huskers going again, as NU had a 7-3 surge and pulled within seven points on two occasions late in the half. The Huskers looked to go into the locker room down by single digits, but Aldrich hit a long jumper and added a putback dunk with less than two seconds left in the opening period to put Kansas ahead by double figures.

In the second half, the Huskers started strong, using a pair of baskets from Harley as part of a quick 6-1 run to pull within eight. Harley finished the run as he made a nice entry pass to Chris Balham for an easy basket that pulled the Huskers back within six points with 17:32 to play and forced a KU timeout.

Nebraska again closed to six points, 38-32, on a Dagunduro free throw, but that was as close as the Huskers could get.

Kansas used a 12-3 run to put the game away. The run ended with a house-rocking 3-pointer by Collins as the shot clock expired, which was then followed a putback dunk by Markief Morris.

NU’s Cookie Miller finally scored for the Huskers to snap a long drought, putting in a layup after a Brandon Richardson steal. The basket was only the second by the Huskers in an 8:44 span as Nebraska fell behind by 15 points.

The Huskers again pulled within 13 on Anderson’s 3-pointer with 5:03 to play before Kansas pushed ahead by as many as 20 points in the final two minutes. The Jayhawks became just the fourth team to reach the 70-point plateau against the Huskers this season, although only No. 2 Oklahoma has topped 70 points in regulation against NU this year.

Nebraska returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 24, when the Huskers and Texas A&M Aggies face off at the Devaney Center. Tipoff will be 8:30 p.m. and the game will be seen nationally on ESPN2.