Huskers Aim for Second Straight Win in Big 12 Championship

After picking up a win in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Wednesday, the 12th-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers return to the Sprint Center floor to take on No. 4 seed Texas A&M on Thursday, March 11. The Huskers and Aggies will face off at approximately 2 p.m. following the Texas Tech-Kansas matchup to open the session at 11:30 a.m.

The game will be seen in select markets on the Big 12 Network as well as nationally on ESPN FullCourt. The telecast will feature Mitch Holthus (play by play) and Reid Gettys (analyst) and is expected to be seen on KLKN in Lincoln; KXVO in Omaha and Lincoln; and KIIT in North Platte.

The game will also be heard live around the state of Nebraska on the IMG Husker Sports Radio Network (Kent Pavelka, play by play; Matt Davison, color) and for free on the Internet at Huskers.com.

Nebraska hopes to make history as it aims to become the first 12 seed to win multiple games at the championship since the formation of the Big 12 Conference. The Huskers, who defeated No. 5 seed Missouri 75-60 in the first round, were just the second 12 seed to advance to the Big 12 quarterfinals, following on Colorado's heels after the Buffs were the first to do it in 2008.

Nebraska has won multiple games at the postseason tournament just once in the Big 12 era, with a pair of wins against Missouri and Oklahoma in 2006. Overall, the Huskers are now 6-13 in the Big 12 Championship and 16-33 in postseason tourney play since the first Big Eight Tournament in 1977. Only three times in that span (1991, 2-1; 1994, 3-0 champions; 2006, 2-1) has Nebraska won more than one game.

For the Huskers to see their season continue, they will need to have the same offensive efficiency they produced Wednesday when NU hit 55.8 percent from the floor, its second-highest percentage of the season. Nebraska also reverted to its old defensive ways, holding Missouri to just 33.9 percent shooting while taking a 38-22 advantage on the glass.

Sophomore guard Brandon Richardson exploded for a career-best 19 points, including 14 in the second half. He is averaging 14.5 ppg over the past four contests while hitting 17-of-29 from the floor and 20-of-23 at the free throw line to pace the Huskers.