Huskers Return to Postseason in 2010-11

For the Nebraska men's basketball program, the 2010-11 season marked a return to postseason play after a one-year absence. The Huskers relied on a stifling defense to finish the year with a 19-13 record and appearance in the NIT, falling to eventual champ Wichita State in the first round.

Although the Huskers fell shy of its goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament, Nebraska enjoyed a strong season in making its third postseason appearance in the last four years.

The Huskers won 19 regular-season games - matching the program's highest regular-season win total in 15 years. The Huskers finished tied for seventh in the Big 12 - the third-toughest conference in the country in terms of RPI - and ended up one game out of fifth in the final standings.

Nebraska led the Big 12 in scoring defense for the third time in four years, averaging 60.5 points per game to rank 16th nationally. The Huskers also ranked seventh nationally in field goal defense, holding opponents to 38.9 percent shooting. It was the lowest opponent field goal percent in 50 years.

After a 2-2 start, the Huskers rolled off 11 straight wins - the longest win streak in 17 seasons, including victories over three postseason teams in the run. The streak was highlighted by a pair of double-digit comebacks, including a school-record 20-point comeback against  NCAA Tournament qualifier USC on Nov. 27. It was only the 10th double-figure win streak in the program's 115-year history. Nebraska finished the non-conference portion of its season with a 12-2 record before starting its final season of Big 12 play with a one-point win over Iowa State.

The Iowa State game would be  indicative for Big 12 play, as Nebraska had eight of its 16 Big 12 games decided by five points or less.  Five of the Huskers nine losses were by five points or less, including a three-point loss at No. 3 Kansas and one-point setbacks at Texas Tech and at Iowa State.
Nebraska defended its home court, matching a school record with 17 home wins and picked up three wins over ranked teams, including a 70-67 win over No. 3 Texas on Feb. 19 and a 57-48 win over No. 13 Texas A&M on Jan. 29. The win over the Longhorns, which snapped Texas' 11-game Big 12 winning streak, was the first time since 1994 that Nebraska had defeated a team ranked in the top three nationally.

The Huskers were 18-8 following the win over Texas, but lost four of its final five regular-season games, including a four-point loss to Kansas State, a one-point overtime loss at Iowa State and a one-point setback against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship.

Point guard Lance Jeter was honored, as he was named third-team All-Big 12 by the league's coaches.  The senior from Beaver Falls, Pa., led Nebraska in scoring (11.7), assists (4.5) and steals (1.8) per game, while ranking among the Big 12 leaders  Jeter, who received the Jack Moore Award as team MVP, became the first Husker to lead the team in points and assists in the same year since Cookie Belcher in 2001.