Huskers Take on TCU Saturday Night

Nebraska Cornhuskers
Game: 9
2011-12 Record: 5-3
Head coach: Doc Sadler
                Record at Nebraska: 94-74 (6th year)
                Record at Division I: 142-92 (8th year)
                Career Record: 262-131 (14th year)

TCU Horned Frogs
Game: 10
2011-12 Record: 7-2
Head Coach: Jim Christian
Career Record: 183-118 (10th year)
Record at TCU: 45-58 (4th year)

Huskers on TV/Radio/Internet
Television: MTN (Mountain West Sports Network)
(Ch. 616 on DirecTV, Not available on Dish Network or Time Warner Cable)
                Play-by-play: Dan Gutowsky
                Color: Blaine Fowler              

Radio: IMG Husker Sports Radio Network
(including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln; KFAB 1110  AM in Omaha; KRVN 880 AM in Lexington)
                Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka
                Color: Matt Davison
Internet Radio/Stats: Free on Huskers.com
Satellite Radio: Ch. 117 on Sirius

Huskers Take on TCU Saturday Night
The Nebraska basketball team looks for its second road win of the season, as the Huskers travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on TCU this Saturday, Dec. 10.  

Tipoff at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on The MTN, the Mountain West Conference's Sports Network. The channel is located on DirecTV at Channel 616 with Dan Gutowsky and Blaine Fowler on the call.

Saturday's game will also be carried across Nebraska on the 30-station IMG Husker Sports Radio Network with Kent Pavelka and Matt Davison on the call. The game can also be heard on Huskers.com and season audio packages are also available for purchase on the Huskers' App for your iPhone or iPod Touch. Saturday's game is also available on Sirius Ch. 117 on satellite radio.

The Huskers look to build some momentum following Wednesday's one-point win over Florida Gulf Coast.  The Huskers, who are 5-3 on the season, needed clutch shooting from guard Dylan Talley, who came off the bench to score 14 points, including the game-winner with 10.4 seconds left. NU also received a strong inside effort from junior forward Brandon Ubel, who finished with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double to help snap a two-game losing streak. It was a bounce back night for both players, as neither scored in Sunday's loss at Creighton.

The Huskers will need to turn in a solid performance in picking up their second road win of the season on Saturday.  Nebraska has showed the ability to play well away from home, picking up a double-overtime win at USC before battling then No. 22 Creighton to a one-point game with 9:30 remaining before losing.

TCU has been an early-season surprise, as the Horned Frogs are 7-2 on the season, including wins over Virginia, Houston and Texas Tech. The Horned Frogs are riding a four-game win streak following a 75-69 win over Texas Tech Tuesday night, as J.R. Cadot and Garlon Green had 18 points apiece in the victory.

The Horned Frogs feature one of the best point guards in the Mountain West in Hank Thorns, who averages 13.0 points and 4.7 assists per game and guides an attack that has four players averaging in double figures.

Last Time Out
Dylan Talley's jumper with 10.4 seconds remaining lifted Nebraska to a 51-50 win over Florida Gulf Coast Wednesday night at the Devaney Center.

Trailing 50-49 with 30 seconds left, the Huskers called timeout to set up the final play, as Bo Spencer dribbled into the lane and found Talley on the wing. The junior, who finished with a team-high 14 points including four 3-pointers, then calmly sank a medium range jumper to give the Huskers the lead.  Florida Gulf Coast had one final chance, but Christophe Varidel was unable to get a 3-pointer in the air before the horn sounded.

Brandon Ubel joined Talley in double figures for the Huskers, as he finished with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double- double, as the Huskers shot 40 percent from the floor, but enjoyed a 32-25 edge on the glass.

Sherwood Brown finished with 14 points for FGCU, while Filip Cvjeticanin came off the bench for 12 points on four 3-pointers, as the Eagles (3-6) suffered their third one-point defeat of the season.

Ubel got the Huskers off to an early start, scoring all five of his first-half points early in helping the Huskers take an early 7-2 lead. Nebraska eventually used another 7-0 run to break a 10-all deadlock, taking its largest lead of the half at 17-10 after a Toney McCray 3-pointer.  The Eagles came right back behind the sharp shooting of Cvjeticanin, who came off the bench for a trio of 3-pointers as part of a 17-3 spurt to give the visitors a seven-point lead at 27-20.  Cvjeticanin hit three consecutive 3-pointers at one point, turning a 17-14 deficit into a 23-20 advantage.  The Husker defense then toughened, holding the Eagles without a field goal for the final 5:38 of the half to cut the margin to 27-26 at the break. Bo Spencer keyed the surge, as his block of Brown's layup led to a Jorge Brian Diaz dunk before Talley closed the half with a 3-pointer to make it a one-point deficit.

Trailing 29-28, Ubel came up big in the opening minutes of the second half, as his three-point play started a 7-1 Husker surge, as Nebraska took a 35-30 lead after two Ubel free throws.  The Huskers eventually stretched it to 40-34, but the Eagles came right back, as a 3-pointer by Cvjeticanin and a Brown jumper made it a one-point game with 9:05 left. The game would be a one-possession game the rest of the way as neither team led by more than two points in the final 7:46 of the contest.

Scouting TCU
The Horned Frogs are enjoying a solid bounce back season, as TCU comes into Saturday's game with a 7-2 record and a four-game win streak. TCU, which opened the season with a one-point win over Florida Gulf Coast, has an impressive neutral site win over Virginia in the Paradise Jam as well as victories at Houston (81-80) and against Texas Tech (75-69). The Horned Frogs are currently 19th nationally in RealTime RPI entering Thursday. Four of TCU's eight wins are by two points or less, as the Horned Frogs average 73.1 points per game and give up 67.4 points per outing.

TCU returned three starters from a year ago, as senior point guard Hank Thorns averaged 10.7 points per game and was fourth in the country with 7.0 assists per game in 2010-11. This year he has become more of a scoring threat, averaging 13.0 points per game. Senior J.R. Cadot is averaging 12.4 points per game on 61 percent shooting as well as a team-high 8.1 rebounds per game.  Garlon Green and Amric Fields also give the Horned Frogs additional firepower, averaging 10.9 and 10.3 points per game, respectively.

Nebraska-TCU Series
Nebraska leads the all-time series with TCU, 6-2, and has won six of the last seven meetings dating back to 1970. This is the fourth straight year the teams have met, with NU winning in 2008 in Fort Worth (62-50) and the last two years in Lincoln (90-77 in 2009-10; 70-56 in 2010-11). The teams have met seven times in the regular season with Nebraska winning six of those matchups. The Huskers are 34-19 against the current members of the Mountain West Conference. The Horned Frogs were scheduled to join the Big East for the 2012-13 season, but are joining the Big 12 beginning next July 1.

Last Season's Meeting
Toney McCray had a season-high 15 points off the bench, including four 3-pointers, as Nebraska downed TCU, 70-56. McCray posted his first career double-double with 15 points, on 4-of-6 shooting, and a career-high 10 rebounds. The junior forward came off the bench to hit all four of his 3-point attempts, as the Huskers took control with a 13-0 second-half run, turning a one-point lead into a 59-45 lead with 6:38 remaining. McCray and Lance Jeter tied for team-high honors with 15 points, while sophomore Jorge Brian Diaz had 13 points and a career-high 12 boards, as Nebraska enjoyed a 38-26 advantage on the glass.

Spencer Makes Most of Senior Year
While Nebraska returns four starters from a team that won 19 games last season, the loss of point guard Lance Jeter was a significant one. An All-Big 12 performer, Jeter led the Huskers in both scoring and assists in 2010-11.

Luckily for the Huskers, they already had a veteran point guard on the roster, as senior Bo Spencer sat out last season after transferring from LSU. He has been solid early on, averaging a team-high 16.0 points along with 4.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

Spencer has reached double figures in six of his last seven games, including a trio of 20-point performances. He had his best offensive game of the year at Creighton on Dec. 4, pouring in 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting and adding five rebounds. It was the second-highest scoring day in the Big Ten this season, trailing only John Shurna's 37-point effort against LSU in the Charleston Classic.

At USC on Nov. 14, he had 22 points, including the tying basket in overtime and the go-ahead bucket in double overtime, and also tied a personal best with seven rebounds. Against Rhode Island on Nov. 20, he had a season-high 23 points while shooting 8-of-13 from the floor, four assists and three steals. Against South Dakota State on Nov. 26, Spencer had a career-high eight assists along with 18 points and six rebounds. Spencer was held to a season low six points in Wednesday's win over Florida Gulf Coast, but had five assists in the one-point win.

Before coming to Nebraska, he started two seasons for the Tigers, averaging 14.5 points, 2.7 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game in 2009-10. Spencer showed the ability to get to the basket, putting up 11 games of at least 28 points, including a 28-point effort against Western Kentucky and back-to-back 25-point contests against Kentucky and Tennessee. 

In his LSU career, he reached double figures in 45 of 93 career contests, including 21 games as a junior. Spencer was the starting point guard on LSU's Southeastern Conference championship squad in 2008-09, as the Tigers reached the second round before falling to eventual champion North Carolina.

Diaz Becoming Consistent Inside Force
Junior center Jorge Brian Diaz has been a steady presence for the Huskers throughout his three-year career. The 6-foot-11 center is one of three NU players in double figures, averaging 11.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. Offensively, he has been in double figures in five of NU's eight games and is second on the squad with 13 offensive rebounds. In his career, Diaz has 36 games in double figures and now ranks 57th on Nebraska's career scoring list with 716 points.

Defensively, he is second in the Big Ten in blocked shots and his 20 blocked shots are more than two Big Ten team's entire totals entering Friday's action. Diaz now has 99 career blocked shots and will become the ninth Husker to record 100 blocks with his next blocked shot.

He matched his career high with five blocks in Wednesday's win over Florida Gulf Coast, joining Illinois' Meyers Leonard as the only Big Ten players with two games with at least five blocked shots.

Diaz enjoyed one of the best offensive games of his career against Oregon on Nov. 23, finishing with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, six rebounds and three blocks. He had eight of his points in a 22-7 run to help the Huskers erase a 15-point deficit before succumbing in the final minute. It was his third career 20-point effort and first since his freshman year.

Diaz has been steady on offense, scoring at least eight points in all eight games, including five double-figure efforts. He nearly recorded a double-double against No. 22 Creighton on Dec. 4 with 10 points and seven rebounds while also blocking a pair of shots.

He turned in a strong effort at USC on Nov. 14 when he nearly recorded a double-double with 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots in a career-high 43 minutes.  He also played a major role in holding USC's Dewayne Dedmon to four points on 1-of-6 shooting.   Against South Dakota in the season opener, he finished with 11 points and a career-high five blocked shots, which equaled the highest single-game blocked shot total in the last six years.

Throughout his career, Diaz has been a scoring threat, as the 6-foot-11 junior is only the third Husker returnee to average in double figures under Sadler, joining Aleks Maric and Ryan Anderson in 2007-08.  He is now 284 points away from the 1,000 point mark and could become just the 15th Husker to reach the 1,000-point plateau in three seasons.

Talley Provides Instant Offense
When Doc Sadler talked about the addition of Dylan Talley, the thing he constantly mentioned was his ability to score. Talley has lived up to the billing in Nebraska's first eight games, coming off the bench to average 10.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in just 23.8 minutes of action. Talley, who had been limited by a thigh bruise suffered against South Dakota State, came up big for the Huskers against Florida Gulf Coast, scoring 14 points, including the game-winning basket with 10.4 seconds remaining.

He ranks third among all Big Ten reserves in scoring at 10.0 points per game while shooting 82.4 percent from the free throw line and 41.2 percent from 3-point range. 

The 6-foot-5 guard reached double figures in three straight games earlier this season, including a season-high 18 points, including four 3-pointers, four rebounds, four assists and three steals against Oregon on Nov. 23. Talley had 12 points and three rebounds against South Dakota State on Nov. 24, and totaled 15 points, including a pair of 3-pointers and five rebounds in 18 minutes of action against Rhode Island on Nov. 20.

Talley's adjustment may have been helped by the Division I experience he had when playing at Binghamton (N.Y.) University in 2009-10. That season, he was the America East Rookie of the Year and averaged 11.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Last year, he was an honorable-mention All-American at Blinn College, ranking sixth in the NJCAA in scoring at 23.0 points per game while also chipping in 5.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.

Walker Showing Extended Range
The work that senior Caleb Walker put in to improve his shooting has paid off early in the 2011-12 season. After shooting 35.7 percent from long range in his first season at Nebraska, the 6-foot-4 wing has hit 10 of 22 from long range in the Huskers' first eight games, as he ranks sixth in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting (45.5 percent). Walker has made the most of his shots, as the senior is fifth on the team in scoring, averaging 7.0 points per game.

He had the best offensive game of his career against Rhode Island on Nov. 20, scoring a career-high 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor. Walker was also 3-of-4 from 3-point range, the second game this year where he has hit at least a trio of 3-pointers. Against South Dakota in the season opener, he paced Nebraska with a then-career best 16 points on 5-of-5 shooting and seven rebounds in 24 minutes. Walker went 3-for-3 from 3-point range, as he set career highs in points and three-pointers in the season opener.

Walker, who played both football and basketball as a freshman in junior college, is one of Nebraska's most athletic players and led Nebraska in rebounding last year. So far this season, he is averaging 3.9 rebounds per game to rank fourth on the team.

Toney, Toney, Toney
After a slow start, Toney McCray is beginning to heat up. The 6-foot-6 senior missed a significant part of the summer after surgery on his feet before a toe injury the week of the exhibition game  put him out of action for nearly a week, forcing him to play catch up.

In his last four games, McCray has shown the skills that made him such a valuable performer for the Huskers. After averaging 3.8 points on 38 percent shooting in Nebraska's first four games, McCray has averaged 12.0 points per game on 57 percent shooting in NU's last four games. McCray is also hitting 42 percent from 3-point range during the stretch. McCray set a season high 15 points and five rebounds in Sunday's loss to No. 22 Creighton, his third straight game where he bested a season high. He had 12 points in Nebraska's games against South Dakota and Wake Forest and had nine points in Wednesday's win over Florida Gulf Coast.

McCray is now shooting 37.5 percent from 3-point range, but may have made his biggest contributions from the foul line in the win at USC on Nov. 14. A career 61 percent shooter from the line entering his senior year, McCray hit four clutch free throws at USC - two in the final minute of regulation and a pair with 2.8 seconds remaining in overtime - for his only points of the night - in NU's 65-61 double overtime win.

Ubel Doing the Dirty Work Inside
After a slow start offensively, junior Brandon Ubel has raised his level of play in the last three weeks. The 6-foot-10 forward has averaged 8.2 points per game on 52 percent shooting in his last five games after totaling just seven points in his first three contests. He began the stretch with a career-high 15 point performance against Oregon on Nov. 23 and added 12 points and eight rebounds in the win over South Dakota State on Nov. 26. He comes off one of the best performances of his career against Florida Gulf Coast when he had a career-high 11 rebounds and 10 points for his first career double double.

While his offense has picked up, Ubel has been a consistent rebounder, averaging a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game to rank sixth in the conference, well up from his 3.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore.  Against Wake Forest, he set a career high with five assists and tied season bests in both blocked shots (two) and steals (two).

Ubel's recent efforts were reminiscent of last year when he closed the year playing his best basketball, averaging 10.0 points on 58 percent shooting and 6.3 rebounds over the Huskers final four games - all against postseason teams. Those numbers were well above his 2010-11 season averages of 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest.

Richardson is Huskers' Glue Guy
While senior Brandon Richardson doesn't lead the Huskers in any offensive category, his versatility is his greatest asset. The fifth-year senior averages 5.8 points and 2.6 assists per game while shooting a career-best 41.2 percent from 3-point range.  The shooting improvement is significant for Richardson, who hit just 25 percent from long range in 2010-11. Richardson also averages 1.9 steals per game to rank seventh in the Big Ten in that category.

The 6-foot senior came up big in his return home to Los Angeles on Nov. 14, totaling 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range in the Huskers' overtime win. He matched his career best with four 3-pointers and dished out a pair of assists, including the game-tying basket in double overtime.  Against Rhode Island on Nov. 20, he keyed a Husker defense which held Jamal Wilson to 14 points after averaging 31 points in the Rams first two games and set career highs in both assists (eight) and steals (four) in 25 minutes. Richardson had six assists in the first half, in helping Nebraska build a 20-point lead.

Throughout his career, Richardson has been clutch from the free throw line, as he ranks third in school history with an 82.8 career percentage from the charity stripe and is one of only four players in program history to shoot over 80 percent for a career.  Last year, he was second in Big 12 action in league play, hitting 87.8 of his free throws, including a stretch of 25 consecutive from the line.  Throughout his career, he has been his best in late-game situations, going 69-of-74 from the foul line in the final five minutes of games, a remarkable 93.2 percentage.

Cutting Down the Turnovers
One area where Nebraska had great strides in recent weeks is in holding on to the basketball. After averaging 18.5 turnovers in its first two games, the Huskers have been much better with the basketball, averaging 13.0 turnovers per game over the last six contests, although Nebraska had 18 turnovers in Wednesday's win over Florida Gulf Coast. Prior to that game, the Huskers had committed a season low in turnovers in two of its last three games, including just eight against Wake Forest on Nov. 30. NU also has a positive assist-to-turnover ratio in that span.

Taking Advantage at the Stripe
One area where the Huskers have been proficient is at the free throw line, where Nebraska's 75.6 percent rate is second in the Big Ten and was 10th nationally in the latest NCAA stats released Monday. It is on track to be one of the best seasons in school history, as only three Husker teams have shot over 75 percent since 1948. The 1967-68 team was third nationally when they hit 76.5 percent from the line. Nebraska has shot 75 percent or better from the line in five of the last six contests, hitting an impressive 78.7 percent from the line in that stretch.

Working Overtime on the Road
Nebraska's win at USC on Nov. 14 was a long time coming, as it was the program's first overtime road win since an 87-82 win at Colorado on Feb. 17, 2001. Prior to the USC win, the Huskers had won one overtime road game in that span. The win at USC, which featured comebacks in the final minutes of both regulation and overtime, was the second time since 1995 that Nebraska won its road opener.

The Huskers will have a chance for their second non-conference road win at TCU on Saturday. If Nebraska can accomplish that, it would mark the first time since the 1998-99 season.