huskers defeat marquette

[KansasHusker]

The Husker basketball team defeated marquette 84-74 tonight, what a good win for our young team!

[nu4everfan15]

yep good team victory... keep it up guys

[Blackshirt]

Thats good stuff. And didnt Marquette just win the Alaska shootout? What other big name teams were in that tourney? Husker hoops is on the rise.

[NamelessHusker]

Yes they won the Great Alaska shootout against South Carolina. Other teams that participated include Oral Roberts, Southern Cal, Alaska Anchorage, and Southern Illinois.

 

Marquette was 4-1 coming into the game tonight after losing earlier to Winthrop 71-64 in the Blue and Gold Classic tournament. Marquette is only 1 of 4 team i think that has won the Annual Alaska Shootout (other teams include Tar Heels, N.C. State, and Kentucky Wildcats). They had 2 guys on the all tournament team (Dominiq James, Jerel McNeal)

[kc_husker]

What I like is ther winning without Joe McCray scoring alot of points. He only had 7 tonight.

[NUpolo8]

An interesting question though ( and one I;m sure has been posed ad infinaitum before this one) Collier has certainly been given time to build his team the way he wants it, and has had the advantage of a lassaiz faire public, if it is finally paying off is it a yardstick for football and Callahan? Of course this isn;t a fair comparison at all but if this team catches a few breaks and makes the tournament the argument will be there...

 

I have made the argument many times that BC is probably not the absolute answer at Nebraska, but maybe we could take a lesson from our basketball team, myself included.

[formerfan]

Seems like a very nice win for the Skers

[chad1971]

The Husker basketball team defeated marquette 84-74 tonight, what a good win for our young team!

YEA BABY!!!!! - duke HERE WE COME!!!!!!!

[StuckinChicago]

Actually I would venture to say that McCray looked like the worst player out there tonight. He was painfully slow in transition. He took way to many contested shots and didnt make the extra pass to the wide open man, and was a revolving door defensively. Wilkinson was unstoppable on the other hand, but i thought that Collier needed to sit Joe down towards the end of the game. He looked like he had eaten a bit to much McDonalds before the game.

[Eric the Red]

Husker men dominate Marquette

 

BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 - 12:03:20 am CST

 

Nebraska's Charles Richardson Jr. (right) attempts a pass around Marquette's Jerel McNeal (left) during the Huskers' 84-74 win Wednesday at the Devaney Sports Center. (Krista Niles)

 

Say this about the work-in-progress Nebraska men’s basketball team — the guys are fast learners. On Wednesday, two days after coach Barry Collier added a couple motion-type wrinkles to the offense, the Huskers had their most productive half of the season, built a 19-point halftime lead, then executed down the stretch to nail down an 84-74 victory against Marquette.

 

“Oh, man, we’ve been learning a lot lately,” said junior forward B.J. Walker, who finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds, easily his best performance in five games as a Husker. “We’ve been picking it up, but ... I just think we went out there and played hard, executed the plays and executed what we wanted to do defensively.”

 

While improving its record to 5-0, Nebraska outrebounded the Golden Eagles 49-41. That total included a 15-3 edge in offensive boards during a first half that helped create 15 second-chance points. Marquette managed just two.

 

Sophomore center Aleks Maric, who notched his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds, said Collier’s X’s and O’s involved giving players the leeway to do some freelancing rather than drawing up set plays.

 

That style definitely was to the liking of freshman point guard Marcus Walker, who had four of his game-high six assists in the opening half.

 

“It was constant movement, where we could keep the defense guessing,” Marcus Walker said.

 

Marquette — picked to finish 12th in the 16-team Big East Conference, but having just won the Great Alaska Shootout — was hanging tough, trailing 16-14 with 13:17 left in the first half.

 

Less than four minutes later, NU senior forward Wes Wilkinson sank a three-pointer to cap a 15-2 spurt that left the Huskers firmly in control and on the way to a 48-29 halftime edge.

 

With four new starters, the Golden Eagles (4-2) still refused to fold and battled back from a 22-point deficit to pull to 62-56 when Jerel McNeal sank a pair of free throws after stealing the ball from and drawing a foul on Marcus Walker with 6:08 to play.

 

Nebraska answered right back, though, as Maric, leading a transition break, took a feed from Jason Dourisseau and scored while also drawing a foul on Steve Novak. He sank the free throw to complete the three-point play, and after Ryan Amoroso and Wesley Matthews missed shots on Marquette’s next possession, NU’s Charles Richardson was fouled and converted a one-and-one to boost the lead to 67-56.

 

Following a miss and a turnover by McNeal, the Huskers’ Marcus Perry was fouled and went to the line for a one-and-one. He missed, but Maric pulled the ball off the left side of the basket and scored while drawing a foul on Ousmane Barro to put the Huskers up 69-56 with 4:57 left.

 

Thereafter, Marquette could get no closer than eight points.

 

“I think what happened is we weren’t very physical early, and they were,” said coach Tom Crean, who has guided five of his first six teams to the postseason and took the 2003 Golden Eagles to the NCAA Final Four. “They were extremely good in getting out and making the extra pass (and) we were late at getting on the shooters.

 

“They are so much more athletic than they were a year ago. They are definitely more physical.”

 

A year ago, Marquette abused Nebraska on the inside, working a 22-6 edge in offensive rebounds en route to posting an 81-62 victory.

 

It was all part of Nebraska’s plan to have a major turnaround.

 

“To tell you the truth, it was a lot of fun,” said Maric, who had to have his left thumb taped after jamming it on a rebound attempt late in the game. “We came in here with a sense of urgency ... went out on the floor and put it (on the line), physically, and it showed.”

 

Considering NU’s next opponent is NCAA Tournament-tested Alabama-Birmingham (at 3 p.m. Saturday), the timing couldn’t have been much better.

 

“One thing I learned is that we can be a real good team,” B.J. Walker said. “We played real tough tonight, with a lot of heart.“

[Eric the Red]

Nebraska's big dogs fetch big rebounding edge

 

BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star

Thursday, Dec 01, 2005 - 12:03:20 am CST

 

Aleks Maric is a real dog, you know that? And if you think that’s a bad thing, you are most mistaken. Playing like a dog is apparently high flattery in Maric’s native Australia. “I’m like a dog,” said the 6-foot-11 Husker center. “Once that bone goes up, I want to get that bone.” The sophomore was speaking about rebounding. And as rebounding goes, the Huskers claimed lots of bones in Wednesday night’s 84-74 triumph over Marquette.

 

A year ago, the Huskers had gone up to Wisconsin for an early-season clash. The Golden Eagles pushed the Huskers around and outboarded them 22-6 on the offensive glass and 44-23 overall.

 

This year, payback was waiting for Marquette in Lincoln. The Huskers posted a season-high in offensive (18) and total rebounds (49), bettering Marquette by eight.

 

Nebraska was particularly dominant in the first half, when it held a 27-13 advantage on the boards en route to a 19-point halftime lead.

 

All the big guys were doing work. NU’s front line of Maric, B.J. Walker and Wes Wilkinson combined for 26 boards in the game.

 

“We’re just trying to be brothers and work together,” said Maric, who claimed his third double-double of the season. “It was a promise to the big guys this week that we’re not going to let them outrebound us. We went out there and showed our dominance.”

 

For a team that prides itself on winning the war on the glass, Nebraska had hardly been dominant in earlier games this season.

 

The Huskers were beaten in the rebounding category in the previous three contests against lesser competition — an Ivy League school, a technical school and a directional school.

 

“We feel basically that we shouldn’t get outrebounded any time …” Walker said. “I definitely don’t like getting outrebounded by Longwood and teams like that.”

 

While NU didn’t get outrebounded in the season opener against lowly Longwood, Walker’s point is well-taken.

 

For Nebraska to be the team it wants to be, it has to be as animalistic on the glass as it was Wednesday. Maric said the practices were physical leading up to the game and coaches spoke often of Marquette’s rebounding ferocity.

 

“We got on the floor this week and put our bodies on the line,” he said.

 

Such work helped the big guys combine for 45 points, and Walker played his most promising game as a Husker by far.

 

“It’s great having another big man,” Maric said of the 6-9 Walker. “It gives us a 5 and a 4 (man). Full credit to B.J. for playing real well today. When he’s playing like that, he frees everything up.”

 

Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7431 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.

[KansasHusker]

What I like is ther winning without Joe McCray scoring alot of points. He only had 7 tonight.

Joe is seriously worrying me...he looks to be heavy and out of shape from my looks. He is not shooting very well at all...

[huskerstag]

Joe is seriously worrying me...he looks to be heavy and out of shape from my looks. He is not shooting very well at all...

 

I was at the game last night and I agree, he started off well, hit his first 3 pointer i think, but after that it seemed he lost his focus and didn't have his head in the game, maybe acting a little pouty and started getting beat down the floor and playing a little poorly on defense. I don't remember him playing much if at all in the last 10 minutes. That said, BJ Walker was a beast last night. I haven't heard much about him so I'm not sure if he's going to be a solid contributor or just had an above average night, but he, Maric and even Wilkinson and Dorisseau controlled the boards last night, it was actually pretty impressive to watch.

[KansasHusker]

Joe, I think has gained some serious weight since last season which is dumb and he needs to lose about 10-15...it's sad he has come to be this bad after such a fantastic season as a freshman last year. Maric and Walker may be a power post duo that we need, which is great!