Here is the article from LG... How about Jason D. bringing down the rim! WOW!
Huskers freeze Vols' offense
BY CURT MCKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
The collapsible basket nearest Nebraska's bench in the Devaney Sports Center crumpled in slow motion from the force of a Jason Dourisseau dunk with 12:25 left in the Huskers' 77-62 men's basketball victory against Tennessee on Saturday afternoon.
And while John Turek ribbed his teammate for supposedly having a renewed work ethic in the weight room, a more likely cause to the cave in was the number of first-half bricks Tennessee launched at that basket.
The Volunteers -- who entered with a 3-0 record and 90-point scoring average -- misfired on 24 of their 27 shots in the opening 20 minutes to fall into a 30-17 hole from which they never recovered.
"I never would have bet you that Scooter (McFadgon) would be 3-of-22," Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson said of his junior guard, who was held to seven points, 15 below his average. "In the first half, I was pleased with our defense, but we couldn't get any buckets."
Coming off their first loss of the season at Creighton on Wednesday, the Huskers allowed the fewest field goals in a half since at least the 1993-94 season. They also prevented Tennessee from scoring on consecutive possessions during the first half and held the Vols to 27.8 percent shooting (20-of-72) for the game.
"The first half, especially, we just attacked them on defense," said forward John Turek, who scored 21 points and kept the Vols' Brandon Crump in check before fouling out with 5:50 to play. "We didn't get back on our heels. We tried to make sure we got in front of Crump all the time. And Corey Simms and some of our other guards did a really good job of taking (McFadgon) out of the game."
The 6-foot-10 Crump finished with 25 points, but 11 of those came after Turek fouled out. When Turek went to the bench for the final time, NU held a 14-point advantage.
"I warned our guys that they were a very physical team, but they just took it to us," Peterson said of the Huskers (6-1). "We can't rely on three-point shooting as much. On the road for the first time, it was a good lesson learned."
Tennessee took 13 threes in the opening half and hit just two. The Vols finished 6 of 28 from beyond the arc for the game.
Meanwhile, Nebraska topped 75 points for the third time in its seven games. Last season, the Huskers scored that many in just three of 30 contests.
Coincidentally, they got that kind of production against a similar defense that Creighton used while beating them 61-54. The difference Saturday was Turek got more aggressive after NU had broken pressure and faced a sagging defense.
"We faced exactly the same thing, so it was kind of an experience issue," NU coach Barry Collier said of Turek's response. "We told him, `We're going to live with what you do, just stay in there and shoot the ball.' We want to make sure that he knows confidence shouldn't be tied to whether he makes the first one or two shots, but just play the right way."
The 6-foot-9 junior did hit two of his first three shots and finished 7 of 13 from the field while going a perfect 7 for 7 at the free-throw line.
"Wednesday night, my biggest problem was that I hesitated to shoot. I wasn't used to the defense sagging off of me like that," Turek said. "Coach gave me the confidence to just go out there and shoot when I was open. He told me just to make sure I attacked instead of hesitating."
Nebraska trailed just twice in the early going and went in front for good on a driving basket by Simms that started a 6-0 run and gave the Huskers a 14-8 lead.
NU, which held Tennessee without a field goal for a 15-minute stretch in the first half, twice built its lead to 22 points, the second time on Dourisseau's dunk, before coasting in for the victory.
Senior guard Nate Johnson finished with 14 points and a career-high nine rebounds, while Simms added 12 points.
Sophomore Wes Wilkinson had a career-high four blocked shots to fuel NU to a season-high eight. And freshman point guard Charles Richardson, back in the starting lineup for the first time in four games, dished out a career-high nine assists.
"It was a big win for us because we wanted to show everybody we could bounce back and not just win the game, but win convincingly," Richardson said.
With the Vols' first-half clunks and Dourisseau's thunder dunk, the Huskers, who next play Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, could say they accomplished the mission.
"We're really pleased that we bounced back with as much toughness as we did," Collier said. "Today was a really great demonstration of team defense, and that triggered the whole game for us."
Huskers freeze Vols' offense
BY CURT MCKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
The collapsible basket nearest Nebraska's bench in the Devaney Sports Center crumpled in slow motion from the force of a Jason Dourisseau dunk with 12:25 left in the Huskers' 77-62 men's basketball victory against Tennessee on Saturday afternoon.
And while John Turek ribbed his teammate for supposedly having a renewed work ethic in the weight room, a more likely cause to the cave in was the number of first-half bricks Tennessee launched at that basket.
The Volunteers -- who entered with a 3-0 record and 90-point scoring average -- misfired on 24 of their 27 shots in the opening 20 minutes to fall into a 30-17 hole from which they never recovered.
"I never would have bet you that Scooter (McFadgon) would be 3-of-22," Tennessee coach Buzz Peterson said of his junior guard, who was held to seven points, 15 below his average. "In the first half, I was pleased with our defense, but we couldn't get any buckets."
Coming off their first loss of the season at Creighton on Wednesday, the Huskers allowed the fewest field goals in a half since at least the 1993-94 season. They also prevented Tennessee from scoring on consecutive possessions during the first half and held the Vols to 27.8 percent shooting (20-of-72) for the game.
"The first half, especially, we just attacked them on defense," said forward John Turek, who scored 21 points and kept the Vols' Brandon Crump in check before fouling out with 5:50 to play. "We didn't get back on our heels. We tried to make sure we got in front of Crump all the time. And Corey Simms and some of our other guards did a really good job of taking (McFadgon) out of the game."
The 6-foot-10 Crump finished with 25 points, but 11 of those came after Turek fouled out. When Turek went to the bench for the final time, NU held a 14-point advantage.
"I warned our guys that they were a very physical team, but they just took it to us," Peterson said of the Huskers (6-1). "We can't rely on three-point shooting as much. On the road for the first time, it was a good lesson learned."
Tennessee took 13 threes in the opening half and hit just two. The Vols finished 6 of 28 from beyond the arc for the game.
Meanwhile, Nebraska topped 75 points for the third time in its seven games. Last season, the Huskers scored that many in just three of 30 contests.
Coincidentally, they got that kind of production against a similar defense that Creighton used while beating them 61-54. The difference Saturday was Turek got more aggressive after NU had broken pressure and faced a sagging defense.
"We faced exactly the same thing, so it was kind of an experience issue," NU coach Barry Collier said of Turek's response. "We told him, `We're going to live with what you do, just stay in there and shoot the ball.' We want to make sure that he knows confidence shouldn't be tied to whether he makes the first one or two shots, but just play the right way."
The 6-foot-9 junior did hit two of his first three shots and finished 7 of 13 from the field while going a perfect 7 for 7 at the free-throw line.
"Wednesday night, my biggest problem was that I hesitated to shoot. I wasn't used to the defense sagging off of me like that," Turek said. "Coach gave me the confidence to just go out there and shoot when I was open. He told me just to make sure I attacked instead of hesitating."
Nebraska trailed just twice in the early going and went in front for good on a driving basket by Simms that started a 6-0 run and gave the Huskers a 14-8 lead.
NU, which held Tennessee without a field goal for a 15-minute stretch in the first half, twice built its lead to 22 points, the second time on Dourisseau's dunk, before coasting in for the victory.
Senior guard Nate Johnson finished with 14 points and a career-high nine rebounds, while Simms added 12 points.
Sophomore Wes Wilkinson had a career-high four blocked shots to fuel NU to a season-high eight. And freshman point guard Charles Richardson, back in the starting lineup for the first time in four games, dished out a career-high nine assists.
"It was a big win for us because we wanted to show everybody we could bounce back and not just win the game, but win convincingly," Richardson said.
With the Vols' first-half clunks and Dourisseau's thunder dunk, the Huskers, who next play Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, could say they accomplished the mission.
"We're really pleased that we bounced back with as much toughness as we did," Collier said. "Today was a really great demonstration of team defense, and that triggered the whole game for us."
