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Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Nov. 15, 2010
 
Standhardinger plays big off the bench in win.
 
Lincoln. — Sophomore Christian Standhardinger produced his first career double-double, leading the Nebraska men's basketball team to an 83-40 victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Standhardinger finished with 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds to lead four Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska improved to 2-0 on the season. Standhardinger scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds in only 12 second-half minutes, as the Huskers shot 70 percent and committed just two turnovers in the final 20 minutes to break open a 13-point halftime lead.

Junior college transfer Caleb Walker totaled 13 points and seven rebounds, while Lance Jeter and Toney McCray scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. That quartet combined to hit 19-of-27 from the field, as Nebraska shot 63 percent for the game, its best effort since shooting 68 percent against Creighton on Nov. 18, 2006.

The Golden Lions did not find as much success, hitting only 10 field goals in the game. UAPB was held to 3-of-16 shooting in the first half before finishing 10-of-40 (25.0 percent). Nebraska also owned a 36-23 advantage on the glass and made three more free throws than the Golden Lions in one fewer attempt.

In the first half, Jeter knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the opening two minutes to get Nebraska off to a fast start. His second trey ignited a 9-0 run that gave Nebraska an early 12-2 lead. McCray also got in on the scoring column, contributing seven straight points as Nebraska built a 14-3 lead seven minutes into the game.

The Huskers then went cold from the floor, hitting only two baskets and scoring just four points in nearly nine minutes. The lack of scoring didn't hurt the Huskers however, as NU still led 18-11 with five minutes remaining. Nebraska had a strong defensive effort to thank for the seven-point advantage, as Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-2) made only two field goals over the final 18 minutes of the half, including a stretch of 12:48 without a field goal.

The Golden Lions had a chance to inch back into the game at the free-throw line, but connected on only 9-of-16 attempts. That allowed Nebraska to survive its cold spell before the Huskers closed the half on a 10-4 run to take a 28-15 lead into the locker room.

Nebraska was an efficient 10-of-19 from the floor in the first half, but the Huskers turned the ball over 12 times against UAPB's pressure defense. The Huskers also hit only 50 percent (5-of-10) from the free-throw line. The Golden Lions hit only 3-of-16 shots (18.8 percent), with their final field goal of the half coming with 9:37 remaining.

Junior Brandon Richardson opened the second half with a 3-pointer and Jeter followed with a steal and a basket to quickly stretch the lead to 33-15. Jeter then added a three-point play two minutes later before Arkansas-Pine Bluff knocked down its first field goal in nearly 13 minutes. But that basket was answered by a McCray 3-pointer which gave Nebraska its first 20-point lead at 39-19.

UAPB then scored five straight points to cut into the lead before Standhardinger poured in seven straight points to give NU a solid cushion. Walker then scored six straight points as part of a 16-0 run that put the Huskers on top 57-24 with 10:11 remaining. The lead grew to 40 for the first time after sophomore Brandon Ubel knocked down a pair of free throws to give Nebraska a 72-31 advantage with less than six minutes remaining. The Huskers led by at least 39 the rest of the way.

After playing the first two games at home, the Huskers head to Puerto Rico tomorrow for the Puerto Rico Tip Off. Nebraska opens tournament play on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. (Central) against Vanderbilt on ESPNU.

Notes vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff Notes

*-Nebraska has now won its last 15 home games against non-conference foes and is 39-1 against non-conference foes under Doc Sadler.

*-Nebraska's bench accounted for 50 of the Huskers' 83 points on Monday, and are averaging 48.5 per game this season. Both of the Huskers' 20-point performances (Andre Almeida and Christian Standhardinger) have come from bench players.

*-The Huskers are now 19-1 under Doc Sadler when they score 80 or more points.

*-Nebraska's 63 percent shooting marked the first time in 53 games that Nebraska hit over 60 percent from the field and the Huskers' highest shooting percentage since hitting 68 percent against Creighton on Nov. 18, 2006.

*-The 63 percent shooting marked the seventh time NU has hit 60 percent from the floor in Sadler's five seasons at Nebraska and tonight's effort second-highest total in the Sadler tenure.

*-Christian Standhardinger put together his first career double-double with 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. His 11 rebounds topped his previous best of eight at Iowa State on Feb. 24, 2010, while Monday's performance marked the second 20-point effort of his career.

*-Nebraska held Arkansas-Pine Bluff without a field goal for a stretch of 12:48, including the final 9:38 of the first half. UAPB hit just 3-of-16 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and finished by hitting 25 percent, the third-lowest shooting percentage by a Husker opponent under Sadler.

*-Toney McCray made his fourth career start and first since Jan. 5, 2009 (vs. Florida A&M), while Andre Almeida made his first career start.

Arkansas Pine Bluff Head Coach George Ivory Overall thoughts on the game "I thought Nebraska did an outstanding job tonight defensively. They came out with a lot of pressure and executed the offense very well. I tip my hat off to them. They are a good basketball team."

On being held to 25% on field goal shooting tonight "They play a lot of pressure defense, great help defense. They just executed defensively and offensively very well tonight.

Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler Opening Statement: "I thought the first five or six minutes, we really came out with some good energy. It was good to have Tony (McCray), Andre (Almeida), Brian (Diaz) and Brandon (Richardson) on the floor along with Lance (Jeter). I thought the energy and enthusiasm was much better tonight than it was against South Dakota. That was something we stressed and wanted to do. Our inside guys set the tone. It's so difficult sometimes for those guys, but at the same time they got to play with the guys around then on the defensive end. I addressed turnovers. I said, 'guys, let's get out of this half and make sure we get a shot every possession.' I think we only turned it over twice in the second half. We can't turn the basketball over like that. As good as we shot free throws the other night, we were just as bad tonight in the first half. We can't give away points. I thought our defensive transition got sloppy. We still have a lot of things to work on, but again I was very pleased with the enthusiasm and the bench enthusiasm for each other. I think that's going to be very important for this team."

On Christian Standhardinger coming off the bench: "Christian can score points. I think there are two things coming off the bench you have to either have a guy who can make a defensive stop on the other guys, maybe on a guy who's hot and you need to get somebody in that can really stop him and you have to have your best offensive players, needs to be that guy who can give you that offensive lift. One thing you know about Christian, is he is always going to be high energy, and he's always going to bring a lot of energy with him. Christian is Christian and he's been that way ever since he's been here. That doesn't surprise me.

On what Doc is hoping to accomplish on the road trip: "We're going down there to play the best we can play. When I was at Arizona State, we weren't picked to do much and we went to Maui and won that tournament. But I've been on some really good teams that were picked to win the league and go to a tournament like this and play really well and come back 1-2 or 0-3. That's the beauty of that and that's going to test our toughness. If we play well and get a win, are we going to be tough enough to come back that next day and play? If we play well and things don't go well, are we going to be tough enough to put it behind us and get ready for that second game? This is a tournament atmosphere where in the Big 12 Tournament, if you're going to be any good you got to win three games in four days.

Christian Standhardinger, On how he helped the team tonight coming off the bench: "I think I did a very good job helping the team when I came in. I helped them by scoring which is one of my major strengths. I always try to give the team everything I've got whether I'm coming from the bench or if I'm one of the starting five. It really doesn't matter. You have to be there to help the team no matter what.

On if he thought this was the best offensive performance of the year: "I thought we did a good job offensively, and if we play together as a team, the better we get. I don't know if it was the best (we've played). Of course there are some things we need to improve on, but I think we did a good job.

On if he prefers to score right away or get into the flow of the game first: I prefer to get into the flow of the game first. When I get the ball I just do whatever is natural. I learned last season in practice, and what I've talked to Doc, early in the shot clock, unless it is a 100% shot you don't take it, you pass it out, you make the defense tired. Then with 10 or 15 seconds left on the shot clock you try and go for it.

On going to Puerto Rico: Of course we will play against very good teams down there. It gives you a lot of experience as a player and we are happy for the opportunity to try and win. Maybe we won't win all the games, but we will try to win all of them and give everything we got. "

On if he thinks they wore Arkansas-Pine Bluff out: I think they got tired, but that's why we did a very good job in the first half of making them tired. But there were thirty seconds on the shot clock for the first shot and that makes them tired in the second half.

Lance Jeter Senior Guard, On the offensive flow without the turnovers: Christian gave us that spark that we needed and he is a scorer. Without the turnovers, we can be very explosive.

On the benefits of Christian: He definitely brings excitement, and that's something that he brings that we saw tonight. He will get rebounds coming off the bench. He is always going to bring that energy that we need. That's a big role, that's one of those guys and he can fill it. I mean he can fill that roll up especially going down to Puerto Rico.

On heading to Puerto Rico: There is a chance to get recognition. There are going to be some elite teams there and it is an elite tournament that we need. A lot of teams don't respect Nebraska and we have to make sure we go out there and earn respect. That's something that we got to do, and were going to try to do. We're going to play hard and give everyone our best.

On how they are playing now, heading into this tournament: I feel like we played well tonight. This was a good test for us. Arkansas Pine-Bluff was in the tournament and lost to Duke in the first round, so that's a good test for us. We always want to go into a big tournament with momentum and I feel like we did that. We need Christian to play like that so that can transfer over to Puerto Rico. I feel like we all played well tonight, I hope it transfers over to Puerto Rico.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.