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Baylor
Feb. 9, 2011
 
Baylor free throws take down the Huskers.
 
Waco, Texas — Toney McCray had a career-high 23 points but it was not enough, as Baylor edged the Huskers with 74-70 victory Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.

McCray hit 8-of-14 shots from the floor, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc to pace three Huskers (15-8, 3-6 Big 12) in double figures, as the Huskers lost their third consecutive game.

LaceDarius Dunn led Baylor (16-8, 6-4 Big 12) with a game-high 24 points, including 12-of-13 from the foul line. The Bears spent the majority of the evening at the foul line, hitting 31-of-44 shots from the charity stripe, as NU had just 19 attempts.

Despite the differential from the foul line, the Huskers were in position to steal a road win in the final 90 seconds, trailing 69-67 after a Lance Jeter jumper and had the ball after a McCray steal, but NU was unable to convert and turned the ball over on the possession with 1:02 left. Dunn made the Huskers pay for the miscue, hitting a scooping layup with 38 seconds to make it a four-point lead.

On NU's next possession, Anthony Jones blocked McCray's 3-point attempt, and the Bears hit 3-of-4 shots in the final 30 seconds to preserve their third straight win over Nebraska.

Quincy Acy had 15 points and seven rebounds while the Huskers held Perry Jones III to just 11 points on six attempts from the floor.

The lead went back and forth in the early minutes, as the Huskers relied on the inside game. Brandon Ubel and Jorge Brian Diaz combined for nine early points as the Huskers and built its largest lead of the half at 14-11 after a Drake Beranek 3-pointer. Beranek had 10 points off the bench, as the Husker bench totaled 35 points on the night.

Baylor responded with an 8-2 run of their own despite making one field goal -a jumper by Acy - in a nearly 11 minute span, taking a 19-16 lead after A. J. Walton's two free throws. Nebraska then tied the score at 19 on a McCray 3-pointer but Acy, who had 10 first-half points and Jones, keyed a 8-2 run to push the lead back up to six points at 27-21 with 3:12 left in the half.

McCray then heated up, scoring the Huskers' final nine points of the half, pulling Nebraska within 32-30 at the break, as he scored 12 points before the break. McCray got NU going in the second half, as his bucket with 19:39 left capped the 11-5 run to even the score at 32.

The teams were tied at 36 before a 3-pointer by Dunn and a steal and basket by A.J. Walton pushed the lead back to five points. NU stayed within striking distance and trailed 51-44 before 3-pointers from Ubel and Beranek made it a one-point game at 51-50.

Nebraska was unable to regain the lead, as a J'mison Morgan keyed a 5-0 spurt to push the lead back to 56-50 with 9:53 left. The lead would stay between three and seven points, and NU trailed 69-63 before baskets by Richardson and Jeter pulled NU within two points with 1:31 left

The Huskers return home to take on Oklahoma State Saturday evening at 6 p.m. Tickets for the game are available by visiting Huskers.com or by calling 800-8-BIGRED begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 800-8-BIGRED end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Nebraska Postgame Notes

*-Toney McCray set a career high with 23 points against the Bears, topping his previous high of 18 set on two other occasions. His point total also is the highest total by any Husker this season. McCray also had a game-high seven rebounds in the losing effort.

*-McCray has set career bests in each of his last two appearances in Waco, as he had 18 points as a redshirt freshman in 2009.

*-Nebraska's went 16-of-19 (84.2 percent) from the foul line against Baylor, its best percentage since hitting 90.5 percent against South Dakota in the season opener. NU has shot 70 percent from the line or better in eight straight games, including four games above 8-0 percent.

*-Nebraska's eight 3-pointers was its highest total in Big 12 play this season and the most since hitting a season-high 10 vs. TCU. The Huskers have hit 15 3-pointers in the last two games after hitting 16 in the previous our contests.

*-Baylor became the fourth Husker opponent to score more than 70 points against the Huskers this season.

*-Drake Beranek tied his season high with 10 points (also Jackson State and Colorado), as he hit 4-of-7 shots from the floor.

*-Baylor went 31-of-44 from the foul line, the most attempts by an Husker opponent in Doc Sadler's five seasons. BU's 31 made free throws was the second-highest total by a Husker opponent in that time, trailing only the 32 that Kansas State shot last season. The previous season highs for both free throws made (23) and attempted (33) was by No. 2 Kansas.

*-Nebraska started Lance Jeter, Brandon Richardson, Caleb Walker, Brandon Ubel and Jorge Brian Diaz against Baylor on Wednesday evening.

*-Lance Jeter had six assists, moving past Cary Cochran (237) for 16th place on NU's career chart. Jeter now has 241 career assists at NU.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.