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Davidson
Nov. 19, 2010
 
Sadler searching for answers after loss.
 
San Juan, P.R. — Despite a season-high 17 points from Lance Jeter, the Nebraska basketball team suffered a 70-67 loss to Davidson Friday in the Honda Puerto Rico Tip Off.

Jeter hit 7-of-8 shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, dished out five assists and matched his career high four steals, but the Huskers (2-2) were unable to slow down the Wildcats' sharp shooting from 3-point range.

Davidson hit 11-of-28 from beyond the arc, including six from Brendan McKillop, who finished with a game-high 21 points and five assists to lead four Wildcats in double figures. McKillop had 15 of his 21 points after halftime, including back-to-back 3-pointers to break a 40-all tie, and gave Davidson, which hit 7-of-14 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes, a lead they would not relinquish.

The Huskers trailed 58-52 with 5:01 remaining before sophomore Jorge Brian Diaz led the Huskers back. Diaz, who finished with 13 points, three blocks and four rebounds, scored eight straight NU points as the Huskers pulled within 63-62 on a Jeter jumper with 1:01 remaining.

On Davidson's next possession, McKillop missed a 3-pointer, but Tom Droney hauled in the offensive rebound and converted both free throws to push the lead back to three points. NU cut it to 65-64 on Drake Beranek's two foul shots and had the ball trailing 66-64, but a costly turnover on its next possession put the Huskers in a position to foul.

Davidson extended lead to 69-64 before Jeter's 3-pointer made it a two-point lead with two seconds remaining. The Huskers had one final opportunity to send the game to overtime after Droney split the three throws, but Brandon's Richardson's desperation heave fell short, sending NU to Sunday's 9:30 a.m. against Hofstra, which lost to Western Kentucky, 62-60 on Friday.

Sophomore Christian Standhardinger joined Jeter and Diaz in double figures, finishing with 14 points, including 10-of-12 from the foul line, and five rebounds.

Nebraska got off to a quick start, jumping out to an 11-2 lead in the first four and a half minutes, as Jeter had all seven of his first-half points in the spurt. Davidson fought back, getting two quick 3-pointers to trim the margin to 11-8 before the Huskers got baskets from Standhardinger and Diaz to push the lead back to seven points.

Davidson would get back into the game behind the play of Jake Cohen, who had 15 of Davidson's 28 first-half points. Trailing 17-10, Cohen's basket sparked a 12-3 Wildcat run, taking the lead at 22-20 on Clint Mann's jumper.

Davidson eventually got the lead to 28-24, before the Huskers closed the first half on a 6-0 run, as a Brandon Richardson jumper and four points from Brandon Ubel, who finished with seven points and a career-high nine rebounds, gave NU a 30-28 halftime lead.

The Huskers will play either Western Kentucky or Hofstra Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. (central). The game will be televised on ESPNU and also carried across Nebraska on the Husker Sports Network.

Postgame Quotes
Davidson Head Coach Bob McKillop - on Davidson's performance in the tournament - "This team is learning some valuable lessons. To be able to learn as quickly as we have is a great, great, comforting feeling for a coach. We learned even at halftime. I'm thrilled at the process of education we're receiving from this experience." on the most valuable lesson the team has learned thus far - "It's like the guy that landed the plane into the East River. He landed the plane in the East River because he stayed with a system that he built up with habit and he just relied upon what he has been taught, practice, learned, and rehearsed. This team is starting to get very comfortable with the system and starting to learn to trust the system, and in the process trusting each other. So as that pilot trusted his co-pilot and the flight attendants trusted him, there is a working together here that is helping us land the plane."

on how playing back-to-back days helps the team develop - "It has an immediate sense of accountability when you watch film and go out and play and you're expected to apply what you learned from watching the film." Davidson Forward Jake Cohen - on what the team has learned since the first game of the season - "I think it was a learning experience at Penn. The first game of the year is always a challenge because all the excitement and nerves are built up. But we learned a lot from that game. We took a lot of lessons and we wanted to make sure we didn't make the same mistakes as a team. I think it showed today with how we played."

Davidson Guard Brendan McKillop - on three-point shot successfully converted today - "I had open looks yesterday and my teammates got me open again today and today it went in. It's just a matter of means. I guess everything's going average out and today they fell."

Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler - on overall performance - "You get some ups and downs and our offensive execution in the two games that we've been down here have been absolutely, beyond...I can't even tell you how bad it is. Maybe it's the defense. I'm sure that's some of it, but a lot of it has to do with us. Until we get it corrected, until we understand how the game has to be played, we're going to struggle."

Nebraska Guard Lance Jeter - on team's performance - "We were streaky. We had the advantage with the big men and sometimes we didn't take advantage of it. We had turnovers late in the game, which is going to hurt you when you're playing a good team like Davidson."

on how important it is for Nebraska to win Sunday - "It's going to be very critical, because it's motivation. It'd give us motivation going back home for our regular season games and it gives us motivation for practice. We feed off this energy and I feel like once we good a win here, it'll carry over to home."

Postgame Notes: *-Davidson was the first team to shoot over 40 percent against Nebraska, as the Wildcats hit 43.4 percent from the floor, including 11-of-28 from 3-point range. Prior to today, NU was holding opponents to just 25.8 percent from 3-point range. Davidson's 70 points was also an opponent high against Nebraska in 2009-10.

*-Brandon Ubel's nine rebounds against Davidson nearly doubled his previous best of five set twice last season (vs. TCU and vs. BYU).

*-Lance Jeter matched career-high in steals (four) and field goals made (seven), while his 18 points against Davidson is the second-highest total of his Nebraska career. Jeter's 18 points also marks the first time in four games that the Huskers' leading scorer was in the starting lineup that day.

*-Jorge Brian Diaz tied a career with three blocked shots against Davidson, matching a feat he had done five other times, most recently against Iowa State on Jan. 16, 2010. Diaz's 13 points was also a season high, marking the second time in as many games in Puerto Rico he has set season bests in points.

*-Christian Standhardinger reached double figures for the third time this season with 14 points off the bench. He also set personal bests for free throws made (10) and attempted (12), as Nebraska went 23-of-31 from the foul line.

*-Nebraska had a 35-31 advantage on the boards, marking the sixth straight opponent dating back to last season Nebraska has out-rebounded dating back to last season. It is also the second time in Sadler's five seasons that Nebraska has out-rebounded six consecutive opponents.

*-Nebraska is 2-of-21 from 3-point range in two games in San Juan.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.