Jan. 8, 2011
 
A late free throw wins it for the Huskers.
 
Lincoln. — -Lance Jeter's free throw with 0.4 seconds remaining lifted Nebraska to a 63-62 win over Iowa State in the Big 12 opener for both teams Saturday evening.

Jeter combined with Ray Gallegos to steal the ball from ISU's Diante Garrett before Jeter drove the length of the court and was fouled as time expired. After a conference, the officiating crew ruled that he was fouled with 0.4 seconds remaining and was sent to the line for a pair of free throws.

The senior's first attempt rolled off the rim before swishing the back end of the pair, giving Nebraska (13-2, 1-0 Big 12) a one-point lead. Nebraska deflected Iowa State's inbounds play, preserving the 11th straight win for Nebraska in front of a season-high crowd of 11,151 at the Devaney Center.

"I was just making the play for my team," Jeter said of the final sequence. "I knew we were fighting so hard that we didn't want to let the fans down and didn't want to let the coaches down. We were working so hard and for us to come through in a tough game shows that this is not last year's team. We do fight all the way to the end. I am just proud of my team."

The Huskers overcome a four-point deficit in the final three minutes by scoring each of its final five points at the free-throw line, as the Huskers won just its fourth Big 12 opener in 15 years of league play.

Trailing 62-58, Brandon Ubel hit a pair of free throws with 2:07 left to cut the deficit to two, while junior guard Toney McCray connected on 2-of-4 attempts from the charity stripe to tie the game with just over a minute remaining. Neither team was able to break the tie on its next possession, giving Iowa State a chance the win the game with six seconds left.

Jeter produced an all-around solid effort by finishing the game with 10 points, seven assists, six rebounds and only one turnover in 36 minutes of action. He totaled seven points, four rebounds and three assists in the second half, and led Nebraska to the win after Iowa State overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to take its first lead of the game at 47-45 with 14 minutes remaining. After losing the lead for the first time in the game, the Huskers responded with their own 8-2 run to regain the lead at 53-49. During that run, Jeter shined as he accounted for six points, a steal and a rebound to help NU to four-point lead at the 11:47 mark of the second half.

Iowa State refused to back down as the Cyclones battled back and eventually tied the game at 57-57 with just over five minutes remaining. With the score tied, Melvin Ejim put away his only three of the game and capped off his 12-point performance to give Iowa State a 60-57 edge with 4:27 remaining.

Garrett, who finished with a game-high 18 points, gave Iowa State a 62-58 lead after a successful drive to the bucket, but Iowa State wouldn't find the scoreboard again as Nebraska held ISU scoreless for the last 3:40. After a foul on ISU's James Vanderbeken, which marked his fifth of the game, Brandon Ubel was able to pull the Huskers within two points with a pair of free throws and set up the game's thrilling finish.

Caleb Walker finished with a team-high 13 points, including 11 in the first half, while Drake Beranek scored five of his seven points in the first 20 minutes. Nebraska grabbed an early 12-4 lead through the first four minutes, including five points from Walker and three NU steals. The strong start was capped when Beranek stole an entry pass and executed a fast break give-and-go with McCray for an old-fashioned 3-point play.

Iowa State fought back to cut the lead to three points, 21-18, at 9:45 but Nebraska would not relinquish its lead. Garrett drew his third foul with seven minutes remaining in the first half and sat out the rest of the frame. Two minutes later, Jeter drove baseline and found a slashing Toney McCray underneath for a two-handed jam to give NU a 28-20 lead with 5:40 left. Andre Almeida came off the bench to help NU build its 10-point halftime lead with a pair of back-to-back field goals with under three minutes remaining, while Walker added a 3-pointer and McCray nailed a jumper with 32 seconds left to give NU the 39-29 lead at intermission.

In addition to Walker and Jeter, McCray gave NU three double-digit scorers as he turned in a 12-point performance. Walker led all Huskers in rebounding with eight, including three on the offensive end, as Nebraska held a 41-40 edge on the glass and forced 14 turnovers.

Nebraska now heads on the road for a pair of tough contests at No. 9 Missouri on Wednesday night and No. 3 Kansas on Saturday afternoon. The Huskers' game at Missouri will begin at 6 p.m. and will be carried on the Husker Sports Network and also televised on Fox Sports Midwest.

Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler On winning a close game "It feels so good to win a close ball game like that. As we said earlier, close ball games have not been kind to us. This year, we've found a way to win a couple and I think there was 2:30 left when we got down four. I think you saw a whole different team and a different mindset that we didn't panic.

On the players' focus in the final seconds of the game "The thing you're always concerned about when you put somebody on the basketball is them running down and trying to set a ball screen or whatever and getting the charge call. So we made Brian (Diaz) pretty aware of that, and we work on those things. The other thing, with .4 seconds you can get a shot (off). It doesn't have to be a tip, (but) it has to be a really freak situation. The thing we didn't want them to do is get a catch and be running. Throw it up like that and by the time you get a tip, the game is over. We didn't want to give them some screens in the back court where they get a catch and shoot it on the run, so we did a nice job there.

On Lance Jeter's steal in the final seconds of the game "I really didn't see as much of it. In fact, I thought that Jeter made the steal but they're telling me that Ray (Gallegos) knocked it loose. I don't know. But, he was in the back court with 2.8 seconds (left) and that was right at mid-court. I really would have liked for him to make that lay-up. But, you know, for him to miss the first free throw the way he missed it-hit the rim three or four times and then rolled out-and then to come back and make the second one, that's pretty mentally tough."

On how it feels to get a win in the first conference game "With two minutes (left) a lot of people probably thought Iowa State was going to win it tonight. So there were a lot of similarities (to last year), but no question. To get the win at home is huge. What can you say? I can't keep telling people about the crowd-you've have to have them. Unless you're so good that you can just go out there, the crowd is worth five or six points a game. I cannot thank the crowd enough tonight. It feels good."

Senior point guard Lance Jeter On the last sequence when he got the steal in the final seconds "Coach (Sadler) got us prepared for the last play. He definitely knew that they were going to drive. (Diante) Garrett was good with penetration all game, all second half. We knew he was going to do that again. He turned his back so I just took a chance and gambled. (Then) I basically got lucky and tried to get fouled and score."

On what it feels like when he gets the steal with the time ticking away "At least make it down there in time to get a shot. I was just making the play for my team. I knew we were fighting so hard that we didn't want to let the fans down and didn't want to let the coaches down. We were working so hard and for us to come through in a tough game shows that this is not last year's team. We do fight all the way to the end. I am just proud of my team."

On if he looked at the clock when he was dribbling "I looked up once. I knew when it was three seconds (left). I didn't look at it after that. I'm just glad the referee blew the whistle because it was an ugly layup."

On what was going through his head when he shot the first free throw "It better go in. It felt good, (but) it didn't go in. My teammates just picked me up and said I have the next one. That gave me confidence. I had confidence in myself. I knew I had to step up to make the second free throw."

On how it feels to start conference play with a win "It gives us confidence because we know we have a tough one on Wednesday (at Missouri). Just going into that game knowing we had a tough win gives us a lot of confidence going into the road games."

Junior guard Caleb Walker On how much confidence he had in Lance Jeter stepping to the line "I had a lot of confidence in him. He's our senior leader. He made a great play toward the end, getting the ball up the court and getting fouled. You get nervous but you have confidence that he is going to knock them down. He missed the first one, but he came back with the second one strong."

On if they stepped it up a notch tonight "Definitely. This is where it really counts. I think we do get a lot of teams in the Big 12 where we come ready to play every night. We have a good, balanced team. Tonight I just told myself I had to step up to help my team out any way I can."

Iowa State Head Coach Fred Hoiberg On the options for Diante Garrett with six seconds remaining "They did a good job taking away the initial cut at the top. Diante made a great read on it. He cut backdoor, and Jeter just made a great play and that's the bottom line. He got his hand in there on the ball and stole it and had the presence of mind to take it all the way down with about three seconds on the clock and made the free throw. We wanted to get the ball in Diante's hands. Jeter is a quick kid. He had five steals. He made a heck of a play on it."

On what ISU did in the second-half to get back into the game: "We just came out with the right mindset. I didn't feel we came out with it at the start of the game. We looked a little shell-shocked, to be honest with you. They hit some shots, and we put our heads down. We didn't lose the game on that play, we lost it in the first five minutes. Like we talked about in the locker room, I'm proud of them for the way they came back and fought and battled and they showed it. They left their guts on the floor. In order for us to compete on this level and in this league, we need to come out with that mindset from the opening tip. They were up ten on us and you dig yourself too deep of a hole."

On if ISU showed more effort in the second half: "Yeah, we switched up defenses a bit, but for the most part it was effort. We did a better job and battled their post guys and pushed them out a bit further. We applied more pressure. We are so thin that I don't want our guys to come out and have the mindset to take plays off. We can't afford to. We didn't come out with the same intensity we had all year long. We needed to find a way."

On how ISU was able to hang around even considering Garrett's foul trouble in the first half "We hung around and tried to steal some possessions in order to slow it down a bit. They threw a bit of a press on, and Jake Anderson did a good job with the ball in his hands. They made a couple of baskets in the end and instead of it being a four-or-six point game, it was a ten point game. Its tough. Diante is the guy with the ball in his hands for the majority of the game and we lose him for that long of a stretch. He missed the last seven minutes. The other guys needed to step up and do a good job and I thought Jake did that with the ball in his hands, but we missed Diante out there."

On how hurt Christopherson's is: "He hadn't taken a shot in a few days. He didn't shoot in shoot around today. He took a few shots in warm-ups to get himself ready, and he had a bit of a setback yesterday. It really locked up on him yesterday and wasn't able to go in practice. He was a game-time decision today, but we are just going to continue to treat it and ice it. I think the big thing is that now he is overcompensating and using muscles that he hadn't used and that is causing some soreness and keeping the swelling there."

On why Iowa State used a 2-3 zone in the final minute: "We just felt they were going to throw it into the big fella, Diaz. We wanted to keep it out of the paint and did a good job matching up so that they didn't get an open look. We wanted to take the ball out of the big fellas hands and make him take a contested shot which they did."

Nebraska Game Notes vs. Iowa State

*-Nebraska picked up its 11th straight win. The 11 consecutive wins is the longest win streak by Nebraska since an 11-game win streak in the 1993-94 season. It is tied for the sixth-longest win streak in school history.

*-Caleb Walker matched his career high with 13 points, hitting 5-of-9 shots from the floor, in his first Big 12 start. He also had 13 points against Arkansas Pine-Bluff and Jackson State.

*-Tonight's win is the first time in Sadler's five seasons that Nebraska won a one-point game, as the Huskers' last one-point win was a 59-58 win over No. 12 Oklahoma on Jan. 7, 2006. It is just the second one-point game under Sadler, as NU lost 62-61 against Texas on Jan. 24, 2007

*-Lance Jeter dished out a season high seven assists in Saturday's win, as he had six assists in three other games (Hofstra, Creighton, Alcorn State). It was also the second time this season he had at least five steals (Alcorn State).

*-It is the fifth time this season that Lance Jeter had at least five assists and less than two turnovers.

*-Nebraska's eight turnovers matched a season low (also vs. Creighton).

*-Nebraska improves to 4-1 in Big 12 openers at home, as the only loss came against Kansas the year the Jayhawks won the national title (2007-08).

*-Nebraska finished its longest homestand in school history with a 10-0 record, including a 3-0 mark in game a decided by five or fewer points.

*-Nebraska was out-shot for just the season time this season (also Vanderbilt) and snapped a streak of five straight games shooting 50 percent or better

*-Iowa State, which was held to its third-lowest percentage of the season (40.4 percent), became the first team in 12 games to top 60 points against Nebraska

*-Nebraska started Jeter, Beranek, Walker, McCray and Diaz, the first time the Huskers' used this starting five this season.

*-Jorge Brian Diaz tied his career high with three blocks, but went just 2-for-10 from the floor. It was only the second time this season he was held under 50 percent shooting.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.