Feb. 5, 2011
 
First home loss come from the hot hand of Kansas.
 
Lincoln — Second-ranked Kansas handed the Nebraska basketball team its first home loss of the season, 86-66 in front of a sellout crowd of 13,602 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Saturday afternoon.

The Huskers (15-7, 3-5 Big 12) saw their home winning streak snapped at 14, two shy of the school record, while Kansas improved to 22-1 overall and 7-1 in league play. The Jayhawks used an efficient shooting night to score the most points Nebraska has allowed this season and become the first team to score 70 points at the Devaney Center this season.

Kansas knocked down 55.6 percent of its shots, including a 13-of-24 effort from 3-point range. The 13 3-pointers were a season high for the Jayhawks and marked the most threes Nebraska has allowed this season. Nebraska shot 45.2 percent, including 7-of-20 from beyond the arc.

Four Jayhawks reached double figures, led by Brady Morningstar's 19 points that included hitting 5-of-7 from the 3-point line. Markieff Morris added 17 points and his brother Marcus added 16 points and a game-high seven rebounds.

For the Huskers, junior Brandon Richardson scored 16 points to lead four Huskers in double figures. Junior Toney McCray added 11 points, while junior Caleb Walker and senior Lance Jeter each scored 10. Jeter also dished out a season-high 10 assists to pick up a double-double.

Kansas built a 42-34 halftime lead behind strong 3-point shooting. The Jayhawks hit five of their first eight shots from behind the arc, including three 3-pointers during an 11-2 run that gave them an early 20-10 lead. KU then knocked down its final two 3-pointers of the half to help turn a two-point lead into an eight-point halftime advantage.

The Jayhawks shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half, including hitting 7-of-12 from beyond the arc. Kansas scored the game's first five points and led by at least two the rest of the half. With the Jayhawks connecting early from long distance a pair of 3-pointers from sophomore Brandon Ubel and Walker kept the Huskers close before KU's 11-2 run made it a 10-point game.

Following a timeout, Nebraska scored seven straight points in a little more than a minute of play to cut the lead to three. Nebraska continued to trail by three with less than eight minutes left in the half following a 3-pointer from McCray. The Huskers then pulled within two at 32-30 on a layup from sophomore Jorge Brian Diaz five minutes later before the Jayhawks closed the period on a 10-2 run.

Kansas' hot shooting continued in the second half, when the Jayhawks again shot 55.6 percent. The Jayhawks also went 6-of-12 from the 3-point line in the final 20 minutes, while knocking down 18-of-26 second-half free throws. Nebraska hit only 9-of-25 second-half shots, including only 3-of-11 from beyond the arc.

Richardson kept the Huskers close to open the second half. He scored seven straight points for NU in the first three minutes of the half to cut the deficit to 44-41. Kansas answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Marcus Morris and Morningstar to spark an 8-0 run that gave the Jayhawks a 52-41 lead.

The teams then traded scoring runs over the next six minutes. A 6-0 Husker run cut the lead to five before Kansas answered with six straight points of its own. NU then strung together a 5-0 run that was answered by a 7-0 spurt that gave the Jayhawks a 67-54 advantage with 9:02 remaining.

The 7-0 spurt was part of a larger 15-3 run that turned a six-point game at the 10-minute mark into a 75-57 KU lead with under five minutes remaining. Nebraska would get no closer than 14 the rest of the way.

Nebraska returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 9 when the Huskers travel to Baylor. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised live by the Big 12 Network and also carried on the Husker Sports Network.

Nebraska Game Notes *-Today's sellout crowd of 13,602 was the largest of the season and the first sellout since the 2007-08 campaign.

*-Kansas' 86-66 win on Saturday snapped Nebraska's 14-game home win streak, which was two shy of the school record.

*-Kansas became the second Husker opponent to shot 50 percent against Nebraska in 22 games this season, as Kansas shoot a season opponent best 55.6 percent.

*-Kansas is only the third team to score more than 70 points against Nebraska this season. In the first meeting, the Huskers held Kansas to a season-low 63 points. Kansas is also the first opponent to score 70 points on Nebraska at home this season.

*-Kansas hit a season-high 13 3-pointers on Saturday, the most allowed by Nebraska this season (12 vs. Colorado and Jackson State). KU's 54.2 percent shooting from 3-point range was the second-highest percentage this season (54.5 vs. Jackson State).

*-Lance Jeter had a season-high 10 assists today and moved past Ryan Anderson (228, 18th) and tied David Ponce (235) for 17th on Nebraska's career assist list. Jeter is now second among two-year players in career assists at Nebraska.

*-Lance Jeter dished out a season-high 10 assists against Kansas, bettering his previous season high of nine against Colorado. It was the second time in his career he had at least 10 assists in a game.

*-It was Jeter's first double-double of the season and second of his career, as he had 12 points and a career-high 12 assists at Kansas State last season. It is also the Huskers third double-double of the season (Toney McCray and Jorge Brian Diaz vs. TCU).

*-Brandon Richardson reached double figures for the third time in the last four games with a team-high 16 points. Richardson is averaging 12.3 points per game over the Huskers' last four contests. Richardson has now also made 21 consecutive free throws dating back to Jan. 18 and is hitting 96 percent (25-of-26) in Big 12 play.

*-Nebraska had four players score in double figures for only the second time in Big 12 play.

*-The Huskers fall to 1-10 against teams ranked second in the AP poll and have lost 17 straight games against Kansas.

Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler Opening Statement: "First of all, the first half, that's about as good as offensive performances I've coached against. I thought they did a lot of good things. When you shoot the ball the way they shoot it, and you got two or three guys like the Morris' twins and [Thomas] Robinson, it is going to be difficult. Then they add the fact that they made their free throws, which they've been struggling there. They just had a very good night at shooting the basketball. If you look at the other areas, I thought our turnovers were ok. After the first three or four minutes, we didn't really turn the basketball over. I thought if we could get to seven or eight threes, we'd have a shot. We did do that, but they were just too good today. I thought our guys played as hard as you could play.

What do you say about the crowd? The crowd was unbelievable. We got it to four with nine or ten to go. They came out of a timeout, and we made a mistake and gave up a back-door layup and then they came back and got a dunk and the game was back up to nine points. We could play them 10 times, and if they played as well as they did today, we'd have a hard time beating them."

On Andre Almeida starting: "No. That was just a decision we made today."

On the pace of the game: "I thought on the first half, we shot it about three times too quick. Other than that, I was not disappointed in our shot selection and when we shot it, no."

On Markieff Morris: "Morris and [Brady] Morningstar both. Wow. You shoot the ball like that. I think another big statistic, even though we fouled a little late - their inside guys went to the free throw line 20 times and ours went three. We got to be more physical than that. We got to get our inside guys going to the free throw line. You can't have our inside guys beating you on that statistic. To me, that's a big statistic that we have got to get better at. We got to get fouled down there."

On defensive changes during the course of the game to get Kansas out of a shooting rhythm: "It's a catch-22. They had shot like that against Texas Tech in the first half and then they went a little bit soft. Against Texas, it's the same game you saw there in the first half. Again, for us to be able to defend their inside game, and I just never thought they'd continue to make shots and that's what we defended. It was looking ok for 30 minutes and then we quit scoring.

Obviously, you look at the points, 86 points, there's not many times I've given up 86 points on a team. I thought our guys played defense about as well as we could play. You make 13 three's and hit 23 free throws, that's almost 60 points right there."

On keeping the game close: "For 30 minutes, until the one time out. I thought they were getting in a hurry or a little antsy in the double team. We'd have gotten a hand on a couple of them when they'd try to throw it out. When they came back and got the back door play and gave them a little breathing room. It's easier to shoot the basketball when you're up 10 than when it's a two-point ball game. We never were able to keep the pressure on for an extended time. We got the pressure on them when we came back. Bill did a nice job on the time out and we gave up an easy basket. Now it's back up to six points."

Nebraska Guard Lance Jeter On how frustrating it was to pull within a couple possessions, but not be able to get over the hump "It was very frustrating because you work so hard to get back into it and then they make you pay. That's why they're team is good. They have a whole bunch of shooters, (Tyrel) Reed, (Brady) Morningstar. Morningstar came on tonight. He played very well today, and that's something that he wasn't doing lately. He definitely helped them out today, and when you have the (Marcus and Markieff) Morris brothers hitting 3's at the top of the key it's going to be hard to guard all that at once. They deserved to win. We played our heart out. I thought we played good defense, they just could not miss tonight."

On if he expected Morningstar to do what he did today "We knew he could shoot, but we knew he had been a little off this year, so we were more focused on Reed and made sure he didn't get open. Morningstar definitely stepped up and hit some big shots. That's why they are a good team because they can have anybody step up and be a big player for them. He definitely helped them out tonight. We made some adjustments, but they still made us pay inside and out. You have to tip your hat to them because they definitely played an all-around game tonight."

Nebraska Guard Brandon Richardson On if he ever thought KU would cool off "I was hoping they would cool off in the second half, but they didn't. They made great shots. It's tough to beat a team who's making 50-plus percent from the 3 and from the field."

On if this is a game where you just tip your cap to the other team "Yeah, we had hands in their faces and they were making contested 3's or contested shot, that's all you can live with. You can't control if the ball goes in or out. You just have to leave it on the floor and at the end of the day live with the result."

On if he thinks his offense is coming around "I think so. My team needs me to be a scorer and be aggressive so that's what I have to do. I'm a junior now so I have to get out there and be able to make a play."

Kansas Coach Bill Self On what was the key after Nebraska had been keeping it close "I don't know about down the stretch, but offensively, that's as good as we can execute, it helps when you make shots. Brady (Morningstar), Tyrel (Reed), you expect guys like him to make shots, and Brady, from the scouting report he hasn't made shots the past couple games. He played outstanding today. Then when your center steps out and goes 3-for-3 from deep, that's not bad defense, that's just a guy stepping out and making a play. I thought we really executed, even when we didn't score. I thought we had good looks and we executed well. We had a few bad turnovers, but for the most part we didn't waste as many positions as we normally do. To score 80 points on a Doc coached team in their building means you probably played pretty good offense. I think them and Texas are the two best defensive teams that I've seen so far."

On John Selby and why he didn't play today "We know exactly was it is, it's a stress on his right foot. It's not a brake or a fracture or anything like that, but it was tender. It's in a sensitive spot that if he were to roll his ankle or anything like that it could have turned into fracture. It's just a little tender; I don't know if he'll be ready Monday or not, I hope he is but we'll have to see."

On if he referenced the first game between these two teams for today's game "Yeah, in a strange way, the first game helped us today because, and our guys know this, they controlled the game. Nebraska controlled that last game for 25 minutes and they were by far the way superior team in our building. I think there was a respect standpoint where we knew that they could beat us if we didn't give it a great effort. I think the first game was good for preparation for this game."

On if their team could get by with any guy filling in "I don't know. It'd be hard to lose Marcus, or Markieff because the big guys numbers. The way Thomas (Robinson) is playing now gives you more confidence that if one of those guys were to get in foul trouble or whatever, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Certainly on the perimeter, I feel pretty confident and we have enough guys that we can throw somebody out there and they'll deliver. The thing about it is, when you recruit good player, they are supposed to play. These guys were highly recruited guys. Some of them don't get their opportunities as often, but when they do get that opportunity, you have to make the most of it. I really don't expect much of a drop off even though I know our best players have to play. I think we have a bunch of best players (on our team)."

On letting passing mistakes go because of the unselfishness "For the most part that was ok today. We got a 3-1 break and we passed it three times, where we could have shot it. Stuff like that isn't good, but it didn't burn us today like it has in some other games. When your two biggest guys are your best passers, it is contagious."

On this being the last meeting in this building for a while "We had some success here lately. They beat us bad my first year here. We like coming up here. I think the crowd is good; it's a respectful crowd. This is a good venue for us to come play and I'll miss that. I don't know when we'll be able to play them again. I know scheduling; there will be some scheduling issues that probably won't allow it to happen in the foreseeable future."

Kansas Guard Brady Morningstar On if there is something he is doing different to be so successful offensively "Yeah, just making shots. Shots are going in. When they're going in, you have to keep shooting them. My teammates have done a good job of getting me the ball, and you just have to keep knocking them down."

On if he is feeling confident "I feel good out there. I feel like as a team we're playing really good right now. That is good going into the second half of conference play; we have a couple of big games coming up."

On how satisfying of a win this is "It's good, last time in Lincoln. I love playing here, but we won't be coming back here, it's good to get the last win."

On if he took a couple of shots today that he probably wouldn't have taken a month ago because of his confidence "Maybe, because I think if you're hitting shots, you feel a little bit more open then you are regularly sometimes. Maybe that is the case. Like I said, if you're not hitting shots, you can't just go out there and start throwing them up. You have to play through your offense."

Kansas Forward Marcus Morris On Brady's role in the offense today "He's playing like a point guard, a point guard who can shoot the ball. I think Brady is our most subtle open-shot point guard who can knock them down. He's a smart player, he picks his shots."

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.