Nov. 18, 2010
 
A 2nd-half surge and scoring drought cost the Huskers.
 
San Juan, P.R. — A late-game drought proved costly, as the Nebraska basketball team fell to Vanderbilt, 59-49, in the opening round of the Honda Puerto Rico Tip Off Thursday afternoon.

The Huskers, who fell to 2-1 on the season, led 46-43 with 6:46 remaining, but Vanderbilt's John Jenkins had seven of his game-high 22 points in a decisive 8-1 run which put the Commodores (2-0) ahead for the first time since midway through the first half and broke open a hard-fought contest.

Jenkins tied the score with a three-pointer, and then gave Vanderbilt a lead they would not relinquish, hitting a jumper with 5:45 remaining before capping the run with a pair of free throws to with 3:05 left to extend the margin to 51-47.

Jenkins hit 8-of-13 shots and 5-of-6 from the foul line for 22 points, while the Huskers limited preseason All-SEC performer Jeffery Taylor to 14 points on 3-of-7 shooting.

The Huskers (2-1) made it a one-possession game after Lance Jeter split a pair of foul shots with 2:43 left, but Vanderbilt, which won 24 games en route to reaching the NCAA Tournament last season, delivered a costly blow on its next possession, as Steve Tchiengang's three-pointer from the wing pushed the lead to 54-48.

Nebraska was held without a field goal for the final 7:49 and shot just 35.8 percent, including 0-for-10 from 3-point range.

Sophomore Brandon Ubel led the Huskers with 10 points, hitting 3-of-4 shots from the field and all four foul shots, but the Huskers shot just 29 percent in the final 20 minutes. Sophomore Jorge Brian Diaz also chipped on eight points and a game-high eight rebounds, as NU enjoyed a 37-34 advantage on the boards, including 11 offensive rebounds.

It will be a quick turnaround for the Huskers, as Nebraska faces Davidson Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. central. The game will be carries exclusively on ESPN3.com and will also be available across the state on the Husker Sports Network, including 1400 KLIN in Lincoln and Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha and on the Internet at Huskers.com.

The Huskers fell behind early, as Vanderbilt led 10-6, only to see Ubel come off the bench to lead the comeback. The sophomore scored six straight points to give the Huskers a two-point lead at 12-10. From there, the teams were within a possession of the lead until NU got some breathing room late in the first half. NU ran off six straight points to take its largest lead of the day at 23-17 after a Lance Jeter layup.

Vanderbilt came back, using an 9-2 spurt to pull even at 26-all on a Taylor foul shot, but the Huskers regained the lead right before the half as Drake Beranek's jumper put NU ahead 28-26 at the break. NU quickly pushed the lead back to four points, on Jeter's layup with 19:41 remaining, but Vanderbilt would score the next three points to get within 31-30 on Brad Tinsley's basket at the 15:27 mark. From there, the two teams remained within three points until the Commodores' late run in the final minutes.

Nebraska Postgame Notes *-Nebraska was held without a 3-pointer for the first time in 341 games dating back to Dec. 12, 1999 (a 79-45 loss at Colorado State). The streak was the fourth-longest stretch in the Big 12 entering today's contest. The two teams that lost in the afternoon session in Puerto Rico (Nebraska and Davidson) went a combined 2-for-32 from 3-point range on Thursday

*-Sophomore forward Brandon Ubel led Nebraska with 10 points, marking the second time in four games he has finished in double figures. As a freshman he reached double figures in just four of 32 contests. It was the first time that Ubel has led the Huskers in scoring in his career.

*-Ubel's game-high effort marked the third time in as many contests that Nebraska's leading scorer came off the bench. Overall, Nebraska's bench out-scored Vanderbilt's 23-10, marking the third straight game the Husker bench has outscored its opposition. NU's bench has averaged 40.0 per game in the Huskers' three games this season.

*-Nebraska falls to 49-7 under Doc Sadler when holding an opponent to under 60 points, as the Huskers held Vanderbilt to 39.1 percent shooting. The Huskers have held all three opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field.

*Jorge Brian Diaz pulled down a season high eight rebounds in the loss to Vanderbilt. It marked the fourth time in his two seasons he has had at least eight rebounds in a game. Diaz also tied his season high with eight points in the loss.

NU shot a season-low 35.3 percent, its lowest output since 34.8 percent in a double-overtime win over Texas Tech on Feb. 27, 2010.

Postgame Notes

Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler - on overall performance - "Defensively, I thought both teams played pretty good. I was pleased with our defensive effort. Obviously you can't get yourself in a situation to put teams at the free throw line as early as we did. For a team to make 13 free throws in the second half, that's hard to overcome. I thought there were two really big three pointers, the one that (John) Jenkins hit at the top of the key and then the one that (Steve) Tchiengang hit on the left wing, that kind of gave them some space to where could play a little more comfortable and they weren't the team playing catch up. Offensively, I was disappointed in our execution but I think a lot of that has to do with the way they played. They did a nice job of getting into the basketball and pressuring our guards."

on why Nebraska let the game get away from them down the stretch - "Well we had a defensive breakdown on that. Instead of just letting the big guys shoot the basketball, he broke us down on penetration and they made two extra passes and we lost Jenkins and then he made the three, and again that was the big play...Maybe I should have done something different defensively to keep them from getting to the free throw line."

Nebraska Forward Brandon Ubel - on what happened to Nebraska down the stretch - "It's like Coach said, they kept penetrating and drawing fouls and that's probably what we should have been doing...They got some easy points at the free throw line, and we weren't getting fouls, we weren't getting easy looks and that was pretty much the difference in the game."

Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings - on overall performance - "I'm proud of my team - that's the first thing I can say - because on a day when we didn't shoot the ball very well and I thought Nebraska played very hard, they played with great physicality- they really stuck to their game plan. I thought we were able to sort of survive until we got back on our game and started playing the way we like to play. But a lot of us being taken out of that had to do with them. We're fortunate to win. They led that game for a long, long time and we're fortunate to win. My hat is certainly off to them because I thought they played very hard, but I'm also very proud of my team because I thought we hung in there during those stretches when they had a three-point lead and had the ball. When you start getting two or three possessions behind, then that creates a little tension and anxiety and our guys were able to, for the most part, keep it to one possession. Our guys battled hard."

on the play of John Jenkins and other individuals - "John kind of did the job for us offensively, both him and Jeff Taylor, but I really thought Kyle Fuller - his defense when he came and extended the floor and gave u some defensive pressure - and Steve Tchiengang's inside play, rebounding and he blocked a shot and hit that big three. I thought those two guys off the bench really impacted the game in the second half and down the stretch."

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.