Jan. 3, 2011
 
The Huskers roll past North Dakota for their ninth consecutive win.
 
Lincoln. — Sophomores Eshaunte Jones and Brandon Ubel each produced a team-high 11 points to pace for Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska rolled to a 77-46 victory over North Dakota Monday night at the Devaney Center.

The Huskers (11-2) have now won nine straight games, the program's longest winning streak since the 1994-95 season, and were effective on both ends of the floor in playing their first game in 13 days.

Nebraska shot 55 percent from the floor, including strong efforts from Ubel, Jorge Brian Diaz and Andre Almeida. The trio combined to hit 12 of 16 shots from the floor, including a 5-of-6 effort from Diaz. Almeida and Diaz had 10 points apiece, as the Huskers held a 34-14 advantage in points from the paint. It was the fourth straight game NU shot above 50 percent.

Nebraska was also solid on the perimeter, hitting seven 3-pointers, including three by Jones, while holding North Dakota (5-9) to 27.6 percent shooting overall - 24.1 percent from long range - and 46 points - 14 below their season average. Jones, who reached double figures for the second time this year, hit 4-of-7 shots from the floor in the win.

The Huskers stretched a 16-point halftime lead to as much as 34 with 1:36 remaining when Ubel hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The Overland Park, Kan., native paced NU in the second half with nine points in just nine minutes of play. Eleven Huskers found the scoring column, including junior guard Kamyron Brown, who returned to the floor for the first time since the season opener Nov. 12.

The Huskers took control with a 26-8 spurt covering both halves to turn a 26-18 lead into a commanding 26-point bulge.

Jones scored all eight of his first-half points in a 12-2 run to close the half with a 36-20 lead before the Huskers began the second half on a 16-6 run to stretch its lead to double up the Fighting Sioux at 52-26 with 10:25 remaining. North Dakota struggled offensively, connecting on just 28 percent of its attempts (16-of-58), including 24 percent in the second half. Almeida scored six of his 10 points in the second half while also adding a team-high four blocks.

NU took control early on, as Diaz keyed a 12-2 spurt with two baskets, helping Nebraska turn a one-point deficit into a 20-11 lead after a Toney McCray 3-pointer with 11:27 left in the half. North Dakota kept it close and was within 26-18 after a Josh Schuler 3-pointer, but a basket by Almeida began the Huskers' surge to close the half.

Postgame Notes

*-With a win, Nebraska has now won nine straight games, the longest winning streak by the program since a 10-game win streak during the 1994-95 season.

*-Tonight's match-up was the first between the two teams since the 1934-35 season and only the third meeting all-time between the two schools.

*-Nebraska has won 23 straight non-conference home games and is 47-1 at home in non-conference games under Doc Sadler.

*-Nebraska's bench out-scored North Dakota, 44-4, on Monday night. The 11 points off the bench by Brandon Ubel and Eshaunte Jones marked the seventh time in 13 games that Nebraska's leading scorer came off the bench.

*-Nebraska held North Dakota to 27.6 percent shooting, the fourth opponent in the last five games the Huskers have held under 30 percent. NU is second nationally in field goal defense, allowing opponents to just 33.7 percent on the year.

*-Nebraska held South Dakota to just 46 points, the ninth straight foe to be held under 60 points. It is the longest stretch since a 21-game span covering the 1948-49 and 1949-50 seasons. NU has held each of its last three opponents under 50 points.

*-Nebraska started Brandon Richardson, Lance Jeter, Caleb Walker, Jorge Brian Diaz and Toney McCray, as McCray earned his first start since the Hofstra game on Nov. 21.

*-Eshaunte Jones reached double figures for the second time this season with 11 points, including 3-of-6 from the 3-point line. It is the second time he has led NU in scoring (also vs. Alcorn State with a season-high 13 points)

*-Brandon Ubel's 11 point effort was his fifth double-figure effort of the season and first since Dec. 8 against Alcorn State.

*-Jorge Brian Diaz posted his fifth straight game in double figures with 10 points, hitting 5-of-6 shots from the floor. He has shot 50 percent or better in 12 of NU's games and is connecting on 62 percent for the year.

*-NU's 10 turnovers was its second-lowest total of the season, trailing only the eight turnovers against Creighton on Dec. 5

*-Andre Almeida's four blocked shots is a single-game high for any Nebraska player this season.

Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler On the game "I thought at times our urgency was ok, but for the most part I was not very pleased with the urgency we had. I understand we were coming off a lay off and things like that, but we've been practicing much better and much harder than we play consistently. That's something we definitely have to understand in these ball games. We have to understand who we're playing against. At some point, we're basically playing against ourselves and we've got to improve in that area."

On if Toney McCray will be a regular in the starting lineup "I don't know about that. He had not started and had not played much with Jorge (Brian Diaz) and Brandon (Richardson) had not played much with Andre (Almeida). When we went with Brandon and Andre we went to a different offense. I wanted to look at more of a double low post set when those two guys are in the game. That gave us a chance for seven or eight minutes in the first half to see how that went. We had run it before with Andre and Brian and you'll probably see those two guys play together quite a bit on Wednesday."

On if there is value in defeating teams by a large margin "We needed some confidence going into the season. We talked about that. I think right now our guys are playing pretty confident, pretty loose. Defensively, the main thing is I think we ran those guys down probably five or six times under five seconds. That is pretty good. Not to look that far ahead, but Savannah State is also going to make our bigger guys defend on the perimeter and so is Iowa State. We're getting some good work out of Andre (Almeida) and Brian (Diaz) having to defend 20 feet from the basket."

Sophomore Jorge Brian Diaz On if it's hard to get back into rhythm after a layoff like they just had "The first five minutes were a little bit tiring, so the first time I got my breath back I got going a little bit better, but it was a little hard for the first five."

On if he and Andre Almeida are getting more used to guarding on the perimeter "We're feeling a little bit more comfortable. We work a lot on it in practice. Doc is a defensive coach, but we still have to work. We still make some mistakes and we sleep a little bit, but it's something we can keep working on."

Sophomore Eshaunte Jones On if he struggles from 3-point range and how that affects the team "We have a lot of people on our team that pick up the slack if I'm missing or not, so I think 3-point shooting with this team is no problem because we have a lot of shooters."

On if he think people need to step up and make more 3-pointers "I think yes, but sometimes it won't happen, so we're always going to have somebody that's going to have a hot-hand, or we always have our bigs that are going to score for us. If we keep running our offense, I think things will fall through for us, and playing good defense. I think that will work."

On if he was looking to shoot tonight "I'm always looking to shoot. I finally found a niche, because I've been shooting the ball really bad lately, and I think when I went home and just took a couple days off and spent time with my family I really think my confidence boosted a little bit, because you have everybody at home rooting for you. I think that kind of helped."

North Dakota Head Coach Brian Jones On Nebraska "Nebraska did a great job of being patient, changing sides of the court and getting it in on the angles. Our guys were in there fighting and clawing but they're just not strong enough or big enough. They did exactly what we asked them to do."

On his team's performance "The only thing I was unhappy with in the first half was they (Nebraska) had four second-chance baskets. In games like this you have to be able to rebound the ball when they do miss and not let them capitalize. I was impressed with their (Nebraska) patience and defensively, they really stayed the course. It made it tough for us physically to get anything done at the rim."

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.