Nov. 27, 2010
 
A 20 point rally puts down USC.
 
Lincoln. — Nebraska trailed by as much as 20 points and did not take its first lead until under five minutes remaining, as the Huskers matched their largest comeback in school history with a 60-58 win over USC in the opening game of the 2010 Big 12/Pac 10 Hardwood Series on Saturday evening at the Devaney Center.

Sophomore center Jorge Brian Diaz scored 10 of his team-high 14 points in the second half to lead the Huskers back from a 39-26 halftime deficit. Nebraska, which surrendered 39 first-point points, held USC to 19 second-half points on 28 percent (8-of-29) shooting from the field. Nebraska's strong defensive effort over the last 20 minutes included five blocks and four steals, as the Huskers created opportunities.

"We made some shots (in the second half), but the biggest thing with this team was that they found a way in the last five minutes to come back and win a game," Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler said. "I think that is huge. We were down 20 in the first half, and I'm not sure the toughness would have been there a year ago. We just kept going and the guys just kept competing and that is a credit to them."

The Huskers 20-point deficit matched a school record set against Kansas State on Jan. 15, 1997, and easily topped the previous largest deficit overcome in Sadler's five seasons, which was 14 points last year against TCU.

Diaz hit his first four shots of the second half and connected on 7-of-11 attempts in the game to go along with two blocks and one steal. Nebraska cut the halftime deficit to 10 points to 43-33 just 3 � minutes into the second half on a Brandon Richardson lay-up that resulted from back-to-back blocks from Diaz on the defensive end. Less than two minutes later, Diaz grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a short hook shot to make it 46-37 before a steal from Drake Beranek led to Jeter lay-up, cutting the deficit to 46-39 and forcing USC to call a timeout.

Jeter put together one of the best games of his career, finishing with 13 points, a career-high eight rebounds and five assists without a turnover in 34 minutes. Another junior college transfer, junior Caleb Walker, had 10 points, including two key 3-pointers later in the first half to start the comeback, and five rebounds.

Down 46-39, Walker tipped in a missed Jeter three-pointer before Beranek ignited the Devaney Center crowd with a three-pointer from the right wing to make it 46-44 with 13 minutes remaining.

USC extending its lead back to six points at 55-49 until a three-pointer from sophomore guard Eshaunte Jones hit a three-pointer to cut that margin in half (55-52) with 7:34 remaining in the game.

The Huskers held the Trojans to just eight points in the final 10 minutes. The tough defense allowed Nebraska to take its first lead of the game, at 56-55 on a pair of Walker free throws with 4:47 remaining. Jeter added a lay-up after a Diaz steal on USC's ensuring possession, while NU increased its lead to 60-55 following an 18-foot jumper from Christian Standhardinger with 2:21 left.

After USC's Maurice Jones converted a three-point play with seven seconds remaining to make it 60-58, Nebraska missed the front end of its 1-and-1 free throw situation for the second time, but Jones' three-point attempt at the buzzer fell short to give the Huskers its thrilling 60-58 win.

Nebraska's large first half deficit was due to a struggling shooting effort from the field, as the Huskers shot just 42 percent (10-of-24) to USC's 57 percent (17-of-30). That helped the Trojans build a 10-2 lead out of the gate, as NU connected on just one of its first 11 attempts. USC had seven players score in the first half and built a 20-point lead (37-17) with two minutes remaining before Walker led the Huskers on a 9-2 run to close the half and pull NU within 13 points at the intermission. Walker hit a pair of three-pointers with under 90 seconds remaining. Jeter had eight points in the first half, while Diaz added four.

The Trojans were connecting on all cylinders in the first half, including 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range. Alex Stepheson led USC (4-3) with 14 points and nine rebounds, while NU limited Nikola Vucevic to just five points, on 2-of-15 shooting.

Nebraska continues its 10-game homestand this Wednesday when the Huskers host Jackson State at 7 p.m.

Nebraska Notes vs. USC

*-The 20-point deficit Nebraska overcame in the win is believed to equal the largest in school history, matching a 20-point deficit Nebraska overcame in an 87-77 overtime win over Kansas State on Jan. 15, 1997. Prior to today, the largest comeback under Sadler at Nebraska was 14 points, set against Texas Tech on Feb. 27, 2010. Nebraska trailed by 20 points in the first half on two occasions, the last being at 37-17 with 2:05 left in the half. NU closed the first half on a 9-2 run, including a pair of 3-pointers by Caleb Walker.

*-Nebraska is now 3-1 in Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series games, going 2-0 against USC and 1-1 against Arizona State. Only Texas, which is 3-0 in series games and plays at USC on Dec. 5, has a better record among Big 12 teams

*-Nebraska improves to 3-5 all-time against USC, but 2-0 in the Devaney Center. The Huskers defeated the Trojans, 93-84, in the Devaney Center in 1991.

*-Nebraska finished the game shooting at 50 percent (24-48), marking the second straight game and third time this season NU has shot 50 percent or better. NU was just the second opponent to shot 50 percent or better against USC this season. The Husker made just 1 of their first 11 shots from the floor.

*-The Huskers held USC to just 27.6 percent shooting, including 1-of-9 from 3-point range, in the second half. USC hit 56.7 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of action.

*-The Huskers have won 16 straight home non-conference games and is now 40-1 at home in non-conference games under Sadler

*-Nebraska committed a season-low 13 turnovers on the day, including four in the second half.

*-Lance Jeter's eight rebounds was a career best, topping his previous high of seven on four occasions. He also totaled 13 points and had five assists without a turnover. He is the seventh different person to lead NU in rebound this season.

*-Jorge Brian Diaz's 14 points was a season best and the third straight game he finished in double figures

*-USC out-rebounded NU, 32-30, becoming the first team in eight games dating back to last season to out-rebound Nebraska. It fell one game shy of Nebraska's longest streak in the Big 12 era.

*-Caleb Walker's 10 points was the second time he has been in double figures this year and first since getting 13 points against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. His two 3-pointers also matched his entire season total coming into today.

Nebraska Head Coach Doc Sadler On the game "As I told the team, I don't know. In the first half, I thought we were getting some good looks and good shots from the guys that needed to get them, all but about probably two or three. We just weren't making some shots, and they (USC) were making everything. We went to a zone defense and probably stayed in it a little too long. I probably should have switched back from that but I didn't. We had a nice little run at the end of the half. I told the team at halftime that we weren't going to go out there and get a 13-point play. I wanted to go out there those first five minutes and play as hard as we could play and just peck and peck away."

On the comeback "I give a lot of credit to your guys. We made some shots, but the biggest thing was with this team was that they found a way in the last five minutes to come back and win a game. I think that is huge. We were down 20 in the first half. I'm not sure the toughness would have been there a year ago. We just kept going and the guys just kept competing and that is a credit to them. The coaches had nothing to do with it. It was all them competing and making their own adjustments and playing tough. Give our guys credit. They came back after a tough first half. We have been talking about the toughness with this basketball team and that is what you have to have."

On the team's ability to get out and create turnovers on defense "We talked about that at halftime, getting four or six easy points. Anytime you can get an easy basket, that helps you a lot. That kind of got it going. It gets the crowd going. That is part of being at home. I don't know how many steals we had the second half, but I think we got four to six points easy."

On the change in energy between the first and second half "I don't know that the energy was that bad. There wasn't that much change. They shot the lights out. Defense and intensity and the crowd changed, all those things feed into each other and they started missing some shots. More than offensively, I thought our defense down the stretch changed. We gave up 39 in the first half and 19 in the second half against a team that's strength is inside."

On Lance Jeter's play and his play not showing up in stats "He is supposed to do that. That's Lance. If we are going to make tough plays, Lance will be the one to make them. He has been there. I thought the biggest thing that Lance did was when we were struggling, he tried to get his teammates going in a positive way. We don't need to compound the problem by being negative. That doesn't help anything. I thought some of the big rebounds that Lance got were huge."

On if the offense's problems in the first half was that they just weren't making shots "I thought it was. I thought we got good shots. Andre (Almeida) got some shots but missed some open jump shots. Brian (Diaz) got some looks. We turned it over too much in the first half. We still need to get the turnovers down to under 10."

On how to improve the zone defense "They made some shots. I thought they shot it really well. Mainly, it was that more than anything. "

On what NU did against Nikola Vucevic "We started doubling him more and a lot quicker in the second half. I thought that was it. Again, usually one of his strengths is shooting the ball facing the basket and he missed some open shots. I thought Alex Stepheson was a much better offensive player today than we thought he might be. He's tough down there."

Senior Point Guard Lance Jeter On big plays sparking the comeback "It's just trying to take one play at a time. Basically, my team just stepped up. They showed a lot of heart. The crowd being so loud and into the game helped us out so much. I'm just so proud of my team and so happy that the crowd was so into the game. That is what we need, especially in these tough games. They definitely helped us get the win today."

On if he can point to any one play in the second half that turned things around "It was a whole bunch of different plays. You have Caleb (Walker), who before the first half had hit two big three-pointers. That just sparked it. Rebounding, (Jorge Brian) Diaz just played tough down there. That's what you need, everybody doing their part all together and being mentally tough. Coach (Sadler) said before the game that everything might not go our way and there's always going to be tough times. It was a tough time, we were down 20 points. It just shows our mental toughness and that we don't give up. I'm so proud of my team for not giving up. They showed a lot of heart."

On what went wrong in the first half "In the first half, we were panicking a little bit. We were taking quick shots. We knew that Brian Diaz and the big men had opportunities to score. He showed that last year. He told me he felt like he could score every time. We (the guards) didn't give him the ball enough. We got him the ball (in the second half) and he showed what he could do. We were just being patient, locking down defense, helping each other, rotating, making sure we have each other's back. That's what we did in the second half."

Nebraska Junior Guard Caleb Walker On the key to the comeback "The intensity, executing our offense and getting the stops on defense. I think that was the real big key in the second half."

On hitting the 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions at the end of the first half "We had a lot of confidence after that. Coming into this whole week, (our attitude) was being confident, especially the guards. Coach (Sadler) was telling us to be confident. If you go inside and kick it out, you have to be confident and knock them down."

USC Head Coach Kevin O'Neill On what happened to USC's big lead "There's always a defining point in a game. Nikola (Vucevic) misses a lay-up, they go down and get a three-point play. Instead of going up 20, it goes to 17. They do their job and get it to 13 at the half and then they carried that momentum into the second half - and we didn't really do that."

On if his team showed its youth, considering three freshmen played heavy minutes "We did show our youth in the second half, especially in the last four or five minutes, but that's no excuse."

On what he liked from this game "I thought we played pretty well. That's the first time we played on the road. I'm down that we lost, obviously. It appears like it's going to be a growing process. Nikola (Vucevic) didn't give us anything on either end, which didn't help. But we have to understand that what wins on the road is defense, no turnovers, rebounding the ball and taking good shots. We didn't really do that down the stretch like we needed to."

On the game "It's a shame. It's a tight game and we turned it over twice in a row. We have two bad turnovers and when you have bad turnovers, it's really hard to deal with that on the road."

USC Senior Guard Donte Smith Overall thoughts: "They just took all the momentum. The crowd came back into the game and it just switched."

On what you can take from a game like this: "It's definitely a learning experience. We got to learn how to play the game when we have big leads like that."

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.