awefullspellare
01-05-2003, 08:50 AM
Johnson's late surge rescues Huskers in OT
BY MITCH SHERMAN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - The Nebraska men's basketball team appears to have identified the answer to late-game problems.
Now if the Huskers could find a solution for their troubles in the first half, they just might be ready for the Big 12 season - which, don't look now, starts next Saturday at Kansas.
NU dug itself a hole for the fifth straight game Saturday. And for the second time in five days, junior Nate Johnson came to the rescue. The 6-foot-2 guard from Kansas City, Kan., scored seven points in the final 1:59 of regulation and five straight in overtime, lifting the Huskers to a 79-75 win over the University of Denver.
"He's stepping up big time in crucial situations," sophomore guard Jake Muhleisen said. "He's hitting big shots when we need him, and we're going to keep giving him the ball."
On Tuesday Johnson scored 10 straight NU points over the final 2:45 in a three-point win over Eastern Washington.
He hit for a career-high 25 points Saturday. And this time he had plenty of help. Before 7,012 at the Devaney Center, Muhleisen scored 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including a trio of 3-pointers that kept the Huskers close over the first 30 minutes. And sophomore forward John Turek had 16 rebounds in 34 minutes for the Huskers, who improved to 7-5.
The Pioneers (8-6) lost for the first time in four games, squandering a chance to beat the Huskers at the end of regulation. After Johnson tied the game at 68-68 on a pair of free throws with 46.3 seconds left, B.J. Pratt missed a 3-pointer, followed by a missed shot from Carvell McAlister.
NU guard Corey Simms got the rebound, but he was whistled for traveling with 12.5 seconds to play. After a Denver timeout, guard Rodney Billups - the brother of ex-Colorado star and current Detroit Piston Chauncey Billups - fooled Turek on a shot fake but missed an open jumper from about eight feet.
"I'd have felt fairly good with that shot if I was on their bench," NU Coach Barry Collier said.
Billups fouled out 13 seconds into overtime, leading to two free throws by Turek, who was 4 for 10 from the line Saturday.
As a team, the Huskers missed 15 of their first 27 foul shots before hitting 12 of their final 15. After Turek's third free throw of overtime put NU on top 71-68, Andrew Drevo contributed his only field goal of the day, a tip of Simms' missed shot that let Nebraska match its largest lead at five points.
Denver pulled to 76-75 on a Dusty Wadlington 3-pointer with 1:15 left. Johnson then missed a jumper with 38 seconds to play, but Turek stole the ball from Brett Starkey under the hoop and Johnson sank two free throws.
Collier and the Huskers said they were not discouraged by winning their past two games by a total of seven points against teams from the Big Sky and Sun Belt Conferences.
"I think it will teach us that we've got to come out hard all the time," Johnson said. "We had effort in the first half, but we didn't have the focus that we needed."
Both teams committed 13 turnovers, and the rebounding battle was even at 41. Pratt led five Pioneers in double figures with 17 points.
"One of the things that we're learning is that we have to grant the other team a lot of respect and humility," Collier said. "We can't come in thinking we're the better team. We want to think of the other teams as better than us, regardless of where they're from."
BY MITCH SHERMAN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN - The Nebraska men's basketball team appears to have identified the answer to late-game problems.
Now if the Huskers could find a solution for their troubles in the first half, they just might be ready for the Big 12 season - which, don't look now, starts next Saturday at Kansas.
NU dug itself a hole for the fifth straight game Saturday. And for the second time in five days, junior Nate Johnson came to the rescue. The 6-foot-2 guard from Kansas City, Kan., scored seven points in the final 1:59 of regulation and five straight in overtime, lifting the Huskers to a 79-75 win over the University of Denver.
"He's stepping up big time in crucial situations," sophomore guard Jake Muhleisen said. "He's hitting big shots when we need him, and we're going to keep giving him the ball."
On Tuesday Johnson scored 10 straight NU points over the final 2:45 in a three-point win over Eastern Washington.
He hit for a career-high 25 points Saturday. And this time he had plenty of help. Before 7,012 at the Devaney Center, Muhleisen scored 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including a trio of 3-pointers that kept the Huskers close over the first 30 minutes. And sophomore forward John Turek had 16 rebounds in 34 minutes for the Huskers, who improved to 7-5.
The Pioneers (8-6) lost for the first time in four games, squandering a chance to beat the Huskers at the end of regulation. After Johnson tied the game at 68-68 on a pair of free throws with 46.3 seconds left, B.J. Pratt missed a 3-pointer, followed by a missed shot from Carvell McAlister.
NU guard Corey Simms got the rebound, but he was whistled for traveling with 12.5 seconds to play. After a Denver timeout, guard Rodney Billups - the brother of ex-Colorado star and current Detroit Piston Chauncey Billups - fooled Turek on a shot fake but missed an open jumper from about eight feet.
"I'd have felt fairly good with that shot if I was on their bench," NU Coach Barry Collier said.
Billups fouled out 13 seconds into overtime, leading to two free throws by Turek, who was 4 for 10 from the line Saturday.
As a team, the Huskers missed 15 of their first 27 foul shots before hitting 12 of their final 15. After Turek's third free throw of overtime put NU on top 71-68, Andrew Drevo contributed his only field goal of the day, a tip of Simms' missed shot that let Nebraska match its largest lead at five points.
Denver pulled to 76-75 on a Dusty Wadlington 3-pointer with 1:15 left. Johnson then missed a jumper with 38 seconds to play, but Turek stole the ball from Brett Starkey under the hoop and Johnson sank two free throws.
Collier and the Huskers said they were not discouraged by winning their past two games by a total of seven points against teams from the Big Sky and Sun Belt Conferences.
"I think it will teach us that we've got to come out hard all the time," Johnson said. "We had effort in the first half, but we didn't have the focus that we needed."
Both teams committed 13 turnovers, and the rebounding battle was even at 41. Pratt led five Pioneers in double figures with 17 points.
"One of the things that we're learning is that we have to grant the other team a lot of respect and humility," Collier said. "We can't come in thinking we're the better team. We want to think of the other teams as better than us, regardless of where they're from."