Stats & coverage � Box score

Jan. 18, 2003
 
Johnson Leads Huskers to Overtime Win Over Colorado
 
Nebraska postgame notes:
** Tonight marked the Huskers’ second overtime game of the year, and second in the past six games. Nebraska won its first overtime game against Denver, 79-75, on Jan. 4. Nebraska and Colorado also went into overtime in 2001 at Boulder, with the Huskers winning 87-82.

** The Huskers improved to 5-1 in overtime games under coach Collier, and have won five straight games in OT, dating back to a 78-75 win over Oklahoma State on Feb. 7, 2001.

** Nebraska’s first two Big 12 home games have been decided by a combined four points with the Huskers going 1-1.

** Junior guard Nate Johnson recorded his third 20-point game of the season with 24 points, one point off his season high of 25 against Denver. In both contests, Johnson hit shots to send the game into overtime. Against the Pioneers, Johnson scored NU’s final seven points of regulation, including a pair of free throws with :45 remaining to send that game into overtime.

** Nebraska placed four players in double figures for only the third time this season (also vs. Lipscomb and IPFW), as NU tied its season high with 80 points. The Huskers also scored 80 points in a win over No. 17 Minnesota on Dec. 8. The Huskers had just three points off the bench, as the starters combined for 77 points.

** Tonight’s game marked just the second time this season, NU recorded at least 80 points in a game.

** The Huskers are now 8-0 on the season, including 6-0 at home, when leading with 5:00 left in regulation.

** Senior guard Brennon Clemmons made his third start of the season and first since Nov. 23 against Alaska-Fairbanks. Clemmons, who started 14 games last season for the Huskers, is returning from three dislocated toes in his right foot suffered against Texas-San Antonio on Dec. 1. Clemmons had one steal, one rebound and two points in the first minute of the game before finishing with a season-high 11 points.

** Sophomore forward John Turek came out strong with 10 points in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting before finishing with 16 points, two off his season best of 18 vs. IPFW on Dec. 14. Turek hit his first five shots from the floor before finishing 7-of-9 from the field. He added seven rebounds and a pair of blocks.

** Nebraska’s defense limited Colorado to 6-of-22 shooting (27.2 percent), as Colorado shot just 39.7 percent from the floor. NU has now held 10-of-16 opponents under 40 percent shooting, and nine-of-16 to under 30 percent from long range.

** Nebraska had six assists in the first half, after recording a season-low six assists on Wednesday’s loss to Texas A&M. The Huskers, playing without sophomore point guard Jake Muhleisen who suffered a season-ending hip socket fracture last Saturday at Kansas, finished with 13 assists, as Brennon Clemmons and Nate Johnson ran the point. The Huskers also committed just 12 turnovers in 45 minutes, marking the fifth time NU had 12 or fewer turnovers in a game.

** Guard Jason Dourisseau’s three-pointer with 6:13 left in the game was the first points for Nebraska off the bench. The trey put Dourisseau into a tie for 10th place on the NU freshman three-pointers chart. He now has 11 treys this season and is tied for 10th with Andre Woolridge (1993).

** The Huskers were outrebounded 44-40 by the Buffaloes, but did a better job on CU forward Stephane Pelle, who averaged 15 rebounds over three meetings last year. Pelle finished with seven rebounds tonight.

** Colorado center David Harrison’s double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds was just the fourth against the Huskers this season, and the second in conference play as Kansas forward Jeff Graves had 10 points and 11 rebounds in NU’s Big 12 opener. Harrison now has five double-doubles on the season.

NU Head Coach Barry Collier
Opening Statement
"I thought that we battled well tonight. I thought that we played hard, and I am especially pleased to win after what happened Wednesday night. Today was a great effort by our guys to get it done in overtime. I've got to give an assist to the crowd, especially the students, they were in the game the whole time."

On CU's David Harrison fouling out early
"He's an exceptional player. I thought that he put a lot of pressure on us throughout the game, and he really challenged us with blocked shots. He's a really strong player. When he fouled out, that opened up the lane for us to get it and score."

On guard Nate Johnson
"We look for Nate to be aggressive. At the end of regulation, he split the zone and got into the paint, and they didn't pick him up. It was a great individual play."

On John Turek's performance early in the game
"That was the most aggressive that I have seen John play. He just went straight to the bucket."

Nate Johnson
The Big 12 is a tough, physical league, and any team we face is going to match our talent. So it's a battle night in and night out. On getting to the basket

I felt good about it. Colorado went into a zone, and I saw the opening and just tried to attack and get the bucket. Our coaches just told us to attack, attack, attack, and we kept going at it.About becoming the team's leader

If there is any time to step up and be a leader, it is now. It's conference time, and that's when you want to show emotion. It was feling it, and it just came out.On Brennon Clemmons returning to the lineup

It lessened the load on me that Brennon was able to play a good 38 minutes. They came out and were maybe focused on me, so it Brennon coming out like that was a big key in the game.Sophomore Forward John Turek

John Turek
Overall, it is a huge win for us, confidence-wise. Just knowing that we can win in this league, and that we can produce in this league, is big for us. I'm proud of the team.On playing against David Harrison:

The coaches had said that David Harrison was maybe a little slow and might foul a lot. So they told me to go at him, that I was faster than him inside. When Harrison went out, we didn't hesitate to take it to the basket. I think he's the top shot blocker in our conference, so when he fouled out, it gave us more confidence to take it and go up in the lane. We didn't think twice then.

Colorado Head Coach Ricardo Patton
Opening Statement
"We had a couple of free throw attempts where we missed some rebounds. Our rebounding wasn’t terrible, but we missed them at some key moments. I was happy with the guys who started tonight. They did a terrific job and were ready to go in at halftime with a lead and play hard.

On CU working hard throughout the game
"You can make up for a lot if the guys just work hard. You need to coach them and they will play extremely hard. They will make some young mistakes, but I’d rather live with those. We did a nice job playing hard, but unfortunately we were not able to knock down the free-throws in.

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Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.