Cornhuskers hustle past Tigers

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Statistics told the story of Nebraska's 78-62 win Saturday over Missouri. The Cornhuskers turned 12 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points, garnered 24 points from 17 Missouri turnovers and held advantages from both the 3-point and free-throw lines.

For Nebraska's Marcus Neal Jr., those numbers can be summarized in one word: Effort.

"That something you can't teach," Neal said. "The effort shows the team that wants it most. The team that gets out there and wants to get dirty gets the win."

Nebraska got plenty of effort from Neal, who scored several key 3-pointers in adding 14 points to the Husker's tally. Brian Conklin, who went 5-for-5, led the Huskers with 17 points.

"It's a nice thing to be able to shoot those," Conklin said. "But those kind of shots don't come without great plays from my teammates. I've got the easy job. I'm just standing there, and I shoot."

Nebraska (12-8, 2-6 Big 12) opened up a 17 point first half lead and let Missouri get no closer than nine the rest of the game in taking its largest victory against the Tigers since the 1996-97 season.

Nebraska's biggest lead came on Conklin's 3-pointer with 4:18 remaining, giving Nebraska a 70-50 lead. Missouri (9-10, 4-5) was able to cut Nebraska's 12-point halftime lead to nine on Rickey Paulding's basket with 16:20 remaining that made the score 42-33.

A 10-2 flurry capped by a Conklin 3-pointer put Nebraska up 52-35 with 13:55 remaining, and Missouri never seriously threatened again.

"We kept attacking throughout the whole game and the harder we played, the better it got," said Nebraska's Nate Johnson, who had 13 points.

Missouri coach Quin Snyder was disappointed in his team's effort.

"We got outplayed, obviously," Snyder said. "I thought Nebraska played very well. Collectively, we just have to be tougher. It's something you can talk about until you're blue in the face. But when you get on the floor, you've got to be men, and we just didn't play like men today."

Paulding, who scored 16 points, gave all the credit to Nebraska.

"Nebraska came out with more energy and more passion than we did today," he said. "They definitely were on their 'A' game. Hats off to them. They played their game."

Paulding led Missouri with 16. Bryant added 15 for the Tigers, Jason Conley had 12 and Arthur Johnson added 10.