National Basketball Association
Nebraska 72, Central Michigan 69
When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Where: Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Nebraska
Officials:
# D.J. Carstensen, # Paul Janssen, # Frank Spencer
Attendance:
8840
By SportsDirect Inc.
Bo Spencer scored 15 points and dished out a career-high nine assists as Nebraska closed out its non-conference schedule with a 72-69 victory over visiting Central Michigan on Tuesday.
Brandon Richardson chipped in 15 points for the Huskers (8-3), who are on a season-high four-game winning streak.
Playing without two of its top three scorers – Dylan Talley and Jorge Brian Diaz – for the second straight game, Nebraska shot 50 percent and fared much better on the offensive end against the Chippewas (5-7) after a 39.6 percent effort in Saturday’s 14-point win over Alcorn State.
However, its defense struggled to shut down a Central Michigan squad that shot 52.1 percent after entering this contest as one of the worst shooting teams in the country.
After a hot shooting first half, the Huskers appeared to be pulling away when Mike Fox hit a jumper with 13:20 remaining for a 45-33 advantage, but the Chippewas clawed back into the game by hitting eight of their next 11 shots to move to within one point at the 5:01 mark.
But Spencer scored on a layup on the next possession as Nebraska held Central Michigan scoreless over the next 3:49 to stretch the lead back to eight and held on by hitting 10 of its final 12 free throws.
Trey Zeigler finished with 20 points, eight assists and eight rebounds – all team highs – to pace the Chippewas, who have lost five straight on the road.
Top Game Performances
| Central Michigan |
|
Nebraska |
|
Trey Zeigler 20 |
Scoring |
Brandon Richardson 15 |
|
Trey Zeigler 8 |
Assists |
Bo Spencer 9 |
|
Trey Zeigler 8 |
Rebounds |
Toney McCray 8 |
|
Trey Zeigler 8 |
Free Throws Made |
Bo Spencer 6 |
|
Derek Jackson 2 |
Steals |
Bo Spencer 3 |
|
Andre Coimbra 1 |
Blocks |
Josiah Moore 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Central Michigan
|
69 |
52.1 |
8-17 |
11-20 |
17 |
21 |
3 |
7 |
11 |
| Nebraska
|
72 |
50.0 |
6-18 |
20-26 |
17 |
27 |
2 |
8 |
14 |
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