LJWorld.com / Nebraska’s Maric erupts for 30

Archive for Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Associated Press

November 27, 2007

Lincoln, Neb. — Aleks Maric broke out of a mini slump to score 30 points Monday night and lead Nebraska to a 79-62 victory over IPFW.

Maric, the Big 12’s top returning scorer, made 13 of 18 shots in 26 minutes against the Mastodons after going a combined 6 for 15 for 18 points against Norfolk State and Creighton last week.

Nebraska (4-1) broke open the game with an 11-3 spurt that Ade Dagunduro finished with a 3-pointer with 5:43 left in the first half. That stretched the Cornhuskers’ lead from 18-15 to 29-18.

Nebraska, which led by 14 at halftime, shot 63 percent in the first half and held the Mastodons (1-3) to 38 percent.

IPFW hit 5 of 7 shots to start the second half, including three 3-pointers, to cut the lead to 51-41. But Nebraska countered with a Dagunduro layup and a 3-pointer by Paul Velander to take a 56-41 lead with 13:30 left. IPFW never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Nebraska’s biggest lead was 21.

The Huskers outrebounded the Mastodons 33-20.

Dagunduro had 15 points and Ryan Anderson added 11 for Nebraska, all in the first half.

Ben Botts led IPFW with 17 points. DeWitt Scott made four 3-pointers while scoring 14 points, and Demetrius Johnson added 12 for the Mastodons.