Huskers win sixth in a row, trounce Hornets

Alonzo Edwards got his first career start in Nebraska's 80-51 win over Alabama State Wednesday night, and the 6-foot 7 freshman wanted to step for his team early.

Edwards, the tallest player on Nebraska's starting five, did so by squaring up for a wide open 3-pointer just three minutes into the game that gave Nebraska a lead it would never relinquish.

"It was all net," Edwards said. "It felt good … but I was kind of nervous when I looked at the shot clock and saw 31 seconds. I was second-guessing myself and thought ‘I want to take that back.'"

Edwards was hesitant because he is not known more for his presence in the paint than for his skills from beyond the arc. But every long range shot seemed to fall for the Cornhuskers on Wednesday night.

Six Huskers scored from long-range against the Hornets and Nebraska finished with 14 3-pointers. NU shot a blazing 64% clip from beyond the arc in the first half and 27 of the Husker's 50 first half points came off of 3-point baskets.

"We spent some extra time shooting the basketball and I've said this all along, I do think we shoot the basketball pretty good," NU coach Doc Sadler said after the game. "A key is, I think, the guys are starting to feel more comfortable with where they're shots are coming from."

The Huskers looked more than comfortable from downtown. Nebraska jumped out to an early 14-9 lead off the strength of back-to-back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers early in the first half.

Point guard Cookie Miller scored Nebraska's first two points of the game off of free throws and then hit a wide open 3-pointer to start NU's long-range barrage.

Edwards' gamble paid off the next time down the floor to give the Huskers a 8-6 advantage. Steve Harley and Ryan Anderson finished of the quartet of long-distance plays with 3-pointers of their own.

The scoring spree was followed by an Ade Dagunduro block that set up Harley for an easy layup in transition. Alabama State took a timeout down 14-9 to settle down the raucous crowd but the Huskers never looked back.

NU's offensive outburst turned into 18 Husker points just six minutes into the game and the Huskers finished with a 50-25 advantage before halftime. Nebraska finished with just 18 points in the first half of their last game against Creighton.

"I told the guys, as we keep playing and the year goes along, we'll get a great feel about each other," NU's Ryan Anderson said. "Like coach said, we can always play defense, no matter if the shots are falling or not. The offense is coming, because chemistry is something that you can't deny when you play with guys every day."

The long-distance shots kept falling in the second half as well. Nebraska's first five scores after the break were 3-pointers. The Huskers finished 14-for-25 from long range (56%) and nearly shot as many 3's as they did two-pointers (14-to-16).

NU cruised in the second-half en route to their first 6-0 start to a season since 2001. Nebraska also held its sixth straight opponent to fewer than 60 points - the first time since 1943 that the Huskers have done that to open a season. It was a team effort that featured six Huskers with over nine points. Harley led the team with 16 and Anderson added 11 to go along with seven assists.

Sadler said that he thought Alabama State was going to be one of the bigger, more athletic teams that NU had faced so far this season, and was certainly pleased by NU's performance.

"We didn't turn the basketball over, we didn't give up offensive rebounds and we made 3-point shots in the first half," Sadler said. "I don't' know that we can play much better than that."