Nebraska secured its best conference record in a decade Saturday after beating Baylor 66-62 to close out the regular season.
The Cornhuskers finished the regular season 8-8 in the Big 12 Conference, which they haven't done since the 1998-1999 season when Cookie Belcher and Venson Hamilton led the Huskers to a 10-6 league record.
Nebraska will be the No. 8 seed in the Big 12 Tournament next week and will face ninth-ranked Baylor on Wednesday in Oklahoma City.
After a back-and-forth battle in the first half that saw nine lead changes, NU coach Doc Sadler said he was pleased with how his team came out and played harder in the second half.
"I was really concerned at halftime with our energy and enthusiasm," Sadler said. "We kind of looked lackadaisical. We didn't have the energy this basketball team usually has.
"Our team came out the second half, (and) if we shoot the basketball and we make free throws, (then) we got a chance to win some games in this league, and that is what we did down the stretch."
Four NU seniors played their final regular season game Saturday, but it was a freshman that carried the Huskers to victory.
Toney McCray led all scorers with 18 points, going 7-for-10 from the field. He also had two steals and two blocks in the game.
Despite a considerable size advantage over NU, Baylor's 24 points in the lane was equal to Nebraska.
"That is always our key," McCray said. "We try to limit their touches in the lane and try to keep the ball outside to make them make jump shots, so I think we did that today."
The game was still in doubt late in the second half, but NU took a 44-42 lead with 6:26 remaining and never relinquished it.
Baylor was able to fight back and make it a 50-49 game, but a fast break dunk from McCray silenced the crowd. McCray was fouled in the process and converted the three-point play.
The Bears came right back with a deep 3-pointer from Curtis Jerrells to cut the lead back to one, but NU senior Ade Dagunduro was able to get a dunk of his own after a backdoor cut to extend the lead to three.
Nebraska was then able to get back-to-back steals to make it 58-52 Nebraska. The Bears would get within three points one more time, but never any closer.
Nebraska was able to win despite a poor shooting night from a couple of their sharpshooters. Paul Velander and Brandon Richardson were a combined 0-8 from 3-point range for the Huskers.
On the other hand, NU redshirt freshman Alonzo Edwards, who hasn't played much since the conference season began, earned himself some minutes because of a good week of practice and went 2-for-2 from behind the arc. He's now 3-for-5 on 3-pointers this season.
"Paul (Velander) and Brandon (Richardson) — you can't ask for many more open shots than what they got. But, at the same time, Alonzo (Edwards) hit two threes," Sadler said. "Now everybody's going to be asking me why I haven't played him more."
Dagunduro was Nebraska's second leading scorer with 11 points, and 5-foot-7 Cookie Miller was NU's leading rebounder with five.
LaceDarius Dunn led the Bears in scoring with 16 points, while Jerrells added 14.
Even though Nebraska was victorious Saturday, playing Baylor again on Wednesday isn't what Sadler considers an ideal situation.
"There are a lot of teams in the league that I would rather be playing in the first game than Baylor, that is for sure," Sadler said. "But that is the way it ended up. We are going to get their best effort and I hope they get our best effort. That is all you can ask for as a coach."
LUKENICHOLS@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM
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