Huskers Pounce on Men Cagers, 117-79

LINCOLN, Neb.--A 7-ft., 2-in. King stomped the Harvard men's basketball team last night.

In the first round of the Ameritus Classic, host Nebraksa crusied past the Crimson, 117-79, behind junior center Rich King's 31 points at Bob Devaney Sports Center.

"If [King] continues to work hard and get stronger, he's and NBA player," Harvard Coach Peter Roby said. "He can shoot the jumper, he can play defense, and he can pass the ball. He can be a first-rounder."

Harvard (1-2), which will play in tonight's consolation game against the winner of last night's Air Force-Pepperdine game, played well at times, closing to within 12 points midway through the second period. But King and Co. rallied to seize control and put the game out of reach.

"Our size, depth and speed showed," Nebraska Coach Danny Nee said. "We played well."

The Cornhuskers (2-2) set the tone at the opening whistle. After a scramble for the jump-ball, King scored the game's first points with a slam dunk.

The King of the court then hit two free throws the next time down the floor, and Nebraska was rolling. On the defensive end, King also shined early, vetoing a Tarik Campbell jumper that led to a fast-break layup.

After two minutes had elapsed, the Crimson trailed, 10-0. Co-Captain Scott Gilly finally broke the ice for Harvard with a layup at the 17-minute mark.

"Harvard's dry spell early really hurt them," said Nee, whose team advanced to tonight's championship game.

With superior size and speed, the Cornhuskers scored several fast-break layups and raced to a 55-35 halftime lead.

In the first half, Harvard shot a dismal 25.6 percent from the field, while the Cornhuskers hit 52.8 of their shots. Despite the presence of King, Harvard was able to grab 27 first-half rebounds.

The Crimson came out firing in the second half as Ralph James hit a jumper on the first series. The Crimson then effectively worked its full-court press, causing Nebraska turnovers in the next few minutes.

"The difference between the team you saw in the first half and early in the second half was that you saw a [Harvard] team play with confidence," Roby said. "That's all we talked about at halftime."

With 14 minutes remaining, Co-Captain Fred Schernecker banged a three-pointer to cut the Nebraska lead to 68-54. After two James free throws made it, 68-56, Nebraska rallied. The Crimson would score only three points in the next six minutes as the Cornhuskers ran their way to a 30-point advantage.

"We worked so hard to cut the lead down from 20, that when we got it HARVARD  35-44--79 Nebraska  55-62--117

HARVARD (79): Tyler Rullman 5-1--11; Ron Mitchell 3-3--9; Fred Schernecker 4-4--14; Scott Gilly 2-1--5; Tarik Campbell 1-0--2; Dana Smith 1-0--2; Mal Hollensteiner 1-2--4; Ralph James 3-9--15; Tchad Robinson 3-0--6; Peter Condakes 1-1--3; Eric Carter 1-0--2; Mike Minor 3-0--6; Matt McClain 0-0--0; Ian Smith 0-0--0; Brain Macker 0-0--0.

Totals: 28-82 18-30 79

NEBRASKA (117): R, van Poelgeest 2-1--5; Lewis Geter 4-4--12; Rich King 12-7--31; Clifford Scales 4-5--13; Ray Richardson 5-2--13; Kelly Lively 0-0--0; Chris Cresswell 3-2--8; Carl Hayes 5-5--15; Keith Moody 1-4--6; Dapreis Owens 4-6--14.

Totals: 40-71 34-50 117

Three-pointers: Schernecker 4, Cresswell 2, Richardson, Gilly. Rebounds: Harvard 47 (James 7), Nebraska 55 (king 12). Assists: Harvard 14 (McClain, James 3), Nebraska 25 (Scales 6). Steals: Harvard 12 (Gilly, Mitchell 3), Nebraska 14 (Scales 4). Blocked Shots: Harvard 0, Nebraska 8 (King 4). Total fouls: Harvard 32, Nebraska 23. Fouled out: Lively. Turnovers: Harvard 26, Nebraska 20. down to 12, you look up and say, 'There's still10 minutes left,'" Roby said. "We missed some easyshots and gave up some easy shots."

When Harvard finally began to score again,Nebraska's offense refused to ease up. In thefinal three minutes, the Cornhuskers dazzled thefans with four slam dunks, including DapreisOwens' jam at the buzzer.

"I definitely didn't want to [run up the score]against Harvard or anyone else here, but it wasthat style of game," Nee said. "The game was muchcloser than the score indicates.