MU falls in first round of Big 12 tournament

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Aleks Maric had 17 points and 13 rebounds and muscled inside to make a key block in the final seconds to lead Nebraska past Missouri 61-56 on Thursday night in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.

Maric, a 6-foot-11 senior, moved past Tyronn Lue and Erick Strickland into sixth place on the school's career scoring charts with his 38th double-double in a conference game, the most by any active Big 12 player.

The first Husker in nine years named first-team All-Big 12, Maric raised his career point total to 1,593 going into a second-round game today against No. 5 Kansas. The Jayhawks, in an 84-49 blowout Jan. 26, held Maric scoreless for the first time since his sophomore season.

A tumultous season came to an end for Missouri at 16-16. Among the most painful memories in a disappointing season in coach Mike Anderson's second year was the fight involving several players outside a Columbia night spot in January that put star point guard Stefhon Hannah out for the year with a broken jaw.

Nebraska (19-11), which led by as many as 10 in the second half, took a 57-52 lead after two free throws by Maric. But DeMarre Carroll scored for Missouri, the Huskers committed another turnover, and Jason Horton sank a little runner that pulled the Tigers to 57-56 with 2:08 to play.

After Keon Lawrence missed a 12-footer that could have given the Tigers the lead, Steve Harley took an inbounds pass off a backdoor cut and sank a contested layup that put the Huskers on top 59-56.

With 33 seconds left, Nebraska's Sek Henry missed the front end of a one-and-one and the Tigers grabbed the ball and called timeout. After Horton missed a layup, Leo Lyons got the rebound, but Maric blocked his shot.

Jay-R Strowbridge, fouled immediately, sank both foul shots with 8 seconds left.

Harley had 14 points for Nebraska, which hit only 3-of-13 3-pointers, but outrebounded the Tigers 42-31.

Lawrence had 15 points for Missouri, which was 9-of-19 from the 3-point arc. Matt Lawrence had 12 and Carroll, the Big 12's newcomer of the year, had 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Huskers were 0-for-7 from 3-point range in the first half and didn't hit their first 3 until Harley connected from the left wing for a 36-29 lead.

Missouri was 5-of-11 from 3-point range in the first half.

The Tigers took a 25-20 lead, but the Huskers closed out the first half on a 10-3 run, and Harley canned a runner at the buzzer for a 30-28 lead.