• Video: Watch highlights from the Huskers' 63-46 win over Oklahoma on Saturday:



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LINCOLN — Put aside for now that Nebraska's next five men's basketball games are against Top 25 opponents, and the sixth might be, too.

The Huskers deserve a few hours to feel good about ending their five-game Big 12 losing streak Saturday night with a defensive masterpiece, 63-46 over Oklahoma.

NU held OU to season lows in points (46), points in a half (20) and field goals (15). Sooner guard Tommy Mason-Griffin, who scored 38 points on Wednesday, was held to nine, while All-Big 12 pick Willie Warren, averaging 17.6 points, finished with four.

No wonder the Devaney Center crowd of 8,040 rose for a standing ovation as the final seconds ticked away.

“I knew this team tonight, win or lose, was going to come out, look people in the eye and play aggressive,'' Husker coach Doc Sadler said. “This team has been practicing way too good to not be rewarded with some wins.''

The Big 12 win was the first in January for Nebraska (13-8, 1-5). Does that bring any sense of relief, a TV reporter wanted to know?

“It's no big deal,'' Sadler deadpanned. After a swig of water and a wry pause, he continued.

“It's huge!'' he exclaimed. “What do you want me to say? It ain't no fun when you're 0-5. I thought for four games we played well. Things will be better around my house, I hope.''

Any strong basketball performance in Sadler's four years at Nebraska has started with defense. That was true again Saturday night.

Oklahoma, averaging 75 points a game, missed 11 of its first 12 shots and finished at 34.9 percent, including at least five airballs.

“We could never get into a rhythm offensively,'' OU coach Jeff Capel said. “Credit their defense. Doc does such a great job getting his guys to play hard, and he teaches defense the right way.''

Sadler called it NU's best defensive performance of the season “because we were aggressive again. That's the only chance we've got is to play harder.''

“When we do that, we can get some free baskets,'' he said. “That's why we haven't been scoring. We blew the roof off tonight with 63.''

Jokes aside, the offense took part in the increased aggression, too.

Sophomore guard Brandon Richardson scored 12 of his game-high 16 points in the second half, including seven in an 88-second stretch as Nebraska turned its 29-20 halftime lead into a 46-30 advantage.

“All my teammates and coaches have been saying, ‘Brandon, be more aggressive,'” he said. “I'm being selfish if I don't take open shots.''

Two more signs of aggression:

• Center Jorge Brian Diaz's putback power-slam with 6:03 left that blunted a mini-rally from Oklahoma. Diaz scored eight of his 10 points in the second half and added seven rebounds to help NU hold a 36-27 edge in that category.

• Point guard Lance Jeter barreling down the floor in transition, often leaving a body or two in his wake while creating some easier shots and crashing the boards.

“That's the strength of my game and Richardson's game,'' Jeter said, “especially when we've got the big men who can run. We're going to outrun a lot of big men. With them running, we can get a lot of easy baskets.''

Jeter had eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and no turnovers while hounding OU's Warren — a preseason All-American — into the third-lowest point total in his 55-game career.

Nebraska's celebration of the win literally will last only a few hours. The Huskers gather again at 2 today to start work on Tuesday's home game against No. 11 Kansas State, which fell in overtime Saturday night to No. 2 Kansas.

“Like Coach said, for this game, we had to man up,'' Jeter said. “Tuesday, we're definitely going to have to man up. We're going to have to take two steps forward if we want to get that win.''

Contact the writer:

444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com

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• Video: Nebraska coach Doc Sadler speaks at the postgame press conference after the Huskers' 63-46 win over Oklahoma on Saturday: