• Game stats

• Photo Showcase: Baylor 55, Nebraska 53

• Video: Nebraska coach Doc Sadler at the postgame press conference. See highlights below the story:



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LINCOLN — Once again Wednesday night, Nebraska did about everything it wanted against a ranked men's basketball opponent — except win.

The Huskers tied the school record for fewest turnovers committed with three. They held a foe rated in the Top 10 nationally in shooting to 40 percent. And they led at halftime by four points, and were still up three with less than two minutes to play.

So how did No. 24 Baylor come away with a 55-53 win?

By blocking NU point guard Lance Jeter's 3-point try with one second left, though in a larger sense because Nebraska gave it away.

Three sloppy offensive possessions at game's end and three straight possessions with points for Baylor kept the Huskers (13-11, 1-8) buried in the Big 12 cellar.

And the longer the stay at the bottom, the more the fan interest drops. The crowd of 6,496 was the third lowest for a conference game in the 34-year history of the Devaney Center.

NU's Doc Sadler, coach of the lowest-scoring team in the Big 12, found himself reciting a familiar speech after the game.

“Effort is one thing, and we're giving it,'' he said. “But you've got to make baskets. And in the last minute and 30-some seconds, we had three different things called and broke down in all of them.''

Nebraska was out of timeouts in that stretch, but Sadler said that wasn't a factor.

“We just didn't execute,'' he said, “and that comes back to me.''

Nebraska, up 27-23 at half but down 45-40 with 9:14 to play, took a 53-50 lead with 2:20 left on guard Brandon Richardson's 3-pointer. He had 10 points and four assists.

Baylor forward Ekpe Udoh drew a foul on the next possession and made two free throws to cut the lead to 53-52. Udoh finished with eight points, nine rebounds and six blocks.

Richardson followed with a miss, grabbed his own rebound and called time in a scramble to retain possession with 1:18 to go. NU then held the ball until the shot clock got to five before Jeter missed badly on a 22-foot fallaway 3.

The 6-foot-10 Udoh put Baylor ahead 54-53 with 25 seconds left with a jump hook over 6-11 Husker center Jorge Brian Diaz.

Richardson tried another 3 with about 11 seconds left but missed. Baylor's Quincy Acy grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made one of two free throws with 9.3 seconds left for a two-point lead.

Nebraska's final possession involved confusion around the 3-point line, with Jeter eventually trying a 3 that Acy easily blocked with one second left.

“We didn't execute,'' Richardson said. “And that's something we've got to live with.

“It hurts real bad. We do the things we're supposed to do in the beginning of the game. Then at the end, when it counts for the most part, we're not tougher.''

Nebraska got a boost from backup forward Myles Holley, who scored a team-high 11 points, including two big first-half dunks that got NU back in the game after an early deficit.

But all Holley wanted to discuss was another disappointing loss.

“We know we had the game,'' he said. “We know we played hard. But it came down to execution.

“We've got to get better. I don't put it on Coach. That's on us. He can't play for us. We've got to get better at executing when we're tired and play harder.''

Baylor got 19 points and seven rebounds from guard LaceDarius Dunn. The Bears were held to a season-low in points and a season low in the first half, but rallied to improve to 18-5 and 5-4.

“Any road win in the Big 12 is to be cherished,'' BU coach Scott Drew said. “It can be by one point or 30 points, they're huge.''

Contact the writer:

444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com

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• Video: Highlights from Wednesday's Nebraska-Baylor men's basketball game:

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