Jake Muhleisen may have a career as a motivational speaker.
Before each of the Nebraska men's basketball team's home games, the Huskers' captain gives his pep talk as the team circles at center court. His basic message is simple: Play hard and set the tone early.
Monday, for the eighth time in eight home contests, NU bolted to a double-digit halftime lead en route to coasting to a 75-52 victory against Lipscomb. The win improved the Huskers' record to 8-1, which represents their best start since the 1994-95 team opened 11-1.
"I try to change it up so it doesn't get redundant, but it's basically the same thing," Muhleisen admitted. "Tonight, the emphasis was defense, because we didn't get off to a great offensive start in the last game. We know if we get stops we're going to be in games."
Nebraska, opening in a full-court press, took a 9-0 lead by causing Lipscomb to turn the ball over on its first five possessions. The Huskers led 16-2 barely eight minutes into the game and built their advantage to 23 points before taking a 40-18 lead into halftime.
"We obviously think the mental side of competition is the most important and maybe the most difficult. It simply allows you to use your skills if you are focused," said NU coach Barry Collier, speaking to his team's consistent strong starts. "I thought our guys played physical in the first half and anticipated well in the half court and the full court, defensively.
"They packed in their defense again and we had to try to beat them over the top, which in the end we were able to do a decent amount."
Nebraska got a career-high 21 points from sophomore forward Jason Dourisseau, 14 from senior forward Andrew Drevo (who also had a career-high seven assists) and 12 from the junior guard Muhleisen.
Lipscomb shot a NU opponent season-best 53.8 percent from the field (21-for-39), but committed 21 turnovers that led to 18 Nebraska points. The Bisons were able to produce just five points off the Huskers' 14 turnovers.
Lipscomb got as close as 12 points in the final half, the final time at 62-50 on a driving basket by Brian Fisk with 6:32 to play. Dourisseau answered with a move in the lane that started a three-point play, then hit a shot from outside the 19-foot, 9-inch arc to boost the advantage to 18 points.
"We hit a wall, both offensively and defensively," Dourisseau said. "When you're up, you've just got to keep fighting though it. When you're down, you're just trying to make anything happen, so there is a little bit of difference.
"These guys shoot 40 percent from three (-point range), so we kind of figured they'd get hot at one point. You've just got to kind of weather the storm."
What helped Nebraska fight off Lipscomb's late charge was a 10-for-11 performance from the free throw line. The last time the Huskers fared better than that at the charity stripe was Nov. 26, 1995, when they sank 20 of 21 against Minnesota.
Ironically, the Golden Gophers are NU's next opponent. The Huskers will take a three-day break for Christmas before returning for two-a-day practices on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in preparation for Monday's game in Minneapolis.
"I'm happy going into Christmas with the record, but at the same time you can't feel too good because you've got more than half the season left," Dourisseau said.
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