Monday, January 28, 2008
Doc Sadler knew his Nebraska team had to play a special game to hang with Kansas on Saturday. For Sadler’s squad, playing perfect means getting scoring production from senior center Aleks Maric. What did Maric give Nebraska on Saturday? Zero. Zilch. Zippo.
Maric finished with zero points in 21 minutes on zero of six shooting. He also missed two free throws.
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With Maric unable to buy a bucket, Nebraska’s offense sputtered for the second consecutive year at Allen Fieldhouse.
“Aleks has got to be the guy that we get on his back and ride,” Sadler said, “He didn’t score a point. Therefore, our team didn’t play well.”
With Maric rendered a non-factor, Kansas outscored Nebraska 40-22 in the paint. Maric, who did finish with nine rebounds, didn’t make excuses for his scoreless afternoon. Instead, he gave credit to Kansas.
“You go down the list: they have so much size, so much athleticism, they’re sound defensively,” Maric said.
Kansas rotated four big bodies on Maric, who came into Saturday’s game averaging 16.3 points per game. Senior forward Darnell Jackson and senior center Sasha Kaun were matched up with the Sydney, Australia, native for the bulk of his minutes, and sophomore forward Darrell Arthur and freshman center Cole Aldrich defended him at times as well. Jackson said it wasn’t just the frontcourt that should get credited with stopping Maric.
“If it wasn’t for the guards, I think Maric would have scored,” Jackson said. “The guards moved down and were so hard on him. Every time he tried to move down in the post they came in and got some steals to make it hard on him.”
Limited by two early fouls, Maric only played ten minutes in the first half. With its leading scorer getting very few touches, Nebraska attempted to go to Maric on the first three possessions of the second half. The big guy’s nightmare continued.
On the first possession of the half, Russell Robinson crept behind Maric for a steal. Darnell Jackson played the bully on the next possession, ripping the ball away from a dazed Maric. Then on the following possession, Maric clanked a right jump-hook off the back-rim.
“I probably could have been more aggressive, or you know, just tried different stuff,” Maric said. “I was just settling for the right hand jump-hook.”
It was Maric’s first scoreless game of the year. In fact, Maric hadn’t gone scoreless in a game since Dec. 31, 2005, against Florida State. In that game, Maric, then a sophomore, didn’t attempt a shot in a 74-60 loss.
With Maric unable to buy a bucket, Nebraska’s offense sputtered for the second consecutive year at Allen Fieldhouse. The Cornhuskers’ 49 points actually topped their 39-point output from a year ago.
“I was just thinking, how can we score, how can we score, how can we score?” Sadler said. “You have to score so many points against these guys and that is something we just aren’t very good at.”
Maric, a preseason selection on the coaches’ First Team All-Big 12 team, was apologetic for his play.
“I let the team down today, and being a senior, it’s a big thing,” Maric said. “I take full responsibility for that. I should have led this team, but I give Kansas credit for shutting me down.”
— Edited by Daniel Reyes
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