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Baylor-Nebraska Preview

Feb 9, 2010 - 11:21 PM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Baylor (17-5) at Nebraska (13-10), 9:00 p.m. EDT

Baylor has yet to find any consistency since having its nine-game winning streak snapped in its Big 12 road opener.

The 24th-ranked Bears try to get back over .500 in conference play Wednesday night when they play at last-place Nebraska.

Baylor (17-5, 4-4) opened its Big 12 schedule with a 91-60 rout of Oklahoma on Jan. 9, but failed to build on that momentum in a 78-71 loss at Colorado three days later. The Bears have split their last eight games overall - losing to ranked squads Kansas and Kansas State while beating Texas - but are coming off a 78-71 loss at Texas A&M on Saturday.

The Bears, who have not dropped consecutive games this season, are making their first visit to the Devaney Center since a 72-70 victory Jan. 19, 2008. LaceDarius Dunn scored 12 points off the bench in that matchup as they ended a seven-game skid in Lincoln.

Dunn is third in the Big 12 in scoring this season with 18.7 points per game, including 21 or more in six of his last nine games.

The junior is averaging 15.3 points in three career games versus Nebraska, including 18 in a 65-49 victory March 11 in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament. Four days earlier, Dunn led Baylor with 16 points off the bench in a 66-62 loss to the Cornhuskers in Waco.

Baylor, which is trying to reach the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years, is one of seven teams within two games of second place in the conference.

Nebraska guards Ryan Anderson, Lance Jeter and Sek Henry will have to find a way to limit the penetration of Baylor senior Tweety Carter, who averages 16.7 points and a Big 12-best 6.3 assists.

Anderson, who leads the conference with 2.0 steals per game, is also averaging team bests of 10.7 points and 4.8 rebounds.

The matchup between Baylor forward Ekpe Udoh and Cornhuskers freshman Jorge Brian Diaz could also be an interesting one. Udoh, one of three Big 12 players averaging a double-double, is second in the conference with 10.4 rebounds per game and fifth nationally with 4.1 blocks.

With 91 blocked shots, Udoh is eight shy of setting the Baylor single-season record and nine from becoming the third player in Big 12 history to reach 100 in a season.

Diaz, a 6-foot-11 center, is averaging just 4.3 rebounds, but he narrowly missed his first career double-double with 20 points and nine boards in Saturday's 75-64 loss at No. 1 Kansas. The Cornhuskers (13-10, 1-7) led the Jayhawks by four with 15:51 remaining but were outscored 11-1 over the next 3:32.

"The key plays that had to be made in the ballgame, Kansas made them," said Nebraska coach Doc Sadler, whose team has lost three of four at home in Big 12 play. "That's why they're where they're at and that's why we're where we're at."

After hosting the Bears, the Cornhuskers travel to No. 14 Texas on Saturday before playing at No. 9 Kansas State next Wednesday.

Coach Scott Drew needs two wins to reach 100 at Baylor and one to take sole possession of fifth place in program history.

Nebraska is 12-8 all-time versus Baylor.