LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska linebacker Sean Fisher has announced his plan to enroll in medical school next fall rather than petition the NCAA for a sixth season with the Cornhuskers.

Fisher broke his leg in preseason practice in 2010 and missed the entire season. He could have asked the NCAA for eligibility in 2013.

Fisher said Monday it’s “time to move on” and put all his energy into preparing for medical school. He said he appreciated the time coach Bo Pelini gave him to finalize his decision.

Fisher started five of 14 games this past season, and his 48 tackles ranked ninth on the team. He carries a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in business administration/pre-medicine.

University Park, Pa. – Emily Cady nearly notched her third Big Ten double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds, but No. 8 Penn State used a 33-10 surge in an eight-minute stretch to knock off Nebraska 78-58 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Nebraska slipped to 12-5 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten, while the Lady Lions improved to 13-2 overall and 3-0 in the conference.

Jordan Hooper finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, while Lindsey Moore added 11 points and five assists.

Nebraska hit just 31.4 percent (22-70) from the field for the game, including just 5-of-25 three-pointers. NU also hit 9-of-10 free throws. The Huskers outrebounded Penn State, 45-41, but lost the turnover battle 19-13. PSU converted NU’s turnovers into 28 points.

Penn State shot a solid 45.5 percent (30-66), including a sizzling 8-for-18 from beyond the arc. The Lady Lions also hit 12-of-16 free throws. All-America candidates Alex Bentley and Maggie Lucas each scored 19 points and combined for eight steals to lead Penn State’s pressure defense. Ariel Edwards added 15 points and six rebounds off the bench.

“There’s a reason why Penn State is top 10 team,” Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. “They have five really good players at all five spots. Their defense was good today and they hit some shots. Alex Bentley was frankly Alex Bentley today. I thought she played great all over the floor and set the tone for them. But we have to play better and can’t make as many mistakes as we made today.”

The Huskers trailed just 26-23 with three minutes left in the first half, but Penn State closed on a 14-4 spurt then raced out of the locker room on a 19-6 surge in the first five minutes of the second half to take a 59-35 lead.

Nebraska jumped out to a 10-5 lead thanks to early three-pointers from Cady and Rachel Theriot, who finished with nine points and three assists.

The Huskers maintained a 16-15 lead after a pair of Cady free throws with 7:46 left in the half. Cady finished with 12 first-half points. But Penn State forced three straight NU turnovers to spark an 8-0 PSU run to take a 24-16 lead with five minutes left. Nebraska responded with back-to-back transition baskets to cut the Lady Lion lead to 26-23 with 3:20 left. Laudermill hit the second bucket during the stretch for NU, and sophomore guard finished with eight points.

But Penn State capped the half with a 14-4 surge in the final three minutes, including a steal and halfcourt buzzer-beater from Bentley to send PSU to the locker room with its biggest lead at 40-27.

Nebraska committed a Big Ten season-high 13 turnovers in the first half alone, and Penn State turned the miscues into 23 points. NU hit just 29 percent (9-31) from the field, including 4-of-12 from long range. The Huskers also hit 5-of-6 free throws. NU also won the first-half rebounding battle 23-20, including 11 offensive rebounds that the Huskers turned into 10 second-chance points.

Penn State hit 15-of-34 shots (44.1 percent), including 7-of-14 three-pointers, to go along with 3-of-4 free throws. Bentley, who opened the season 2-of-24 from three-point range in non-conference play, went 3-for-5 from outside in the first half, including the halfcourt heave.

Bentley finished with 11 first-half points, including PSU’s first five of the game, while Lucas added 12 first-half points, including 3-of-6 threes.

Penn State put the game away by outscoring the Huskers 15-4 in the first 4:30 of the second half to take a 55-31 lead and never looked back.

The Huskers return home to take on Illinois on Thursday night at the Devaney Center. Tip-off between Nebraska and the Fighting Illini is set for 7:05 p.m., and tickets are available now at Huskers.com.

East Lansing, Mich. – David Rivers led Nebraska with 18 points in his first career start, but No. 22 Michigan State closed the game on a 11-2 run, as the Spartans held on for a 66-56 victory over Nebraska Sunday evening.

Rivers, the sophomore from Little Rock, Ark., had 18 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting from the field, and added six rebounds to lead three Huskers in double figures. Dylan Talley had 17 points and four assists while Ray Gallegos added 12 points and three steals in a game which saw 12 lead changes and seven ties.

Derrick Nix led MSU with 17 points, while Adreian Payne and Brenden Dawson added 14 and 12 points, respectively, as the Spartans shot 45 percent from the field and enjoyed a 36-31 advantage on the boards against the smaller Husker lineup. Nix and Payne combined to go 12-of-15 from the floor, including a perfect 6-of-6 night for Payne off the bench.

The Huskers (9-8, 0-4 Big Ten), who were without two of their top eight players because of injuries, were within 55-54 with 2:36 left after a Ray Gallegos basket. NU had a chance to take the lead on the next possession after Benny Parker’s steal, but Talley missed the mid-range jumper and Gary Harris came down on the next possession and drained a 3-pointer from the wing with 1:49 remaining  gave Michigan State (14-3, 3-1 Big Ten) a four-point lead at 58-54. Harris, who finished with nine points and seven rebounds, was 0-of-10 from the field before his 3-pointer sparked MSU to a strong finish.  The Spartans went a perfect 6-of-6 from the line in the final 63 seconds to make the margin wider than it was in the first 39 minutes.

Nebraska put together one of its best efforts of the half, going to halftime deadlocked with the Spartans at 32-all. Rivers keyed the Huskers’ strong opening half with 12 points and four rebounds while Shavon Shields added nine points in the opening 20 minutes, as NU committed just three turnovers and got six second-chance points, compared to only two for MSU. Shields had seven of the Huskers’ first 10 points of the contest and finished with nine points, six rebounds and a pair of assists.

After falling behind 17-12, the Huskers used a 11-2 run to take its largest lead of the half at 23-19.  A Shields jumper capped a run of six straight points and gave Nebraska an 18-17 lead before two straight Rivers baskets later gave the visitors a four-point lead and silenced the Breslin Center crowd.

Michigan State trailed 25-21 but regrouped with a run of seven straight points to take a 28-25 lead after a Keith Appling jumper. Nebraska would make one last run to close the half running off seven straight points, the last of which was a 3-pointer from David Rivers to make it a 32-28 lead, matching the Huskers largest advantage of the half.  

The first seven minutes of the second half saw the teams exchange the lead. Michigan State went inside as Payne and Nix combined for MSU’s first seven points of the half, while Nebraska countered with its jump shooting, taking a 40-39 lead after a Rivers jumper with 14:41 left. The Spartans finally made a run, as Travis Trice’s 3-pointer started a 6-0 run for MSU, as the Spartans took a 45-40 lead after a Keith Appling free throw at the 11:06 mark.  

Nebraska would answer right back, as two Rivers baskets highlighted a 5-0 spurt that pulled the teams even,  as neither team led by more than three points until Appling hit a pair of free throws at the 4:13 mark to make it 55-50. Nebraska came right back, as Gallegos hit a jumper to cut the lead to three before his backdoor layup with 2:36 left made it a one-point game.

The Huskers, who played three of their first four Big Ten games on the road against ranked teams, return to the Bob Devaney Sports Center for the first time since Jan. 6 on Wednesday night, as the Huskers play host to Purdue. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. and tickets are available by calling 800-8-BIGRED or by visiting Huskers.com.

Bisgaard did much of his damage in the second half, scoring 13 while hitting three important 3-pointers to help the Jackets improve to 4-9 overall and 3-6 in the conference.

Chadron State falls to 1-12 overall and 1-8 in conference play.

The two teams traded punches in the first half – Black Hills State led 31-30 at halftime – but the Yellow Jackets outscored the Eagles 17-5 during the first six minutes of the second period and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

In the second half, Black Hills State shot 45 percent from the field and hit five of 12 from long range. The Jackets also sank 15 of 16 free throws, while limiting CSC to 36 percent from the field.

Black Hills State was able to build its lead thanks to pounding the boards. The Jackets came down with 14 offensive rebounds and scored 22 second chance points compared to five for the Eagles.

Kendrick Holliman led Chadron State with 20 points and six rebounds. Zac Bargen scored 18 and David Downey hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points but the five remaining Eagles scored just nine points.

Alex Helmbrecht, Sports Information Director

 

CHADRON — Chelsey Biegler poured in 28 points and two teammates combined for 31 as Black Hills State defeated Chadron State 72-65 in a women’s Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference basketball game Saturday night.

Biegler, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, sank nine of 22 field goal attempts, including three 3-pointers, and made all seven of her free throws before fouling out with 4:33 to play. Black Hills led 60-54 at the time. Less than a minute later, Chadron State cut the difference to three points when Kattie Ranta hit a 12-foot jump shot.

However, the Yellow Jackets scored the next six points, five of them by Cassidy Kotelman, to get some breathing room. Kotelman initially scored on a scoop shot in the paint, then grabbed a rebound, made the putback and added the free throw when she was fouled on the shot.

Kotelman finished with 16 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while playing what coach Mark Nore said was probably her best game of the season.  Bailey Kusser added 15 points for the Yellow Jackets, now 4-9 overall and 3-6 in the RMAC.

Ranta led Chadron State with 19 points. Guards Dallas Shaw and Kate Simonton contributed 14 and 13 points, respectively.  Shaw, who was four of seven from 3-point range, also grabbed a game-best10 rebounds.

Chadron State shot 42.3 percent from the field compared to Black Hills’ 34.3 percent, but the Yellow Jackets’ 17 offensive rebounds were 10 more than the Eagles collected of their glass and helped the visitors get 18 more field goal attempts.

CSC is now 2-11 overall and 2-7 in the conference.

Both teams will play at New Mexico Highlands and Western New Mexico this coming weekend.

Con Marshall, Information Services

The McCook Community College men’s basketball team went on a late 20-4 run to upend Western Nebraska Community College 69-63 in south sub-region play on Friday at Cougar Palace.

The Cougars were playing well early on, holding a 22-14 lead in the first half and then had a 43-26 lead in the second half on a Charles Ward bucket and free throw. The Cougars even went up 48-43 on a Zach Clemens free throw and a Cody Johnson 3-pointer.

After that, though, the Indians turned up the heat defensively, limiting the Cougars to practically one shot. Also, what hindered the Cougars was missing easy bunnies underneath to untimely turnovers.

The Cougars shot just 39 percent from the field in the second half compared to 44 percent for the Indians. The first half was turned around as the Cougars shot 49 percent and the Indians 33 percent.

WNCC coach Russ Beck said it was a matter his team didn’t execute down the stretch.

“We got out hustled tonight. Give McCook credit, they did what they needed to do,” he said. “They scored 17 points off of 16 turnovers and they crashed the boards. We didn’t box out giving them too many second chance opportunities. They wanted this game more than we did, which shocks me.”

A big reason for the Cougars’ torrid first half start was the play of Ward, who scored the first 13 points of the game on three 3-pointers. Ward, the sophomore from Phoenix, missed just one shot in the first five minutes of the game. WNCC held a 13-7 lead early on.

After that early lead, the other players started heating up as Youssoupha Kane hammered home a dunk and then Rich Williams drained a big 3-pointer to put WNCC up 22-12. The Indians fought back to tie the game at 30-30 on a bucket by Tony Dobbinson before Isaiah Castellaw gave the Cougars the halftime lead at 32-30 on a last second shot.

The second half was a tale of two 10-minute spurts. The first 10 minutes, the Cougars looked sharp and the last 10 minutes, they couldn’t buy a bucket as McCook led 68-56 with 31 seconds to play. WNCC made a fast and furious comeback as Kane hit a bucket, Trey Moore made two free throws and Williams hit a 3-pointer, but that was as close as the Cougars got before time ran out.

WNCC was led in scoring by Ward with 24 points, while Kane had had a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Johnson also finished with 11 points.

WNCC will next be in action next weekend when they host Trinidad State and Otero.

McCook                30 39 – 69

WNCC                   32 32 – 64

MCCOOK

Tony Dobbinson 22, Tony Lester 5, Antownn Boyd 11, Anthony Eastern 6, Cyrell Hodges 8, Dominique McKinzie 14, Ademe Smart 3.

WNCC

Zach Clemens 3, Rich Williams 8, Trey Moore 2, Isaiah Castellaw 2, Charles Ward 24, Cody Johnson 11, Youssoupha Kane 10, Chad Calcaterra 4.