Maric Earns Second Weekly Honor of the Season

Senior Aleks Maric was named the Big 12 Conference Co-Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday. The Cornhuskers’ 6-11, 275-pound center was selected alongside Missouri sophomore J.T. Tiller by a panel of media who regularly covers the conference. Freshman Michael Beasley earned the league’s rookie-of-the-week award.

For Aleks Maric, it was his second award of the season and the third player-of-the-week honor of his career. Maric, who is one of only three Huskers to win the Big 12 player-of-the-week award, tied Tyronn Lue as Nebraska’s career leader with three selections as player of the week. Maric was honored earlier this season and picked up his first award in the opening week of the 2006-07 season. He was also named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week at the end of his freshman campaign, giving him an NU record four conference weekly honors in his career.

After opening conference play with an 0-4 record, Maric helped Nebraska to a 2-0 mark last week, including a road victory at Missouri and a home win against Iowa State. The Sydney, Australia, native posted 13.5 points and 13.0 rebounds per game while posting a double-double in each contest. With the two double-doubles, Maric moved into a tie for 10th place on the Big 12 Conference all-time list, as he now has 28 double-doubles in his career including four this season.

Maric started the week with 13 points and 13 rebounds to help Nebraska to its second straight road victory over Missouri. The Huskers snapped a seven-game road skid dating to last season as Maric hit 6-of-8 shots from the floor. The double-double came after being held scoreless for the first time in nearly two seasons the previous game at Kansas.

This past weekend, Maric helped NU to an eight-point win over Iowa State, snapping a three-game home losing against the Cyclones. Maric hit 5-of-10 shots from the field to post a team-high 14 points while adding 13 rebounds for the second straight game. The current Big 12 leader in block shots per game, Maric had three blocks on the week and added three steals and three assists.

Maric will lead the Huskers on the road this week as Nebraska takes on Kansas State – and Big 12 Rookie of the Week Michael Beasley – on Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. The game will be seen on FSN Midwest in the state of Nebraska and nationally on ESPN FullCourt. It can also be heard on the Huskers Sports Network and Huskers.com.