Ducks follow a familiar script.

Byline: Bob Clark The Register-Guard

OMAHA, Neb. - Oregon headed quickly from the arena to its bus and later on to the airport Saturday night, in a definite hurry to put a disappointing afternoon in the Qwest Center behind it.

It doesn't figure to be quite that easy.

Instead, the 16th-ranked Ducks (8-2) will have to ruminate over a familiar theme in their two defeats, defensive breakdowns that were compounded by spotty play on offense at crucial times, all of which helped a charged-up Nebraska (8-2) take an 88-79 overtime victory.

"We opened the door for them, and they took full advantage of it," UO coach Ernie Kent said.

By all rights, it probably shouldn't have even reached overtime, except Malik Hairston carried the Ducks for long stretches with 25 points on perfect shooting from the field in regulation, and Tajuan Porter's 29 points included a three-pointer that knotted the score 74-74 with seven seconds left in regulation. He was even fouled on the 25-foot shot, but his free throw rimmed out.

"I thought we were going to steal one without playing particularly well on the road," Kent said.

Instead, the Ducks had to fight their way off the court for the second time this season as opposing students celebrated with a rush from the stands, which held 12,109 hardy souls who came in from the cold and were warmed by watching their Huskers beat a ranked nonconference foe for the first time outside of their home arena in Lincoln.

"I can't say enough about this team as far as competing," Nebraska coach Doc Sadler said. "This team hasn't had very many opportunities (at significant nonconference wins), but at the same time, it hasn't had a lot of great things happen for it.

"I thought for them just to continue to compete when maybe we missed some easy shots, maybe we missed some free throws when the game was tight, I think that shows a lot for the character of these guys."

The Huskers were led by 6-foot-11 Aleks Maric's 23 points, while Ryan Anderson had 21 and Ade Dagunduro added 15 before fouling out.

Nebraska shot .477 from the field, the best by an Oregon opponent this season, and the number should have been higher, considering the layups missed, including a couple of late ones by Maric, who was still 9-of-14 from the field.

"They run their offense well, and they do a good job of clearing out the back side so there isn't any help side (defending Maric), and they've got good shooters on the outside," Hairston said. "It's definitely a good combination, and they made the right decisions, especially down the stretch."

Nebraska outscored Oregon 14-5 in overtime, and never trailed after Anderson hit a three to open the extra session. The Ducks countered by missing their first five shots from the field in overtime, and their lone field goal in the final five minutes, a jumper by Porter, only got them within 83-79.

"Overtime was like a second chance," Porter said. "We had some mental lapses, and they got a few baskets and we weren't able to bounce back."

Until then, the Ducks had rallied successfully, literally from the opening tip to the final buzzer. Oregon fell into a 9-0 hole to start the contest, and didn't even have a point when the first television timeout stopped action after 4:10.

"It's almost like we let them get out there and shock us," Hairston said. "We should have been a little better prepared in terms of our focus."

Oregon did come back to lead, the last time at 32-29 before the Huskers went on another 9-0 run. When Nebraska opened the second half with six points on its first three possessions, while the Ducks responded with consecutive possessions ended by three of their season-worst-matching 18 turnovers, it became a 15-2 run for Nebraska wrapped around intermission.

The Huskers eventually pushed out to their biggest advantage at 52-39. From there, getting to overtime was somewhat of an accomplishment.

So what's up with the Ducks? Three times they've played outside the borders of Oregon, and they're 1-2 with an overtime triumph at Kansas State that could have gone the other way.

The other defeat came at Saint Mary's, and yes, Kent saw some similarities, even beyond each of the teams that has beaten Oregon doing it with a season high in points.

"You've got a team that played well (against) a ranked Pac-10 team coming in," the coach said. "When you're on the road, you better show up to play."

Kent lamented afterward that he hadn't brought the players to Qwest Center for an early morning shootaround. The Ducks typically work out lightly about five hours before a game, but not with a tipoff as early as this 1 p.m. local time start.

"That cost us a little bit," Kent said. "I don't want to use it as an excuse because you can still defend."

Maybe, though, it was a concern with defending Maric that bit the Ducks on the other end of the court. The glaring example of that was Maarty Leunen fouling out with a season-low three points, after a streak of eight games in double figures.

"I put some of the blame on me because I didn't really come with any offensive flow," Leunen said. "I had a tough job at the other end (defensively), but I'm offensively skilled enough to make plays. It just didn't happen."

Nor for Joevan Catron, who matched his season low in scoring with four points. Oregon's starting post players were thus a combined 2-of-11 from the field, and Bryce Taylor added a season-low nine points. That's not much from three of the starters.

"For whatever reason, they just didn't play," Kent said. "They didn't show up to play, and they didn't play well in the game and it cost us. We had two guys who kept us in it."

Two against Nebraska? Warm up the bus, and head for the airport.