LINCOLN, Neb. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears played their best half of the young season Tuesday night, and it was enough to keep them close to the No. 21 team in the nation for 20 minutes. But the Nebraska Huskers shot 64 percent from the field in the second half to pull away to an 82-56 victory in front of a crowd of 12,147 at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

    The Bears, playing their third road game in five days, were within 43-34 at halftime _ after leading twice in the first five minutes _ but ran out off gas in a second half in which they shot just 29.6 percent from the field. UCA (0-3) was also somewhat shorthanded in the second half due to foul trouble, with guard Jordan Howard fouling out and six other players finishing with at least three fouls.

    "I thought we played awfully hard,' said UCA head coach Russ Pennell, who saw his Bears lose to perennial power Creighton and Omaha over the weekend, "And we were playing against an outstanding basketball team. I told the guys, let's don't lose site, we're playing against the 21st-ranked team in the country out of the Big 10. Overall, I thought the guys gave great effort. I told them, this one feels a little bit different because of the effort and the energy they put forth.'

    The Bears battled the foul trouble throughout the first 20 minutes but still played nearly even with the Huskers (2-0). A layup by Jake Zuilhof off a steal gave the Bears an 8-5 lead early in the game, and Mike Martin's three-pointer made it 11-7 at the 16:40 mark. The Bears stayed within striking distance until Mathieu Kamba picked up his third foul with 8:11 to play in the half.
    
    Freshman Thatch Unruh's three-pointer got UCA within 26-12 with 7:35 left but Terran Petteway answered with a three for the Huskers. Boo Milligan connected from beyond the arc for UCA to make it a 29-26 deficit, and a jumper by Jordan Howard pulled the Bears to 32-30 with 4:05 remaining. But the home team put together an 11-2 run to grab its biggest lead of the game at 43-32 with 1:45 left.

    UCA got a driving layup by Albert Christensson to make it a 43-34 deficit at the break. Nebraska had a 19-8 advantage in first-half free throws as the Bears were called for 17 fouls.



    "That's what we wanted to see,' said Pennell. "I just thought we had better fight tonight. We played harder, we competed harder. I think the ESPN marathon today helped us. We sat and watched games today and our guys saw the effort that some of these teams were playing with.

    "We are learning, because we are young, how hard we have to play. I thought we did that tonight, and it showed on the glass, only losing by five to a team like Nebraska, I think is a positive sign for us.'

    The Huskers took control quickly in the second half and led by as much as 29 points, outscoring UCA 39-22 after the break. UCA was just 3 of 14 from three-point range and 3 of 8 from the free-throw line in the second half. Nebraska shot 34 free throws to UCA's 19. The Bears did cure their rebounding woes from the first two games, losing that battle by just a 40-35 margin against the much larger Huskers.

    "I thought they (Huskers) upped their intensity in the second half, and I honestly thought we got tired,' said Pennell. "I think the six days on the road caught us. With a young team, we tried to talk them through it at the time outs and use our bench, but I think we got pretty worn out. I think that's why we got a little bit sloppy at the end.'

    Zuilhof, a junior transfer from Grand Canyon University, topped the Bears with 12 points and six rebounds, hitting 6 of 7 from the field. Freshman forward Albert Christensson had 11 points and Howard added 10. Freshman Mathieu Kamba got his first start and responded with 7 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Petteway led the Huskers with 23 points, while Shavon Shields had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

    "I was really happy with the way Jake played,' said Pennell. "We're just not getting him the ball enough. I think it's just a young team, especially our guards, they are coming out of high school, probably shot a lot of balls. They probably didn't play with a post man like Jake. 

    "We're going to have to incorporate him more into our offense because he's tough. He can hold his position. He's a third-year guy and he has the body to do it. We just have to get him more shots.'

    UCA will play its home opener at 3 p.m. Saturday, hosting Southeast Missouri State at the Farris Center.