Nebraska’s senior guard scored a career-high 29 points and tied a school record with seven three-pointers. He came within a fraction of a second of No. 8, too.

With :02.3 showing and Kansas leading 78-74, Nebraska intercepted a pass in the backcourt, and Belcher found the ball in his hands just outside the three-point line. So he launched for the 12th time. Swish. But it was waved off by an official.

Did Belcher think he had released the ball in time?

“Naw,” he said. “I heard the buzzer go off, so I just threw it up and it went in.”

Earl Richardson/Journal-World Photo

That’s the way it was going most of the afternoon for Belcher, a 6-foot-4 senior from Mexico, Mo., who made seven of 11 three-point shots and 10 of 19 shots overall.

“This building has been good to him,” NU coach Barry Collier said. “He’s been on some rolls here. He was aggressive, and he seemed to bail us out much of the game.”

Now if Kansas just hadn’t shot so well in the second half. Kansas made seven straight baskets during one late stretch, and connected on 16 of 23 shots (69.6 percent) in the last 20 minutes.

Bad defense, Barry?

“I think our defense was more sound than not,” Collier said. “Their big guys were making tough shots on the baseline over hands. You just have to credit and admire the guys who were making those shots. That’s a tough way to win a game and they did it.”

They weren’t all baseline shots, either. Collier couldn’t forget back-to-back three-point goals by Kenny Gregory. The first trey came at 8:38 and the second 35 seconds later. The six points boosted KU’s lead from 55-49 to 61-51.

“That’s what you want out of a senior,” Collier said. “That really shortened the game for them.”

Nebraska guard Cary Cochran certainly wasn’t expecting those Gregory threes.

“He’s a great player,” said Cochran who had four three-pointers himself, “but I don’t think people would have expected that.”

Echoed Belcher: “Gregory really stepped up. He made some threes that killed us, and he’s not known as a great three-point shooter.”

Even though Belcher scored a career-high, he was having second thoughts about giving the ball up more often than he did. He was credited with just two assists.

“I think we should have gone inside more,” he said. “They had two or three guys with four fouls and we should have tried to take advantage.”

Still, like his coach, Belcher had to marvel how the Jayhawks nailed clutch shot after clutch shot down the stretch.

“We couldn’t get that one stop we needed,” Belcher said. “We played good defense, but they stepped up, and that’s what good teams do.”

Nebraska dipped to 13-14 overall and 6-8 in the Big 12 Conference.

“We feel we played well enough to win,” Cochran said. “Kansas is a great team. They haven’t been playing well lately, but they got on a roll today.”