The Nebraska men’s basketball team hopes to build on its best victory of the season when they make their first conference trip to West Lafayette, Indiana tonight to take on Purdue. The Huskers snapped a four-game losing streak by hammering Illinois 80-57 at the Devaney Center on Saturday, shooting 56 percent from the field in running away from the Illini. The win moved them to 4-10 in Big Ten play. The Boilermakers are an even 7-7 in the conference and 17-10 overall this season. They’re coming off a loss to conference leaders Michigan State on Sunday. A win tonight would be the 1400^th win in the history of Nebraska’s men’s basketball, as well as the 150^th win in the career of Husker head coach Doc Sadler. Tipoff at Purdue’s Mackey Arena is set for 5:30.

The Tri-City Storm saw their three game winning streak snapped with a 6-3 loss to the Lincoln Stars in Lincoln last night. The Storm had beaten the Stars 8-3 in Kearney on Saturday, but fell behind 2-0 in this game before Brad Schierhorn’s sixth goal of the season got them on the board in the second period. The Stars scored the game’s next two goals to take a commanding 4-1 lead, but the Storm had a rally in them in the third period. Heikki Liedes lit the lamp for his tenth goal at the 5:51 mark of the third, and Nick Lappin potted his team-leading 20^th goal of the season less than three minutes later to draw the Storm to within a goal. But Lincoln’s Kevin Roy, the USHL’s leading scorer, scored his second and third goals of the game to put the Storm away. The Storm are back home Friday night to take on Sioux Falls.

Nebraska’s junior point guard Lindsay Moore is one of eight finalists for the 13^th Annual Nancy Lieberman Award, presented to the best point guard in women’s college basketball. In her third year as the starter, Moore has led the Huskers to a 20-6 record and a 9-5 mark in the Big Ten. She’s averaging 16.1 points per game, second best on the team, and leads the squad with 5.4 assists per game. Moore has started all 91 games in her Husker career at the point guard spot, helping the team to an unbeaten regular season as a freshman and earning honorable mention All-Big 12 honors in her sophomore year. She is the first Husker player to be nominated for the Nancy Lieberman Award. The winner will be announced during the Women’s Final Four. Moore and the Huskers host Michigan State on Thursday night.

On paper, Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy is in the final year of his contract, but progress towards a long-term extension began with a handshake. The Rockies and Tracy announced an official agreement on what both parties are calling an ‘indefinite’ contract extension. Citing his leadership skills and calling him a ‘difference-maker’ in the clubhouse. Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd says a handshake is sufficient enough for now to serve as a commitment to Tracy as the team’s manager through 2013, and perhaps beyond. Tracy was the National League’s Manager of the Year in 2009 after taking over the Rockies in late May and guiding them to a 74-42 record and a playoff appearance. But the Rockies are just 156-168 in two years since, including a disappointing 73-89 last season.