Kansas City, MO -- (Sports Network) - Aleks Maric racked up 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead the seventh-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers to a 61-56 victory over the 10th-seeded Missouri Tigers in the opening round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament.

Steve Hartley tallied 14 points for Nebraska (19-11), which advances to take on second-seeded Kansas in Friday's quarterfinal round.

Keon Lawrence netted 15 points in the loss for Missouri (16-16). Matt Lawrence contributed 12 points for the Tigers, and DeMarre Carroll added 10 points.

Nebraska missed all seven of its three-point attempts in the first half, but the club closed the opening stanza with a 10-3 run to grab a 30-28 advantage at intermission.

The Cornhuskers led by as many as 10 points in the second half, and while they had their advantage cut to 57-56 with just over two minutes remaining, Maric and company did enough to hold off the Tigers.

A 42-31 rebounding advantage clearly played a role in the win for Nebraska.

Maric is the first Cornhusker in nine years to be named a first-team All-Big 12 performer. He now has 38 career double-doubles, the most among all active Big 12 players.