Nebraska rallies to top Arizona State 86-78 in College Basketball Crown
LAS VEGAS – After a late-season skid ended its hopes at a second-straight NCAA Tournament, Nebraska relished the chance to try and end the year on a high note at the College Basketball Crown.
For 25 minutes, many of the same struggles that led to the Huskers dropping six of their final seven games returned. Then, a furious final 15 minutes helped NU live to play another game with an 86-78 first-round win over Arizona State on Monday night.
Brice Williams was his usual self, scoring a game-high 30 points on 8-of-16 shooting. However, he didn’t get much help for the first part of the night. That led to Arizona State leading by as many as 11 early in the second half.
Just when it seemed like the book was all but written, the Huskers came alive over the final 15 minutes. Connor Essegian scored all 17 of his points over the last 10:29, including a run of 11 of 14 points during NU’s comeback.
An Essegian jumper gave Nebraska a 60-59 lead with 7:02 remaining, marking the Huskers’ first lead since the 4:20 mark in the first half. NU never trailed and eventually built a 12-point lead of its own before all was said and done.
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Nebraska will play the winner of Georgetown and Washington State on Wednesday night.
Cold shooting, turnovers dug Nebraska into an early hole
Williams didn’t show much rust after the extended layoff, scoring 13 of Nebraska’s first 26 points and going 2-for-3 from behind the arc.
Unfortunately for the Huskers, almost everyone else was ice cold. Players not named Williams shot a combined 33% with seven turnovers in the first half.
That included NU missing 11 of its final 15 shots from the field, which allowed Arizona State to close the half on a 14-4 run and take a 38-30 lead into the break.
Jihad Bashir had 15 of his 21 points in the first half while going a perfect 8-for-8 at the free-throw line for the Sun Devils.
