Nebraska shoots to early lead, rolls past Southern in impressive tune-up for UCLA game
Nebraska was dialed-in hard from the start against Southern on Monday night.
An upcoming game against 15th-ranked UCLA can have that effect on a team.
Led by Brice Williams’ early scoring burst, Nebraska jumped to a 10-point lead during the first five minutes and cruised to a 77-43 victory at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Williams, averaging 19.7 points entering the night, scored seven of Nebraska’s first 12 points as the Huskers went up by 10 with 14:55 left in the first half. The 6-foot-7 Williams, a senior, finished with 11 points.
Connor Essegian’s back-to-back three-pointers pushed Nebraska’s lead to 27-8 with 6:50 remaining before the break. Essegian’s three-pointer ballooned the Huskers’ lead to 53-23 with 13 minutes left in the game. The 6-4 transfer from Wisconsin led NU with 20 points.
Southern, in short, was never a threat to win the game.
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Nebraska improved to 11-2, while Southern — playing without Michael Jacobs, its leading scorer and point guard — fell to 5-8.
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Nebraska was coming off a 3-0 performance in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, including a 78-66 win against Oregon State in the title game on Christmas Night. The Huskers are now riding a five-game winning streak.
Nebraska and UCLA (11-2) will tip off at 1 p.m. Saturday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The game will be televised by FOX.
