Williams, Gary help Nebraska to another gutty upset over No. 16 Oregon, 77-71
Four days after snapping its six-game losing streak with a home upset over No. 18 Illinois, Nebraska had a chance to take another critical step forward at No. 16 Oregon on Sunday night.
Behind 28 points from Brice Williams and 23 from Juwan Gary, the Huskers took full advantage of their opportunity with a 77-71 upset. The win marks NU’s fourth top-25 victory of the season, matching the program record.
NU (14-8 overall, 4-7 Big Ten) trailed for the first 46 seconds but quickly jumped out to a 15-point first-half lead. After taking a 34-28 lead into the break, the Ducks pulled within two possession 13 times in the second half.
That included an And-1 by TJ Bamba that made it 70-66 with just 56 seconds remaining. But Williams and Gary accounted for 32 of NU’s 43 second-half points, and Nebraska went 16-of-20 on free throws to keep the game under control.
The Huskers shot just 4 of 23 (17.4%) 3-pointers and turned the ball over 12 times, leading to 16 UO points. However, they made up for this by going 17 of 19 on dunks and layups and 21 of 29 at the charity stripe on the night.
Rollie Worster added 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting off the bench, while Berke Buyuktuncel hauled in a game-high nine rebounds despite going just 1-of-7 from the field. Jackson Shelstad led Oregon with 16 points and had three of his team’s five made 3-pointers in the loss.
Nebraska will continue its Pacific Northwest road trip on Wednesday night when it takes on Washington in Seattle. That game is set for a 9:30 p.m. CT tip on Big Ten Network.
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After hot start, Nebraska’s sloppy finish kept UO in reach at half
Nebraska got off to a nearly ideal start on both ends of the floor.
Oregon missed 11 of its first 14 shots to allow the Huskers to build a 12-2 run and eventually go up by as much as 32-17 on a dunk by Williams with 4:53 left in the half.
However, sloppy ball handling and poor shooting led NU to score just two and commit four turnovers the rest of the way. The Ducks took advantage with an 11-0 run, closing the gap to 34-28 at halftime.
Led by 12 points and three assists from Williams, Nebraska shot 52 percent from the field in the opening half. Despite its cold start, UO stayed within reach at the break by scoring 11 of its first 28 points off seven NU turnovers.
Williams hit two 3-pointers, but the rest of the Huskers shot just 1-for-8 from behind the arc at the break.
