A pre-Christmas scare for Nebraska men’s basketball turned into relief Wednesday night.
NU (10-2, 1-1 Big Ten) survived North Dakota 83-75 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Huskers have now won three-in-a-row since dropping back-to-back games to Creighton to Minnesota to begin the month.
The Fighting Hawks dominated the first half, taking a 42-32 lead into the break. North Dakota shot the ball 7 percent better and grabbed 11 more rebounds as Nebraska struggled to get anything going over the first 20 minutes.
North Dakota began the second half with a 5-0 run, but Nebraska answered with a 12-0 run and a 9-0 run over the first nine minutes to grab a lead that would never be relinquished. NU stretched the advantage to 10 just once as the Fighting Hawks stayed within striking distance but never managing to wrangle the game back in their favor.
Nebraska shot 46 percent from the floor for the game, including 11-of-32 3s. That was bolstered by a 57.6 percent effort in the second half.
An extremely balanced attack saw six Huskers score in double figures, led by 16 points from CJ Wilcher. Jamarques Lawrence and Keisei Tominaga both scored 14 points, Juwan Gary and Brice Williams each added 12 points, and Josiah Allick pitched in 10 points.
Gary completed the double-double with 12 rebounds.
The Huskers were without forward Rienk Mast who underwent minor knee surgery and will likely be out until early January.
Nebraska closes the book on 2023 hosting South Carolina State on Dec. 29.