Nebraska men’s basketball dominated in the first half and cruised in the second half en route to a 77-43 win over Southern University Monday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The win closed the Cornhuskers’ (11-2) non-conference play with a 10-1 record, just the sixth time since World War II that NU finished out-of-league play with one loss or fewer. The win was Nebraska’s fifth straight overall and its 19th straight at home, dating back to last season.
The Huskers’ ball movement was exceptional, as Nebraska notched 22 assists on 26 field goals, assists on 85 percent of the made baskets from the field. Six different Huskers tallied assists, led by Rollie Worster with six. Connor Essegian tied a career high with six made three-pointers on his way to 20 points, while Brice Williams added 11 and Andrew Morgan contributed 10. Jayce DePron led the Jaguars (5-8) in scoring with 13, all in the second half.
A 9-0 NU run early in the game opened a 12-2 lead for Nebraska just over five minutes into the contest, forcing Southern to take timeout. An 11-0 Husker run built a 30-8 with 5:08 to go in the half and most of the drama was drained from the contest. Nebraska took a 39-15 lead into halftime, the second-fewest points allowed by the Huskers in a half this season.
The second half was sloppy, with Nebraska committing 10 turnovers. Despite DePron’s hot start, the Jaguars were never a factor after halftime. One bright spot for NU in the latter stages of the game was Gavin Griffiths. A transfer from Rutgers, Griffiths was expected to be a scoring factor off the bench this season, but has shot just 30 percent this year while averaging 2.4 points per game. But in the final three minutes of the contest, Griffiths nailed two threes and hit a layup for a total of eight points as part of a game-ending 10-0 Husker run.
Nebraska now jumps into Big Ten play and takes a significant step up in competition, as the Huskers face No. 15 UCLA Saturday at 1 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at noon on KLIN.