Courtesy Nebraska Athletics
Tough defense led Nebraska men’s basketball to a hard-fought 67-58 win over Providence Saturday night in Uncasville, Ct., in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic. It was a tough shooting night for both teams, especially from the perimeter: The Cornhuskers (2-0) were 5-for-24, 20.8 percent from three-point range, while the Friars (1-1) shot just 7-for-38, 18 percent from behind the arc.
Pryce Sandfort led Nebraska with 25 points on 9-for-15 shooting, while Boden Kapke added 13 points. Braden Frager pitched in 12 points despite just 3-for-13 shooting, while Cale Jacobsen tallied 11 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the free-throw line. Taj Degourville didn’t score a point, but contributed with a team-leading seven assists. Leonardo Marangon led Providence with 12 points.
The game started hotly contested, with Providence pushing ahead 16-12 with 11:23 to go in the first half. Nebraska pushed ahead with a 7-0 run to build a 19-16 lead with 7:39 to go until halftime. Leonardo Marangon drained a three to tie the game at 19 with 5:46 to go in the half, but an 11-0 Huskers run opened a 30-19 lead advantage with 2:02 to play until halftime. The Friars finished the half on a 6-0 run and cut NU’s lead to 30-25 heading to halftime.
An 8-2 Nebraska run to start the second half opened a 38-27 lead two minutes into the second half. A 7-0 Providence run shrank the Huskers’ lead to 41-38 with 13:31 to play, but back-to-back three-pointers by Sandfort and Frager pushed the lead back to nine, 47-38. A Friars’ three cut the lead to 47-41, but that was as close as Providence would come over the last 9:40 of the game.
Nebraska returns home to Pinnacle Bank Arena to face Lindenwood on Wednesday. Pregame coverage begins at 7 p.m., with tipoff slated for 8 p.m. on KLIN.