Nebraska men’s basketball finished the nonconference with a 10-1 record after smothering Southern 77-43 on Monday night.
It is the sixth time since World War II that the Cornhuskers have finished the nonconference slate with just one loss.
The win extended their home winning streak to 19 games dating back to last December and completed Nebraska second perfect nonconference home slate in the last three years. Nebraska is 19-1 at home in nonconference games over the past three years.
The Huskers’ record for consecutive home wins is 20, which was set two times previously in program history (from 1965 to 1967 and from 2017 to 2019).
Quick-Strike Offense
Brice Williams brought the Hawaii heat with him to Lincoln. In his first game since earning the Diamond Head Classic Most Outstanding Player, he started hot, scoring Nebraska’s first seven points including a 3-point make on his first touch of the game. Williams finished the game with 11 points, just under eight shy of his season average of 19.7.
It was the 12th time in Nebraska’s 13 games he has scored in double figures. His ninth point gave him 1,501 points in his career.
Connor Essegian led the team with 20 points and tied a career high with six three-pointers in the win. He has hit five or more 3-pointers in four games this season.
“Honestly, it just comes to me,” Essegian said. “We did a really good job passing the ball. There were a couple of turnovers, too. I had three; that needs to change. It’s just kind of playing the flow. We knew they were going to be in a lot of different types of zones, and that does help as a shooter. But when you have guys like Rollie [Worster] that do a good job at finding guys like me, it works together.”
Top-10 Defense
The Husker defense held Southern to just 43 points, their third opponent in the last four games that has scored a season low. Coming into the game, Nebraska ranked 19th in adjusted defensive efficiency. After giving up 43 points and just 21.9% shooting from the field, the Huskers have climbed to No. 9 nationally.
In their last eight halves of basketball, the Huskers have given up just 0.94 points per possession after holding Southern to a 0.62 mark. A decent point-per-possession rate is 1.0.
“Our defense has to be our constant,” Hoiberg said. “We’re not a real pretty team, so our defense has to be our calling card. Every time we step on the floor, that has to be what gets us going. We had a little bit of a rhythm. We shot the ball — I think we made 13 3s. But if we go out there and guard like we have been, then we’re going to have a chance to win most nights that we step on the floor.”
Ball Security
Nebraska had just four turnovers at the half and led by 24 at the break. In the second half, the Huskers committed 10 turnovers and a few of them were pick-sixes that led to eight Southern points off turnovers. The Huskers’ offense ranks 138th in the country in turnover percentage at 19.8%.
After the game, Coach Fred Hoiberg said the thing he’s learned about this team that is an area of concern is cutting down on careless turnovers.
“We are going to have to start taking care of the ball,” Hoiberg said. “If we keep turning it over and have careless possessions, I don’t care how good your defense is, you can’t defend the pick six. It’s really hard to do.”
Nebraska is in the exact same spot or maybe a little better at this point in the season as it was last season. The Huskers have a huge résumé-building opportunity coming up against No. 15 UCLA at home on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.
