2 weeks Ago
Brice Williams returned to Nebraska knowing his decision came with additional expectations. With Keisei Tominaga gone, the sixth-year senior would have to pick up a greater scoring load. Without Rienk Mast and Josiah Allick, he would have to be the Huskers’ offensive catalyst and leader on the floor.
Against Texas Rio Grande Valley, Williams was aggressive. He scored from all three levels. He was a spark as Nebraska slogged through 40 minutes of uninspired basketball and helped the Huskers avoid an opening-night catastrophe in an 87-67 win.
Williams scored the first 8 points of the game, became more aggressive at the end of the first half getting to the rim and drawing fouls while easy offense was hard to come by. When the second frame began, he again briefly pulled the Huskers up from their stagnation as he touched the ball on most possessions, continued to put pressure on the defense with his drives and pulled up from midrange. He ended the night with 27 points.
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If Williams’ well ran dry, so did Nebraska’s. Like in their exhibition a week earlier, the Huskers were disjointed offensively. Halfcourt possessions flowed with as much ease as pulling teeth.
Rollie Worster threw a bad pass when the Vaqueros sped up the Huskers by briefly going into a zone defense. Connor Essegian dribbled into a crowd and lost the ball. Nebraska's Berke Büyüktuncel (right) attempts to block a pass by Texas Rio Grande Valley's Howie Fleming Jr.
(5) on Monday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Clean looks and easy baskets were few and far between as Nebraska committed 13 turnovers against 11 assists. Sam Hoiberg and Berke Buyuktuncel both missed point-blank shots at the rim as UTRGV stayed within striking distance in the second half.
Williams missed Andrew Morgan on an entry pass, and the Vaqueros trimmed their deficit to 4 points with under eight minutes left in the game. Facing heavy ball pressure again, Nebraska was 6-19 from 3-point range and 25-35 on free throws. The mistakes and sloppiness added up.
Along with Williams, Morgan emerged as a source of offense while Nebraska spun its wheels. The North Dakota State transfer was a force on the low block, posting up and getting to the rim against a smaller UTRGV frontcourt. He finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
The contrast on the other side of the court was striking. UTRGV pushed the pace and slashed through the paint out of its five-out offense. The Vaqueros launched 3-pointers early in the shot clock, undeterred by hands in their faces, and made enough to trade 3 points for 2 with NU for much of the first half.
By the end of the night they were 13-41 from deep. The Vaqueros scrambled for loose balls, poked at rebounds and hustled on both ends with a similar abandon. All night, UTRGV made NU pay if the Huskers didn’t box out or communicate, staying competitive until the final minutes.
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