5 hours Ago
The ball went into the paint, and Nebraska swarmed. When Murray State kicked out to the perimeter, the Huskers closed out and rotated. It made for an uncomfortable experience for the Racers’ overwhelmed by Nebraska’s length and opportunism and unable to get much of anything going offensively as NU skated to a 66-49 win to open the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu.
The Huskers advance to the semifinals and will face the winner of Charlotte and Hawaii on Monday. As Nebraska hounded MSU on the perimeter and contested shots at the rim, the Racers shot 4-28 from the field in the first half, missing 10 layups, 12 3-pointers and six free throws while scoring 14 points. Murray State didn’t have anyone tall enough to handle Andrew Morgan on the low block.
The 6-foot-10 forward consistently got to his spots and used his nimble footwork to get to the rim. People are also reading..
. He began one possession with the ball beyond the 3-point line and backed all the way down into the paint before laying it in. On back-to-back possessions in the second half, he put a defender in the spin cycle for a layup and hit a smooth turnaround jumper.
The North Dakota State transfer ended the night with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Nebraska outscored MSU in the paint 32-18 and out-rebounded the Racers 40-26. The Huskers’ 15 turnovers prevented the score from being more lopsided, errant passes and sloppy dribbling keeping Murray State from being completely blown out.
The Racers cut the deficit to 12 points late in the game as they found their offensive foothold. Their ball movement was crisper, their drives to the basket more forceful as they put up 35 points and shot 48.1% from the field with Nebraska in cruise control for much of the half.
Murray State didn’t score until an Alden Applewhite 3-pointer more than four minutes into the game. Nebraska’s solid one-on-one defense on the perimeter set the tone as the Racers missed 15 of their first 16 shots, and Braxton Meah and Berke Buyuktuncel patrolled the paint against a small front line. Nebraska turned defense into offense on an early 16-0 run.
Sam Hoiberg and Brice Williams both turned steals into fast-break layups as Connor Essegian heated up from 3-point range. He splashed his first attempt of the evening from the corner, then knocked two more from close to the logo. He had 15 points on 5-10 shooting from deep.
Subscribe for the best Husker news & commentary Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!.
