Juwan Gary scored 19 points to pace a balanced scoring attack as host Nebraska cruised to an 86-60 nonconference win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday night in Lincoln.
Berke Buyuktuncel added 12 and Brice Williams chipped in 10 points for the Cornhuskers (3-0), who canned 43.1 percent of their shots from the field and converted 23 of 28 free throws.
Nebraska also earned a 43-31 advantage in rebounding and committed just eight turnovers.
Four players reached double figures for the Knights (1-3), led by Terrence Brown’s game-high 23 points. Jo’el Emanuel, Ahmed Barba-Bey and Dylan Jones each scored 10, but FDU simply didn’t possess enough firepower to pull off the upset, sinking only 40.4 percent of its field-goal tries.
The Cornhuskers owned a 20-point halftime lead but did have to exert themselves a bit in the second half when the Knights pulled within 58-49 at the 11:02 mark when Barba-Bey drilled a 3-pointer. But Williams converted a three-point play to start a 13-2 run that restored a 20-point cushion with 5:26 remaining.
All 12 players who got in the game for Nebraska scored, and Gary collected five of the team’s 20 assists on the Cornhuskers’ 28 made baskets.
A pregame storyline was how Nebraska would respond after a lackluster effort in Saturday night’s 63-58 home win over Bethune-Cookman. Coach Fred Hoiberg said he considered a litany of solutions before deciding to just ask his team to execute its high-tempo, free-flowing offense in a more consistent fashion.
He got his wish for most of the first half as Nebraska was able to punish FDU inside, making nearly two-thirds of its two-point shots and also attracting a spate of fouls. The Cornhuskers sank 14 of 17 at the free-throw line in the half while the Knights were just 4 of 7.
A 10-0 run gave Nebraska a 21-10 advantage at the 9:10 mark after an Ahron Ulis layup. The margin expanded to 22 later in the half before the Cornhuskers settled for a 45-25 cushion at intermission.
–Field Level Media
