Brice Williams scored a game-high 30 points and Connor Essegian posted all 17 of his points in the final 11 minutes as Nebraska rallied to earn an 86-78 victory over Arizona State during College Basketball Crown first-round play Monday night in Las Vegas.
Juwan Gary added 18 points for Nebraska (18-14), which snapped a five-game losing streak and claimed its first victory since Feb. 16 at Northwestern.
After turning an 11-point second-half deficit into a 12-point lead with 1:21 to go, the Huskers advanced to Wednesday’s second quarterfinal versus Georgetown (18-15), which won 85-82 against Washington State (19-15) late Monday night.
Alston Mason produced 23 points and Basheer Jihad added 21 and seven rebounds for Arizona State (13-20), which finished the season losing six in a row and 12 of its final 13.
Nebraska played without senior point guard Rollie Worster (7.0 points per game, 2.6 assists), who was shut down with a foot injury. Arizona State didn’t have freshman sixth man Joson Sanon (11.9 ppg), who has already transferred to St. John’s.
Both teams enjoyed an offensive flurry early on, but three weeks of rust started to show with multiple travels and missed defensive assignments.
Nonetheless, the Sun Devils and Huskers traded the lead 12 times in the first half before Arizona State put on a 14-4 run to seize a 38-30 halftime lead.
Arizona State extended its lead to 43-32 in the second half on Adam Miller’s layup with 18:34 to go, but everything changed with 12 minutes to go. That’s when Sun Devils big man Shawn Phillips Jr., who had six points and six rebounds while protecting the rim, was charged with his fourth foul.
Arizona State led 51-45 at that point, but the margin evaporated within three minutes. Essegian cashed a 3-pointer, a fastbreak layup and another 3-pointer with 8:48 left to pull Nebraska into a 58-58 knot. When Essegian swished a 15-foot pullup from the baseline with 7:02 to go, the Huskers claimed a 60-59 lead — their first since it was 26-24.
Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley returned Phillips to the floor at that juncture, but Essegian promptly drove and drew Phillips’ fifth foul.
The Sun Devils’ Trevor Best forged a 61-61 tie with a pullup jumper, but Nebraska’s Williams and Gary combined to score the game’s next seven points. Sam Hoiberg rattled home a 3-pointer to push the margin to 71-61 with 3:30 to play.
–Field Level Media
