Huskers.com
Behind season highs from Brice Williams and Juwan Gary, Nebraska advanced to the championship game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic with a 69-55 victory Monday evening.
Williams tied career high with 32 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including four 3-pointers, while Gary finished with a season-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting to power the Husker attack.
With the win, Nebraska (9-2) will play Oregon State in the title game on Wednesday. The Beavers downed Oakland, 80-74 in overtime earlier Wednesday. The title game will take place on Christmas at 7:30 p.m. (central).
Williams and Gary combined for 34 of the Huskers 40 second-half points, as Nebraska shot 59 percent from the field in the second 20 minutes.
After Hawai’I pulled to within 56-50 with 6:20 left, Gary’s tip-in started a 14-5 Husker run to close out the victory. The pair combined for 11 of Nebraska’s final 13 points, as NU snapped a five-game losing streak to the Rainbow Warriors (7-4). NU limited Hawai’I to two field goals in the final six minutes.
Hawai’i scored the first four points out of the locker room to take a 31-29 lead before Williams scored five straight points as NU used a 7-0 run to take a 36-31 lead after a basket from Berke Büyüktuncel. Hawaii stayed within striking distance before Nebraska used a 7-0 run to build an 11-point lead at 52-41 after a Williams jumper with just under nine minutes remaining.
Trailing 56-54, a jumper from Ryan Rapp and a 3-pointer from Akira Jacobs pulled the hosts to within 56-50 before the Husker seniors took over.
The Huskers overcame a slow start to take a 29-27 lead into the locker room. The Huskers missed 10 of its first 13 shots from the field, while Hawai’I hit 8-of-16 in the first 12:30 to build an early lead. The Huskers trailed 22-14 with just over seven minutes remaining before turning the tide.
Braxton Meah’s basket started a 7-0 run in a span of 1:06 as a 3-pointer from Williams and a layup from Rollie Worster forced a Hawai’i timeout. The Huskers kept it going as a Juwan Gary 3-pointer and five straight points from Brice Williams capped a 15-0 run that gave NU a 29-22 lead with 1:04 left, as Hawaii was held without a point for nearly eight minutes.
The Rainbow Warriors cut the deficit to two, as a basket from Henry Rouhliadeff before Marcus Greene’s 3-pointer beat the first half buzzer and made it a two-point game at the break.
Meah had six points and five boards while Büyüktuncel tied career bests in both rebounds (nine) and steals (three) for the winners, who forced 16 Hawai’I turnovers.
Greene led three Hawai’i players in double figures with 11 points.
Nebraska returns to action Wednesday against Oregon State. The game will be on ESPN2 at 7:30 p.m. (central) and carried on the Husker Radio Network.
