Connor Essegian's Career High Lifts Nebraska Basketball Over South Dakota

Nebraska men's basketball got a career-high night from transfer Connor Essegian as the Huskers topped the South Dakota Coyotes.

Nov 27, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Connor Essegian (0) shoots a three-point basket against South Dakota Coyotes guard Shey Eberwein (2) during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska men's basketball followed up the domination in Omaha with a dominant showing at home.

NU topped South Dakota 96-79 Wednesday evening at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Huskers improve to 5-1 as the Coyotes fall to 6-3.

"It’s been a good week for us obviously with the Creighton win," Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. "Last year, we had a game that we won on the road at Kansas State, and we followed that up against North Dakota and they were up 16 on us in the first half. We talked a lot about that the last couple days, so I really did like our start. I thought we had the right mentality going into it, I thought we did a good job going out there and playing with energy, and playing with physicality."

For the second consecutive game, the Huskers did not trail for a second over the 40 minutes of game time. Nebraska built the lead to 19 points at halftime and up to 23 early in the second half, but the Coyotes put together some runs to close the gap to close as 12. Unfortunately for the visitors, the home side answered the call each time and held off any chances of a full comeback.

"Unfortunately, we couldn’t put them away, again we have to keep that edge for 40 minutes," Hoiberg said. "That being said, there were a lot of positives in this game tonight. We’re going to enjoy tomorrow, a lot of them will be over at my house for Thanksgiving, and then we’ll get back to work on Friday and have a two day prep for an early game on Sunday. We have a lot of work ahead of us for a really good basketball team."

Nov 27, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Brice Williams (3) drives against South Dakota Coyotes guard Dre Bullock (11) during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska got the shooting going from deep, finally. The Huskers shot 48.5% overall and finished 13-of-33 from deep. NU was 9-of-16 at one point on 3s, but the pace fell off in the second half.

"It's a confidence builder," Hoiberg said. "You see what happens when the first couple go down, it's the domino effect that goes on to the rest of the team. It’s just a confidence builder. And Connor (Essegian), I thought our guys did a good job finding him.

South Dakota shot 43.3% for the game, including 8-of-28 on 3s.

Connor Essegian scored a game-high 29 points on 10-of-22 shooting, including six made 3s. That mark is a new career-high for the Wisconsin transfer.

"It definitely doesn’t hurt to have a night like this for the team," Essegian said. "To be able to score 96 points as a team is pretty good. It definitely boosts a lot of guys, the energy is going into it with that. We really have got to lock in on the defensive side of things. If we can score but we can’t defend, it usually doesn’t end very well."

Nov 27, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers center Braxton Meah (34) dunks the ball against the South Dakota Coyotes during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Brice Williams added 21 points. Braxton Meah had his best night as a Husker, scoring 12 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting.

"It took a minute trying to understand everything," Meah said. "There’s a lot Coach Hoiberg puts into his system, so it just took me a little while to figure it out. We’re getting there."

Juwan Gary and Berke Buyuktuncel both left the game early with injuries. Gary took an elbow to the face while Buyuktuncel left with a hip injury.

"We'll know a lot more about those two in the next 24 hours," Hoiberg said.

Nov 27, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Juwan Gary (4) walks off the court after an injury during the first half against the South Dakota Coyotes at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska stays home Sunday to host North Florida. Tip is set for 3 p.m. CST on the Big Ten Network.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Notes

• Nebraska has now won 16 straight games at home dating back to last season.
• Nebraska’s 96 points was a season high (86 vs. FDU) and the most since scoring 100 points in a four OT loss at NC State on Dec. 1, 2001. It was NU’s highest total in regulation since scoring 110 against Doane on Dec. 17, 2020.
• Connor Essegian finished with a career-high 29 points, bettering his previous career best of 24 against Michigan on Feb. 26, 2023, when he was at Wisconsin. It marked his third career 20-point game and first as a Husker. Essegian’s 29 points were the most by a Husker this season.
• Essegian set career bests in both 3-pointers (six) and assists (five). His six 3-pointers was the most by a Husker since Rienk Mast had six against Ohio State on Jan. 23, 2024.
• Essegian’s five assists were a career high, as his previous best was three on two previous occasions, most recently on Dec. 6, 2022
• Essegian’s 29 points is the most by a Husker off the bench since at least 2004. It is the ninth time under Hoiberg that a Husker reserve scored at least 20 points.  It was the fifth time this season that a Husker reserve reached double figures.
• Nebraska finished with a season-high 13 3-pointers, including 10 in the first half. NU’s previous season high was seven.
• Nebraska posted its fifth double-digit run of the season, as Brice Williams had 10 of his 21 in the spurt.
• Nebraska’s 24 assists was a season high and most since dishing out 25 assists in the win over Doane in 2020. The last time Nebraska recorded 20 or more assists was against Indiana last season in the Big Ten Tournament.  NU posted a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio with 24 assists and 12 turnovers.
• Nebraska finished with 10 steals, the fourth time in six games with double-digit steals.
• Brice Williams reached double figures for the 10th straight game dating back to last season with his 21-point effort. It is the longest stretch of his career. Williams has three 20-point games this season and six in NU’s last nine games dating back to last season.
• The 54 first-half points is the most since scoring 54 against Doane on Dec. 17 2020, most vs. D-1 team since scoring 55 in the first half against Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 6, 2018.
• It was the 10th time under Fred Hoiberg where Nebraska scored at least 50 first-half points.
• Braxton Meah (12 points on 6-of-6 shooting) and Sam Hoiberg (nine points) also finished with season highs in points
• Nebraska got 51 points from its bench in the win.

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