Nebrasketball Runs Past North Florida, 103-72

The hot shooting continued Sunday for Nebraska men's basketball as the Huskers beat the North Florida Ospreys.

Dec 1, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Brice Williams (3) drives against North Florida Ospreys guard Oscar Berry (33) during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

The hot shooting continued for the Huskers Sunday.

Nebraska men's basketball topped North Florida, 103-72, at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Huskers improve to 6-1 while the Ospreys fall to 5-3.

North Florida opened the game with a 3 from Nebraska native and Seward graduate Nate Lliteras. NU then tore off on an 18-1 run and never let the game get back to single digits again.

"The thing I was most happy with today was the start," Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. "You talk in these early games about how important it is to go out there and throw the first punch and I thought we did that. I think it was 18-4 to start the game and the thing is, they switch one through five, and that’s the first time we’ve seen a defense like that. The thing you cannot do is get stagnant and just try to force it in against a mismatch. We took advantage of some mismatches but once the ball shifted the defense side to side, I thought our activity was good. I thought we got our hands on some balls which got us out and in transition.

"I thought we did a really nice job finding Connor (Essegian). He obviously had it going again for the second straight game and guys did a good job of finding him. Overall, I think the movement was the thing that I was most pleased with. 22 assists, six turnovers – we are continuing to make strides in the right direction with that and we’re going to need it obviously once we start playing Big Ten games next Saturday."

Nebraska shot 58% for the game, including 11-of-24 from 3. North Florida shot 38.5% overall, making 14-of-43 from deep.

Nebraska forward Juwan Gary drives against North Florida guard Jasai Miles during the first half. / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Essegian scored a game-high 22 points. After hitting six 3s against South Dakota, Essegian matched that mark, going 6-of-8 from beyond the arc.

"I’m pretty confident," Essegian said. "It just kind of comes with just having fun and just playing. Having  guys on the team, and coaches and the staff that you trust and just enjoying being around and playing with. Like Brice (Williams) said, we’re doing a good job just getting guys open. Whether it’s me or anyone else on the team. That just comes with trust that we’ve built. As we go throughout the season and just continue to get better and better and everyone will get open shots."

Juwan Gary added 18 points and five rebounds while Williams chipped in 17 points and a game-high six assists. Andrew Morgan finished one rebound shy of a double-double, contributing 13 points and nine boards.

For the Ospreys, Lliteras scored team-high 17 points to go with five rebounds.

Nebraska is back in action Saturday for the first Big Ten Conference game of the season. The Huskers are at the Michigan State Spartans. Tip is set for 11 a.m. CST on Big Ten Network.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Notes

• Nebraska has now won 17 straight at home dating back to last season. 
• Nebraska’s 103 points is the most since scoring 110 against Doane on Dec. 17, 2021. The last time NU scored 100 points against a Division One opponent was 100 in a four overtime loss to NC State on Dec. 1, 2021.  Nebraska has had season highs in points in each of the last two games. 
• Nebraska shot a season-high 58.0 percent and a season-best 45.8 percent from 3-point range in the win. It is the first time NU shot at least 50 percent this season.
• Connor Essegian led Nebraska with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range. He is the first Husker in the Big Ten era to hit at least six 3-pointers in consecutive games, as well as the first in at least 20 seasons. Essegian is the first Husker with multiple games with at least six 3-pointers in a season since Kobe Webster in 2020-21. 
• Essegian’s 22-point effort was his second straight 20-point night and fourth of his career. It is the first time in his three seasons he had consecutive 20-point games. 
• Brice Williams reached double figures for the 11th-straight game dating back to last season, as he finished with 17 points and a season-high six assists.
• North Florida’s 43 3-point attempts is a school record against Nebraska, breaking the mark of 42 set by Creighton on Nov. 22. 
• Nebraska had a 15-0 run from 18:15-14:42 in the first half, the sixth double-digit run this season for NU. The Huskers have had at least one double-figure run in each of the last five games. 
• As a team, Nebraska finished with 22 assists and a season-low six assists, In the last two games, NU is averaging 23.0 assists per game. 
• Nebraska had 53 points at halftime, making it back-to-back games for NU with at least 50 points at half. 
• Nebraska finished with five double-digit scorers in the win, matching the most this season. 
• Nebraska is now 1-0 all-time against North Florida and 8-0 against Atlantic Sun teams. 
• The Ospreys came into today’s game averaging 86.7 points for the game on 46% shooting and were limited to a season-low 72 points on 38.5% from the field. 
• Nebraska finished with a season high 12 steals, the fifth time in six games with double-digit steals.
• Sam Hoiberg matched his career high in steals with four, the last time he accomplished this feat was against Florida A&M on November 9, 2023. 
• Nebraska’s bench out-scored UNF, 37-15, as the Huskers got double-figure efforts from Ahron Ulis (10 points, three assists) and Andrew Morgan, who had season highs in points (13) and rebounds (nine).

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