Connor Essegian had a career-high 29 points off the bench and Nebraska hit 13 3-pointers in a 96-79 nonconference win over South Dakota on Wednesday night in Lincoln, Neb.

Essegian, a junior guard who transferred from Wisconsin, was 10-of-22 from the field and 6-of-15 from outside. Brice Williams added 21 points, with 15 coming in the first half, as the Cornhuskers (5-1) had their most points in almost four years.

South Dakota (6-3) got 20 points from Chase Forte, all in the second half, and 16 from Quandre Bullock.

Nebraska played most of the game without senior forward Juwan Gary, who was scoreless and played only two first-half minutes after getting poked in the eye and later appearing to injure his shoulder. Fellow starter Berke Buyuktuncel also didn’t play in the second half due to an undisclosed injury.

After taking a 19-point lead into halftime, thanks to 10 made 3-pointers, Nebraska extended the lead to 23 before South Dakota made seven of eight shots to get within 68-53 on Forte’s 3-pointer with 14:03 left. Forte’s free throw cut the deficit to 77-65 with 9:15 remaining.

The Coyotes trimmed their deficit to 12 again, trailing 83-71 with 7:09 to go, but would get no closer as they would make only three field goals the rest of the way.

Nebraska built a 29-16 lead less than nine minutes into the game thanks to seven straight points from Essegian, including a four-point play. But turnovers allowed South Dakota to get back in it, with the Coyotes going on a 7-0 run to get within 31-25 with 6:57 left in the first half.

Williams responded by scoring 10 straight for the Cornhuskers to push their lead to 16 points. Ahron Ulis hit a half-court shot at the halftime buzzer for a 54-35 lead.
South Dakota returns home to host Idaho State on Dec. 4, while Nebraska hosts North Florida on Sunday.

–Field Level Media