Wilkinson Shines as NU Holds Off Bears

Lincoln --- Wes Wilkinson scored 17 points to lead the Huskers as they held on for a 60-50 win over a pesky Northern Colorado squad Tuesday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Playing their final tuneup before Big 12 Conference play, the Huskers (10-3) hit nearly 50 percent from the field in the opening period and built a 17-point lead, but the Bears -- who had won their first game of the year just five days before -- would not go away. UNC (1-16) went on a 19-0 run spanning the first and second periods to earn a two-point lead early in the second half before Nebraska picked up the intensity and iced the game down the stretch.

UNC got back into the contest by scoring 12 straight points to open second frame. Matt Kline hit a pair of 3-pointers to ignite the Bears and Sean Tiabi then added six points to give them a 37-35 lead three minutes into the second period. Tiabi connected on three straight free throws after being fouled behind the arc and added a traditional trey at the 16:40 mark to give the Bears the two-point lead.

Jamel White finally ended the Husker drought with a driving layup with 14:49 remaining in the contest, Nebraska's first basket since a B.J. Walker layup with 2:41 left in the first period. Wilkinson then recorded a tip-in and the Bears tied it at 37-all before Wilkinson's one-handed, putback dunk gave Nebraska the lead for good.

With Nebraska ahead 51-47 with under five minutes to play, Wilkinson made two big plays on one series as he ran down a long rebound of a missed shot on the opposite side of the court and then came back to drain his fifth trey of the day to give the Huskers a seven-point lead. After UNC missed a shot on the ensuing possession, Nebraska opened the advantage to 10 points as Marcus Walker found Bronsen Schliep for an alley-oop dunk. Schliep made it a three-point play as he drained the free throw after being fouled on the basket.

Tiabi drained a 3-pointer with just over three minutes left to cut NU's lead to seven, 57-50, but Schliep added a pair of free throws and Charles Richardson connected on the first of two freebies to push the final margin to 10 points.

Northern Colorado opened the game strong, posting a quick 5-0 lead before the Huskers could get on the board. Dwayne Birden hit a driving layup to open the game and Kline added a 3-pointer for the five-point lead.

Wilkinson then connected on his first 3-pointer for the Huskers at the 17:35 mark and, following a Dourisseau putback, Wilkinson added a second trey just before the 16-minute mark put NU ahead for the first time at 8-7. Richardson added a jumper to put NU ahead 10-7 at the first media timeout.

Aleks Maric added a basket to give Nebraska a 12-7 lead before Tiabi ended NU's 9-0 run with a 3-pointer. The Huskers extended the run to 15-3 as it held UNC without basket for more than four and one-half minutes. Nebraska then pushed the lead to 17 points, 31-14, on Wilkinson's 3-pointer with 3:11 remaining in the opening frame.

From there, the Bears continued to pound away at the Huskers and went on a 9-2 run in the final three minutes, hitting their final five shots of the half to cut the lead to 10 points, 35-25, at the intermission. UNC had hit just 6-of-24 attempts before the spurt but finished the half shooting 37.9 percent.

Wilkinson finished with a game-high 17 points as the only double-figure scorer for the Huskers. B.J. Walker added eight points and eight rebounds while Joe McCray came off the bench for eight points, five boards, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot in 21 minutes.

The Huskers hit just 31 percent in the second half and finished the game connecting on just 39.7 percent from the field, while the Bears hit 37.0 percent. Both teams had strong performances from beyond the arc as the Huskers hit 47.1 percent and UNC connected on 41.2 percent. Nebraska was able to hold onto the lead down the stretch behind its 42-34 advantage on the glass, but got to the charity stripe just nine times on the day.

Taibi finished with 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting, including hitting 4-of-8 from 3-point range, while Michael Gordy came off the bench to score 10 points.

Nebraska returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 7 when the Huskers open Big 12 Conference play against Oklahoma at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The game against the No. 14 Sooners will be seen on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Pinnacle Sports Network and on Huskers.com.