Defense Drives Huskers to Win

Lincoln -- The Nebraska men’s basketball team rode an opportunistic defense that cashed in 35 Wayne State turnovers for 29 points to a 74-51 win over the Wildcats Tuesday night in the Huskers’ final exhibition game this season at the Devaney Center.

 

Twelve different Huskers accounted for 21 steals, led by Ade Dagunduro with four.  Four other Nebraska players notched at least two steals for the game. 

Dagunduro also led the Huskers in scoring with 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting and paced the squad in rebounding with nine including six offensive boards.  Aleks Maric was the other Husker in double figures, with 13 points on 6-for-14 from the field with seven rebounds. Cookie Miller topped Friday’s five-assist performance against Nebraska Wesleyan with a team-leading six assists against Wayne State. 

 

A power slam dunk by Maric off a feed from Miller after a Dagunduro steal on Wayne State’s 25th turnover of the game gave Nebraska a 41-21 lead with 18:23 remaining and forced the Wildcats to call their fourth timeout of the game.  Any hopes of a second-half comeback by Wayne State were squashed when the Huskers forced turnovers in five of the Wildcats’ first six possessions after halftime. 

Wayne State got as close as 47-35 with just under 12 minutes left in the game, but Nebraska went on a 16-5 run over the next 5:57 to build its lead to 64-40 with six minutes remaining in the contest.  The 24-point edge was the largest NU held in the game.

 

The Husker defense was strong in the early going, forcing 11 turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game as Nebraska took an 18-16 lead.

Nebraska gained control of the game with a 15-0 run over 5:48 in which the Huskers forced nine Wayne State turnovers and took the game from an 18-18 tie with 7:19 to go in the first half to a 33-18 NU lead with 1:31 remaining until halftime.  The Nebraska defense held Wayne State without a field goal for the last 7:31 of the first half as the Huskers held a 36-21 lead at the half.  For the half, Nebraska scored 18 points off turnovers. 

 

Along with forcing turnovers, the Huskers did an excellent job defending Wayne State’s jump shooters in the first half. Nebraska held Wayne State to 5-for-18 shooting including 0-for-8 from 3-point range.   

Bryce Caldwell led the Wildcats in scoring with 17 points on 4-of-15 shooting.  Jamar Diggs was the only other Wayne State player in double figure with 10 on 4-for-12 shooting. 

 

After a 2-0 exhibition campaign, Nebraska opens the regular season with a 7 p.m. contest against Presbyterian at the Devaney Center on Saturday, Nov. 10.