Huskers Buck Broncs with Hot Outside Shooting

Lincoln - Nebraska's freshmen combined for 46 points and senior Ryan Anderson added 21, as the Husker basketball team cruised to an 81-53 win over visiting Texas-Pan American Wednesday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Behind a hot-shooting night, the Huskers topped the 80-point mark for the second time in their last three home games. In improving to 5-1 on the season, Nebraska hit 53.7 percent of its shots, including 60 percent in the first half. The Huskers were lethal from 3-point range, as NU connected on seven straight treys at one point while finishing 9-of-12 from beyond the arc.

Ray Gallegos and Eshaunte Jones both produced their first double-figure scoring game, as Gallegos finished with 13 points and Jones added 11. Adrien Coleman (two points) and Mike Fox (four points) each found the scoring column for the first time their Husker careers, but the freshmen were shown up by the senior. Anderson topped the 20-point mark for the third time in his career, pouring in 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting, while also adding four rebounds and four steals.

Texas-Pan American (1-6) was led by Luis Valera, who scored 13 points. The Broncs committed 19 turnovers and hit just 40.4 percent from the field. UTPA was just 9-of-23 in the second half, including 0-of-7 from the 3-point line, as the Huskers outscored the Broncs 41-21 after leading by only 10 at the half.

The game opened with a series of runs. Nebraska scored the first five points of the contest behind a pair of baskets from Jorge Brian Diaz, before the Broncs used a 6-0 run to take a one-point lead. Four different Huskers then scored during a 10-0 run that put NU on top 15-6.

The Broncs answered by scoring eight of the next 10 points to cut the lead to three. A trio of 3-pointers tied the game at 20 with eight minutes remaining in the half and Texas-Pan American went ahead 22-21 on a putback dunk one minute later.

The teams then traded baskets before Sek Henry scored five straight points to give NU a four-point lead. Following a pair of UTPA free throws, Gallegos scored eight straight points - including a pair of 3-pointers - to stretch the lead to 36-26 with four minutes left in the half.

The Huskers led 40-32 at halftime, behind 26 points from the freshmen. Nebraska connected on 60 percent of its shots in the half, going 15-of-25 from the field, including 5-of-6 from behind the arc.

Texas-Pan American trimmed the lead to five early in the second half before the Huskers answered with eight straight points to push the lead to 53-40 with 15 minutes remaining. Gallegos ignited the run with a 3-pointer, before Anderson took over the game.

Anderson scored 11 points in a three-minute span to help the Huskers turn a 10-point advantage into a 61-42 lead with 12 minutes remaining. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Brandon Ubel and Jones pushed the lead to 25 at the midway point of the half and capped an impressive 17-2 Husker run.

Nebraska cruised from there, leading by as many as 30 at 81-51 with under a minute remaining. The Broncs hit their final shot of the game to account for the final margin. The basket was their only field goal over the final six minutes.

Following the win, Nebraska hits the road for its third away game of the season this Sunday, when the Huskers travel to Omaha for a 4 p.m. contest with Creighton. The game will be televised locally by KMTV and will be available worldwide to premium subscribers of HuskersNSide.