Huskers Roll Past Thunderbirds

Lincoln ? Quincy Hankins-Cole matched his season-high with 15 points, as Nebraska’s bench came up big in a 94-61 victory over Southern Utah Wednesday night.

Hankins-Cole led Nebraska (10-3) with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, as the Huskers put up their highest offensive total in five years. NU, which is a perfect 8-0 at home, relied on a bench that put up 48 points, including 15 by Hankins-Cole in just 11 minutes of action.

Jorge Brian Diaz added nine points and four rebounds in 15 minutes, while Myles Holley came up big with seven points and a career-best 11 rebounds in just 14 minutes of action. All 13 players who saw action broke into the scoring column, as the Huskers ended the first half on a 19-6 spurt and cruised to a 33-point victory.

Hankins-Cole was one of four players to finish in double figures, as freshman Brandon Ubel added 12 points, while Sek Henry and Brandon Richardson chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively. Nebraska shot 68 percent over the final 20 minutes, as the 57 points in the second half was equal to the Huskers’ offensive total in each of the last two home contests.

Nebraska was sharp with the basketball all night, dishing out 18 assists, including five by Lance Jeter, and committing a season-low four turnovers, while harassing Southern Utah (4-9) into 19 turnovers on the night.

The Huskers withstood an early shooting barrage by Southern Utah, which hit five of its first seven shots from the floor and led by as many as five points in the first 13 minutes. The Huskers then clamped down on the defensive end, holding the Thunderbirds to just to just a pair of field goals in the final 11:53 of the first half. Leading 18-17, Hankins-Cole, Diaz and Holley keyed the decisive spurt, combining for 13 points of the Huskers’ final 19 points to help Nebraska take a 14-point lead into the locker room. Diaz had seven of his nine points in the opening half, while Holley collected seven caroms and had all five of his first-half points in the spurt.

Nebraska blew open the contest in the opening minutes of the second half, using a 10-1 spurt in the first 2:08 of the stanza to build a 49-25 lead after a Brandon Richardson 3-pointer. SUU eventually whittled the lead to 14, at 52-38 with 13:30 left, but a Richardson 3-pointer and two Hankins-Cole baskets helped push the lead back to 23 points, at 61-38 after a Holley jumper at the 10:50 mark. From there, Nebraska continued to add on to the margin and led by as much as 36 points before winning going away.

Davis Baker led SUU with 14 points, while Ryan Brimley added 11 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.

Nebraska returns to action on Saturday afternoon, as the Huskers host Maryland-Eastern Shore at 3 p.m. The game will be carried on the Husker Sports Network and on the Internet at Huskers.com.