Huskers Cruise Past Oklahoma

Lincoln - The Nebraska men's basketball team held Oklahoma to its fewest points of the season, as the Huskers led from start to finish in a 63-46 victory Saturday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Although the Huskers never trailed, Nebraska led just 21-20 with 2:55 remaining in the first half before a game-changing 10-0 run. NU scored the final eight points of the first half and hit the first basket of the second half to take a 31-20 lead with 19:14 remaining. Oklahoma would get no closer than nine the rest of the way.

The win was Nebraska's first of the conference season, as the Huskers snapped a five-game losing streak and improve to 13-8 on the season and 1-5 in Big 12 play. Brandon Richardson scored a game-high 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Jorge Brian Diaz added 10 points, while Ryan Anderson chipped in 11 and pulled down three rebounds to move into the top 20 of the Husker career rebounding chart.

Cade Davis was the only Sooner in double figures, scoring 11 points as Oklahoma fell to 12-9 overall and 3-4 in league action. Oklahoma came into the game average 74.9 points per game, but the Huskers held them nearly 30 points below their season average. The Sooners' previous low point total of the year was 60 points at Baylor earlier this month.

OU was held to its third-worst shooting performance of the season, as the Sooners connected on only 30.4 percent of their shots. Nebraska hit 15 of its 29 second-half shots to shoot 44.4 percent for the game, its best mark in Big 12 play.

Both teams struggled shooting the ball in a low-scoring first half. Nebraska shot just 36.0 percent, but hit 3-of-5 3-pointers and 8-of-11 free throws. Oklahoma connected on only 30.4 percent from the field, including just 3-of-11 from beyond the arc and 3-of-6 at the charity stripe. The Sooners' 20 first-half points marked their lowest output of the season.

Lance Jeter scored the first five points of the game in the opening minute as the Huskers built an 11-3 lead. Oklahoma missed 10 of its first 11 shots, making only one field goal over the first seven minutes of the game as Nebraska built its lead.

After the quick start, Nebraska's shooting went cold as well. Upon building the lead, the Huskers went more than five minutes without a field goal and missed 10 of their next 11 shots. Oklahoma made only two baskets over the first 11 minutes, but the Sooners matched that output with two field goals over the next two minutes. A Willie Warren 3-pointer tied the game at 15 and capped a 12-4 Oklahoma run that covered more than seven minutes.

Anderson stopped the run and ended Nebraska's dry spell with a 3-pointer on the Huskers' next possession. Christian Standhardinger then drew a charge and Brandon Richardson scored to push the lead back to 20-15 with five minutes left in the half.

OU pulled back within one before Nebraska scored eight straight points over the final three minutes of the half to take a 29-20 lead into the locker room.

The Huskers then scored the first basket of the second half and made their first three shots of the period to stretch the lead to 35-22 with 17:33 to play. After an Oklahoma timeout, a pair of Sooner 3-pointers briefly cut the lead to single digits before Richardson scored seven points in 1:21 span to push the lead to 44-30 with 13 minutes remaining.

The Huskers continued to stretch the lead and were on top 49-32 with eight minutes to play following a Diaz basket. A pair of Sooner 3-pointers trimmed the lead to 11 two minutes later before Diaz emphatically snapped the 6-0 run with a thunderous two-handed putback slam dunk.

The Sooners scored five of the next seven points in a final attempt to close the gap, but Nebraska responded by scoring the final seven points of the game. Standhardinger opened the run with a three-point play to put NU on top 56-44 with 4:34 to play and the lead grew to the final margin as Oklahoma was held off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

Nebraska remains at home this week, as the Huskers host 13th-ranked Kansas State on Tuesday at the Devaney Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on the Big 12 Network.