Huskers Down Bellevue, 82-58, in Exhibition Finale

Lincoln - Behind a 17-point effort from sophomore center Jorge Brian Diaz, the Nebraska men's basketball team wrapped up the exhibition portion of its schedule with an 82-58 win over Bellevue University Monday night at the Devaney Center.

The Huskers now look ahead to the 2010-11 regular season, which begins Friday night when NU hosts South Dakota at 7 p.m.

Diaz led all scorers by hitting 8-of-10 shots from the floor to surpass double figures for the second straight game. Thirteen of his points came in the first half, as Nebraska raced to a 43-25 halftime lead before maintaining a comfortable margin throughout the entire 40 minutes.

The Huskers connected on 58 percent of its field goal attempts (29-of-50) to better its 46 percent (24-of-52) shooting performance in last Wednesday exhibition opener.

The Bruins pulled to within 12 points at the 15-minute mark, but the Huskers pulled away, shooting 67 percent (12-of-18) from the floor in the second half.  Junior guard Kamyron Brown dished out a game-high six assists, including three in the first eight minutes of the second half to help NU hold its double-digit advantage and cruise to a comfortable win.

The Huskers held Bellevue to just 30 percent from the floor, including 9-of-35 from 3-point range.

The Bruins' comeback hopes ended at the 13-minute mark when sophomore guard Ray Gallegos intercepted a BU pass and flushed a two-handed dunk to help ignite a 10-0 spurt that gave NU a 61-39 lead after a Diaz basket.

 Gallegos finished with 10 points, including seven in the second half, while Andre Almeida added 10 points and six rebounds off the bench.

Nebraska was in control from the tipoff, racing to an 11-2 lead in the first five minutes, including six points from Diaz. The Huskers shot 53 percent in the first half (17-of-32) and grabbed its biggest lead of 18 points on a Brown baseline jumper with 40 seconds remaining to take a 43-25 advantage into the locker room.

Diaz and Brown hooked up three times in the final six minutes of the half to expand a 21-18 lead to a significant margin by ending the half on a 22-7 run. Sophomore forward Brandon Ubel ignited the run with a pair of field goals, before the Diaz-Brown show took over. Leading 31-20, Brown delivered a no-look pass to a cutting Diaz in the lane for a one-handed slam, while the pair connected twice more to expand the lead.

While Diaz led all scorers with 17 points, he was also the top defensive force by tallying three of Nebraska's eight blocked shots.

Ben Imig led Bellevue with 14 points, including four 3-pointers.

The Huskers move on to Friday night's season opener against the Coyotes at the Devaney Center. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Net Midwest and carried on the Husker Sports Radio Network.