Huskers Race Past Lobos

Jamarques Lawrence and Braden Frager combined for 41 point as Nebraska used a blistering start and made enough plays down the stretch for an 84-72 win over New Mexico Thursday at the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City.

Lawrence had a career-high 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including four 3-pointers for his second career 20-point effort while Frager came off the bench and provided a spark with 20 points, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and a team-high eight rebounds as Nebraska won its ninth straight game dating back to last season.

With the win, the Huskers (5-0) will play in the title game Friday evening at 8:30 p.m. against the winner of the Kansas State/New Mexico contest currently underway.  The game will be carried on Peacock and on the Huskers Sports Network.

The Huskers jumped on the Lobos (3-2), getting out to a 11-2 lead in the first three minutes and hit nine of their first 13 shots from the field to extend the margin to 22-5 after two straight 3-pointers from Connor Essegian. NU shot 52 percent, including 9-of-19 from distance, in the opening 20 minutes to build a 43-25 halftime lead.

New Mexico came out firing in the second half, hitting 8-of-15 shots, including 6-of-10 from long range, to cut the Huskers’ 18-point lead to 51-47 on a 3-pointe from Luke Haupt with 12:31 left.  The Lobos were within 59-53 at the under-eight timeout before the Huskers regained momentum. Pryce Sandfort’s driving basket started a 7-0 run that gave the Huskers a 66-53 advantage after Sandfort’s 3-pointer with 6:46 remaining.

The Lobos would eventually pull within 66-58 on a Jake Hall 3-pointer before Rienk Mast, who had 17 points, sparked a 5-0 run that pushed the lead back to 13 with 2:57 remaining. NU would eventually build a 15-point cushion on its way to their first-ever win over New Mexico.

Hall led New Mexico with 20 points in a losing effort, as the Lobos were held to 39 percent shooting.