Brice Williams poured in 27 points and Nebraska opened the season with an 87-67 victory over Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Monday night in Lincoln, Neb.
Rollie Worster scored 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Connor Essegian added 13 points for the Cornhuskers. Andrew Morgan had 10 points for Nebraska.
K.T. Raimey scored 14 points and Cliff Davis had 12 points on four 3-pointers for Rio Grande Valley. Tommy Gankhuyag and Dekedran Thorn added 11 apiece for the Vaqueros.
Rio Grande Valley rebounded from a 15-point, second-half deficit and trailed 69-65 after Raimey’s basket with 5:52 left before Essegian took over.
Essegian drilled a 3-pointer with 4:34 left, added two free throws 21 seconds later and capped his personal 7-0 flurry on a layup with 3:52 remaining. Juwan Gary tallied four of the final five points of the 12-0 run to boost the lead to 16 points with 2:40 left.
Nebraska shot 49.1 percent from the field, including 6 of 19 from 3-point range.
The Vaqueros made 38.7 percent of their attempts and were 13 of 41 from behind the arc.
The Cornhuskers looked in good shape after Worster hit a turnaround jumper to end a 9-0 run and give Nebraska a 59-44 advantage with 14:35 left in the game.
A 3-pointer by Essegian gave the Cornhuskers a 65-52 lead with 12:20 left before Rio Grande scored seven straight and 13 of the next 17 to get back in the game.
Williams scored 19 first-half points as the Cornhuskers led 42-36 at the break.
Williams started fast by scoring the first eight points of the game on a 3-pointer, a jumper and a three-point play.
Nebraska later led 14-6 on a basket by Morgan before Rio Grande scored 15 of the next 20 points.
Raimey and Davis hit consecutive treys to give the Vaqueros their first lead of the game at 18-17 with 10:07 left in the half.
Davis capped the burst with another 3-pointer with 9:30 to play to make it 21-19.
The Cornhuskers later led by two when Williams scored six straight points on four free throws and a layup for a 42-34 advantage with 42 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
