Brice Williams scored 21 of his game-high 32 points in the second half Monday night as Nebraska advanced to the final of the Diamond Head Classic with a 69-55 win over Hawaii in Honolulu.
Juwan Gary added 21 for the Cornhuskers (9-2), who will play Oregon State on Wednesday in the championship game. The Beavers scored an 80-74 overtime win over Oakland in the first semifinal.
Marcus Greene scored 11 points, while Kody Williams and reserve Akira Jacobs each scored 10 for the Rainbow Warriors (7-4). But forward Gytis Nemeiksa, who averages 15 points per game and tallied 24 in a win Sunday night over Charlotte, missed all five shots from the field and mustered just one point in 24 minutes.
Brice Williams ripped off seven of Nebraska’s first nine points in the second half during a 9-2 run that gave the Cornhuskers the lead for good at 38-33 with 17:17 left. Gary added the team’s next nine points and Williams took over after that with a three-point play, a short jumper and a layup that made it 54-43 with 7:51 remaining.
The Cornhuskers canned 59.3 percent of their shots in the second half.
The first half was played in two distinct segments. Hawaii controlled the first 12 1/2 minutes, playing solid defense and carving out points with good offensive execution. A layup by Jacobs gave the Rainbow Warriors a 22-14 lead at the 8:41 mark.
Nebraska then ripped off 15 points in a 5:59 span, starting with a short hook from Brandon Meah and culminating with Williams’ long 3-pointer from the wing with 1:04 left that gave it a 29-22 advantage. The Rainbow Warriors missed 11 straight shots and went 8:01 without a point.
But they headed for halftime with momentum after a layup by Harry Rouhliadeff and Greene’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer as the horn sounded, enabling Hawaii to slice the deficit to 29-27.
Neither team shot better than 35.7 percent in the opening 20 minutes, but the Cornhuskers were more efficient on 3-pointers, going 5 of 12 while Hawaii was just 4 of 16.
–Field Level Media
