C.J. Wilcher racked up 18 points off the bench as Nebraska romped past South Carolina State 91-62 on Friday night in Lincoln, Neb.
Brice Williams added 16 points, while Josiah Allick and Eli Rice both posted 10 points as Nebraska (11-2) earned its fourth consecutive win heading into the return of Big Ten Conference play.
It was a season-high point total for the Cornhuskers even though they didn't make a field goal in the final four minutes.
The Cornhuskers dominated South Carolina State in just about every aspect for the first 20 minutes, leading 50-11 at halftime in their final nonconference game.
Jordan Simpson's 17 points, Michael Teal's 11 points and Raquan Brown's 11 points were tops for the Bulldogs (4-11), who will play Sunday at Oklahoma State before starting Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference action.
The Bulldogs were out of sorts from the get-go and never found a long-range shooting touch. They went 5-for-23 (21.7 percent) on 3-point attempts.
Nebraska played its second game without 6-foot-10 forward Rienk Mast, whose knee surgery will keep him out until at least sometime in January.
Wilcher shot 7-for-9 from the floor.
The final numbers weren't all glossy for Nebraska, which yielded 13 offensive rebounds to the Bulldogs and committed 20 turnovers. South Carolina State held a 51-41 scoring edge in the second half.
Allick and Williams were both credited with seven rebounds as part of Nebraska's 50-40 edge on the boards.
Nebraska led 12-0 before the Bulldogs scored on a Teal 3-pointer after nearly six minutes elapsed. That was followed an 11-0 Cornhuskers run for a 23-3 advantage.
South Carolina State shot 31.1 percent from the field, a mark that would have been considerably worse if not for Simpson's 7-for-11 rate. The Bulldogs received only 16 total points from their starters.
--Field Level Media
South Carolina State | Nebraska | |
Jordan Simpson 17 | Scoring | C.J. Wilcher 18 |
Raquan Brown 2 | Assists | Jarron Coleman 6 |
Davion Everett 8 | Rebounds | Josiah Allick 7 |
Shaman Alston 2 | Free Throws Made | Brice Williams 5 |
Omar Croskey 2 | Steals | Keisei Tominaga 3 |
Shaman Alston 1 | Blocks | Juwan Gary 4 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
South Carolina State | 62 | 31.1 | 5-23 | 11-15 | 9 | 36 | 3 | 9 | 19 |
Nebraska | 91 | 47.5 | 9-30 | 24-32 | 22 | 43 | 7 | 16 | 20 |