If Nebraska thought Gardner-Webb was going to give it a breather after a brutal stretch in its nonconference schedule, it was mistaken.

Tyrell Nelson had 24 points and nine rebounds and Gardner-Webb went on a late second-half run to upset Nebraska 70-62 on Sunday in Lincoln, Neb.

The Bulldogs opened a seven-point lead when David Efianaya sank two free throws with 7:40 left. The Cornhuskers cut the lead to two on two Tai Webster free throws that made the score 62-20 with just over two minutes to go.

But Brandon Miller answered with two free throws for Gardner-Webb and the Bulldogs never looked back.

Efianaya was the only other Gardner-Webb player to reach double figures with 11 points off the bench.

Webster led the Cornhuskers with 17 points. Ed Morrow added nine points and 18 rebounds for Nebraska, the most rebounds since Aleks Maric in 2008.

Tim Miles' squad needed a break from the upper-echelon opposition that they have faced in the nonconference portion of their schedule. The only problem was that Gardner-Webb didn't get the memo.

Nebraska was coming off losses against ranked opponents, No. 10 Creighton and No. 3 Kansas. Earlier in the season, the Cornhuskers lost to then-No. 14 UCLA.

The Cornhuskers have now lost six of seven games.

The Bulldogs gave the Cornhuskers all they could handle from the get-go as Nebraska led by only two, 30-28, at intermission.

The defenses were on display as neither team scored on the final 3:13 of the half.

The Bulldogs made 11 of 27 shots from the field and were 3 of 8 from beyond the arc. If not for their 10 turnovers, they most likely would have had the lead.

Nebraska made only 11 of 28 shots from the field and their free-throw percentage was less than the temperature outside Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Cornhuskers went 1 of 9 -- 11.1 percent, and he thermometer read 12 degrees in Lincoln.

While Nebraska struggled from the field, Gardner-Webb was not very good from the free-throw line in the first half. The Bulldogs were 3 of 8 and the Huskers were 7 of 11.

Nelson led the Bulldogs with nine first-half points. Webster had 10 for the Cornhuskers.

Nebraska faces Southern on Wednesday before taking an eight-day holiday break and opening the Big Ten season on Dec. 28 at No. 9 Indiana.

Gardner-Webb heads to Manhattan, Kan., to face Kansas State before it takes a holiday break and opens its Big South season on Dec. 29 against High Point.