Haanif Cheatham scored 26 points and Dachon Burke Jr. added 21 to lead Nebraska past South Florida 74-67 in the Cayman Islands Classic consolation game Wednesday at George Town, Grand Cayman Island.
The Bulls (3-4) pulled within 63-62 at the four-minute mark after David Collins (16 points) made a 3-pointer and a layup.
Burke then responded by sandwiching a 3-pointer around a free throw by South Florida's Justin Brown to boost the Cornhuskers' lead to 69-63 with 1:58 to go.
The Bulls failed to get closer than four points the rest of the way, as Nebraska (4-3) sank three of four free throws in the final 40 seconds.
Senior Laquincy Rideau had 15 points and 7-foot sophomore Michael Durr collected 11 rebounds for the Bulls.
The Bulls won the battle of the boards 39-29, and pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, but the Cornhuskers had more points (17-4) off the break.
Nebraska was 14 of 19 from the free-throw line, while South Florida made just 5 of 6 from the charity stripe.
Cheatham scored six points and Burke Jr. had five to fuel a 13-0 run to help Nebraska take a 59-53 lead with 9:10 remaining.
South Florida went ahead 51-45 with 13:05 left in the second half after Collins scored six straight points -- a layup, a jumper and two free throws.
Burke Jr. scored five points to spark a 7-2 run to start the second half that gave Nebraska a 40-37 advantage.
Nebraska scored the last six points, 3-pointers by Cheatham and Jervay Green in the final 3:07, to pull within 35-33.
Cheatham's 11 points led the Huskers. South Florida's Rashun Williams scored eight points on 3-of-4 shooting, including 2 of 3 from behind the arc.
The Bulls outrebounded the Huskers 20-15 and grabbed nine offensive rebounds that led to seven second-chance points. South Florida's reserves outscored Nebraska's 17-7.
Xavier Castaneda and Brown nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Bulls a 27-19 lead with 7:59 remaining.
-Field Level Media
South Florida | Nebraska | |
David Collins 16 | Scoring | Haanif Cheatham 26 |
Laquincy Rideau 5 | Assists | Cameron Mack 7 |
Michael Durr 11 | Rebounds | Yvan Ouedraogo 5 |
Xavier Castaneda 2 | Free Throws Made | Haanif Cheatham 9 |
Justin Brown 1 | Steals | Cameron Mack 2 |
Antun Maricevic 2 | Blocks | Dachon Burke Jr. 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
South Florida | 67 | 38.6 | 8-27 | 5-6 | 12 | 38 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
Nebraska | 74 | 55.1 | 6-14 | 14-19 | 10 | 24 | 1 | 2 | 9 |