Bryce McGowens continued his stellar start to his collegiate career by scoring 29 points as host Nebraska survived a stiff challenge from Sam Houston and made enough plays down the stretch in a 74-65 victory Friday night in Lincoln, Neb.

McGowans helped Nebraska (1-1) avoid another tough home loss by hitting two clutch shots to give the Cornhuskers some separation. He converted a layup for a 62-56 lead with five minutes left and then hit a 3-pointer to make it 65-57 with 4:26 to play before capping his second straight big night with a dunk in the final minute.

McGowans shot 9 of 13 and scored at least 25 points for the second straight game, but this time Nebraska did not blow its late lead after squandering a four-point lead in the final 35 seconds of its 75-74 loss to visiting Western Illinois.

Alonzo Verge Jr. struggled from the floor by missing 12 of 16 shots and added 13 points to go along with seven assists as Nebraska shot 40.7 percent and survived missing 18 of 22 3-point tries. Eduardo Andre added 11 points and seven rebounds as the Cornhuskers rallied from a 10-point deficit and gradually finished off the win.

Sam Houston's Savion Flagg scored a career-high 31 points to lead all scorers and grabbed 11 rebounds. Flagg shot 12 of 22 from the floor, made five three 3-pointers but also committed six turnovers.

Flagg was also the only double-digit scorer for the Bearkats (1-1), who shot 37.5 percent and committed 18 turnovers.

Sam Houston opened a 22-12 lead on a 3-pointer by Flagg with 7:22 remaining. After Flagg hit another 3-pointer with 3:16 left, the lead was up to 27-18 and he hit a jumper with two seconds remaining to give the Bearkats a 32-27 lead by halftime.

Flagg's layup 38 seconds into the second half gave Sam Houston a 37-27 lead but Nebraska chipped away and finally took the lead when Trey McGowens sank two free throws to make it 46-45 with 11:32 remaining. The Cornhuskers took a 51-46 lead on two free throws by Andre with 10:31 remaining but a layup by Flagg forged a 51-51 deadlock a little over a minute later.

A jumper by Jaden Ray gave Sam Houston a 53-52 lead with 8:26 remaining but Verge's layup gave Nebraska the lead for good six seconds later.

--Field Level Media