Nebraska won 69-55 on Monday night, advancing to the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic title game behind season highs from Brice Williams and Juwan Gary.
Gary finished with a season-high 21 points on 8 of 10 shooting to lead the Husker attack, while Williams tied his career-high 32 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including four 3-pointers.
With the victory, Nebraska (9-2) advances to Wednesday’s championship game against Oregon State. Earlier Wednesday, the Beavers defeated Oakland 80-74 in overtime. At 7:30 p.m. (central), on Christmas, the championship game will be played.
During the second 20 minutes, Nebraska shot 59 percent from the field, and Williams and Gary combined for 34 of the Huskers’ 40 second-half points.
With 6:20 remaining, Hawai’I had closed the gap to 56-50, but Gary’s tip-in sparked a 14-5 Husker surge to seal the win. Together, the two scored 11 of Nebraska’s final 13 points, ending the Rainbow Warriors’ (7-4) five-game losing run. In the last six minutes, NU held Hawai’I to just two field goals.
Before Williams scored five baskets in a row and NU went on a 7-0 run to grab a 36-31 lead following a basket by Berke Büyüktuncel, Hawai’i scored the first four points out of the locker room to take a 31-29 lead. Before a Williams jumper with less than nine minutes left gave Nebraska a 7-0 run and an 11-point lead at 52-41, Hawaii remained within striking distance.
After falling behind 56-54, the Husker seniors took control after a 3-pointer from Akira Jacobs and a jumper from Ryan Rapp brought the hosts within 56-50.
After a sluggish start, the Huskers led 29–27 going into the locker room. In the first 12:30, Hawai’I made 8 of 16 field goals to take an early lead, while the Huskers missed 10 of their first 13 attempts. With just over seven minutes left, the Huskers were behind 22–14 until they rallied.
After a 3-pointer from Williams and a layup from Rollie Worster forced a Hawai’i timeout, Braxton Meah’s basket began a 7-0 run in 1:06. With 1:04 remaining, the Huskers maintained their momentum as Hawaii was held scoreless for almost eight minutes. A 3-pointer by Juwan Gary and five consecutive points from Brice Williams completed a 15-0 run that put NU ahead 29–22.
