Courtesy of Husker Athletics
Lincoln – Behind Berke Buyuktuncel’s first triple-double, No. 15 Nebraska overcame a slow first half and posted a 78-55 win over North Dakota Sunday night.
Buyuktuncel finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists, capping the performance with a 3-pointer with 2:03 remaining before leaving to a standing ovation from the 14,519 fans in attendance. It marked the fourth triple-double in school history and second of the season, as Rienk Mast had one against FIU on Nov. 8.
Buyuktuncel’s effort keyed the Huskers’ second-half outburst, as Nebraska (12-0) shot 63 percent in the second half and outscored North Dakota 54-29 after halftime enroute to the Huskers’ 16th straight win dating back to last season.
Braden Frager posted a game-high 17 points to lead four Huskers in double figures. Sam Hoiberg tallied 15 points and four assists while Jamarques Lawrence added 13 points and three assists. As a team, the Huskers had 22 assists to just six turnovers against a UND squad which entered Sunday forcing 16.8 turnovers per game.
Early on the Huskers got off to a slow start, hitting just 4-17 shots from the field as UND built an early 16-8 cushion before Jared Garcia’s 3-pointer ended a stretch where NU went 0-fo-10 from long distance. The Huskers, who shot just 28 percent in the first half, stayed in the game on the defensive end, holding UND to 31 percent shooting over the first 20 minutes.
Trailing 24-18 with 2:05 left in the half, Frager’s 3-point play sparked a 6-2 spurt to close the half as the Huskers closed to with 26-24 with a Hoiberg basket with 12 seconds left in the half.
Nebraska got the second half going, scoring six straight points out of the gate as Lawrence’s 3-pointer with 18:19 left in the half forced a Fighting Hawks timeout.
UND scored five straight points to pull within 31-30 before a Lawrence jumper and a Hoiberg 3-pointer ignited a 11-1 spurt as the Huskers built a 43-32 lead with 11:12 left after a Lawrence jumper. North Dakota closed to within 43-37 before Nebraska used another 11-1 run to stretch the lead back to 16, at 54-38 after a Pryce Sandfort 3-pointer and a pair of Frager free throws.
From there, the Huskers stretched the margin to as much as 25 en route to their 21st straight non-conference win.
Eli King led North Dakota (5-10) with 13 points while Marley Curtis added 10 as the Fighting Hawks shot just 33 percent and were outrebounded 42-30.
The Huskers will be off until Dec. 30, when Nebraska hosts New Hampshire in its final non-conference game. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. (CT) and the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network and can be heard across the Huskers Radio Network. Tickets are available by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets.
