Nebraska uses strong second half to overpower Washington

Brice Williams, the reigning National Player of the Week, scored 23 points as Nebraska rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat Washington 86-72 in a Big Ten Conference game Wednesday night in Seattle.

Juwan Gary added 17 points and Connor Essegian scored 16 for the Cornhuskers (15-8, 5-7 Big Ten), who won their third in a row following a six-game losing streak.

Mekhi Mason matched his season high with 23 points for Washington (11-11, 2-9). Great Osobor had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Tyler Harris added 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds and Zoom Diallo scored 10 for the Huskies, who lost for the seventh time in their past eight games.

After trailing 47-37 at the intermission, the Cornhuskers opened the second half with a 15-2 run, holding Washington scoreless for a span of 5:12. Williams capped the surge with a 3-pointer that gave Nebraska a 52-49 lead with 15:06 remaining.

Mason supplied a three-point play and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to put the hosts up 57-56. Willliams made a second-chance 3-pointer after a blocked shot with 10:51 left to give the Cornhuskers the lead for good. Nebraska extended its advantage to as many as 16 points in the final minute.

The Cornhuskers shot 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the field, including 11 of 19 (57.9 percent) on 3-pointers. The Huskies shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) and were 10-of-25 (40 percent) on 3s. Nebraska had a 24-5 edge in bench scoring and 36-26 in the paint.

Mason scored 16 points in the first half for Washington, which made 10 of its first 12 field-goal attempts, including its first seven 3-point tries, to surge ahead 28-15.

Williams made a 3-pointer with 1:57 to go to pull Nebraska within 10 at the half.

Osobor had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Huskies prior to the intermission, on pace for the first triple-double in school history. He failed to add to any of those totals in the opening 11:38 of the second half until grabbing a rebound.

Washington forward Wilhelm Breidenbach and Nebraska center Braxton Meah both played against their former teams, as Breidenbach started his collegiate career with the Cornhuskers and Meah started for the Huskies the previous two seasons. Breidenbach scored three points and Meah finished with two.

--Field Level Media