Michael Cohen
Faculty Soccer and Faculty Basketball Author
LAS VEGAS — Of the eight groups that kickstarted the Faculty Basketball Crown on Monday throughout 4 video games on the MGM Grand Backyard Area, the place a brand new postseason event was formally born, none introduced extra supporters with them to Sin Metropolis than Nebraska. Well known as probably the most passionate and constant fan bases in collegiate athletics, the Cornhuskers’ devoted flocked to the desert regardless of watching head coach Fred Hoiberg’s workforce drop its final 4 video games of the common season and its opening-round matchup within the Massive Ten Match. However for them, any probability to again Nebraska is an opportunity value taking.
In order that they flew to Las Vegas keen and hoping for a minimum of another virtuoso efficiency from star guard Brice Williams, a first-team all-conference performer who ranks sixth nationally in scoring amongst gamers from the ability leagues with a scoring common of 20 factors per recreation. They’d watched Williams pour in a school-record 43 factors in opposition to Ohio State earlier this month and exceed 20 factors on 17 events all through the season. They knew he was probably the most gifted scorers within the nation, and that truth alone would give Nebraska a combating probability to win this event, the place the Cornhuskers are among the many finest two or three groups on paper. Williams, they believed, could possibly be the occasion’s breakout performer on a workforce that hasn’t received a postseason competitors of any sort since capturing an NIT title in 1996. He is the kind of participant that the NBA scouts in attendance need to see.
The anticipation and expectation that Nebraska’s followers connected to Williams was audible from the opening minutes in opposition to Arizona State, every time the 6-foot-7, 214-pound veteran touched the ball. “Let him cook dinner!” one fan shouted from a courtside seat as Williams remoted his defender. “Oh, that is cash!” one other yelled when Williams walked right into a 3-pointer from the highest of the important thing shortly thereafter. The dialogue continued for the higher a part of two hours amid a 30-point effort from Williams by which he stored the Cornhuskers afloat within the first half after which secured victory within the second by scoring 11 factors within the remaining three minutes. With an 86-78 victory, Nebraska moved onto the quarterfinals and can face Georgetown on Wednesday night.
“Brice was phenomenal your complete recreation,” Hoiberg mentioned.
In fact, Williams has been phenomenal all season because the unquestioned finest participant for a workforce that endured parabolic waves of emotion: the 12-2 begin that included wins over Creighton, Indiana and UCLA; the six-game dropping streak in January that sunk Hoiberg’s workforce to 2-7 in convention play; the back-to-back victories over Illinois and Oregon, each of which made the NCAA Match; the 5 straight losses from Feb. 19 by way of March 9 that referred to as into query whether or not the Cornhuskers would play postseason basketball of any sort after reaching the Massive Dance final yr.
However by way of each peak and valley, each excessive and low, Nebraska might at all times depend on Williams as its headlining act. He gave them 32 factors within the championship recreation of the Diamond Head Traditional, an in-season event performed in Hawaii through the Christmas break. He gave them 27 factors in an extra time win over then-No. 18 Illinois on Jan. 30 to ignite a run of 4 straight wins. He gave them six consecutive 20-point video games throughout the canine days of winter and scored 47 of his workforce’s 111 mixed factors (42.3%) in slim, low-scoring losses to then-No. 15 Michigan and Minnesota within the span of per week. That his taking pictures proportion improved from 44.4% through the 2023-24 marketing campaign to 46.8% this season — all whereas upping his scoring common by practically seven factors per recreation — speaks to how spectacular Williams’ growth has been.
Which is why it got here as no shock on Monday night when Williams, a fifth-year senior taking part in his remaining week of faculty basketball, scored 11 of his workforce’s 13 factors throughout a very torrid stretch within the opening half. His repertoire included a mid-range jumper excessive of a defender adopted by the nifty use of a display screen, and re-screen, from massive man Andrew Morgan for a 3-pointer from the highest of the important thing. He buried one other triple two possessions later and ultimately drew a taking pictures foul on a subsequent 3-point try after curling round a decide, racking up 13 factors within the opening half at the same time as Nebraska fell behind by eight. None of his teammates scored greater than six.
“I simply did not assume that we have been taking part in with the hearth that we wanted to win a basketball recreation in opposition to a really gifted workforce,” Hoiberg mentioned, later including: “I give our guys lots of credit score. They responded in an enormous manner.”
Their response was in step with the mindset Hoiberg’s workforce adopted when deciding whether or not to simply accept an invite to the Faculty Basketball Crown. It was in mid-March when Williams reportedly informed his teammates that the Cornhuskers would solely take part in a postseason event if everybody on the roster agreed to hitch. He did not need Nebraska arriving in Las Vegas, or another locale, with a skeleton crew diminished by potential opt-outs and transfers. That state of affairs would not have been conducive to chasing each the Faculty Basketball Crown and the NIL cash that’s connected to this occasion.
However even with an entire roster, Nebraska discovered itself trailing by double digits early within the second half earlier than embarking on a powerful, extended 32-12 run that every one however extinguished the Solar Devils’ hope for an upset. A flurry of transition baskets from small ahead Juwan Gary (18 factors) gave approach to an offensive explosion from taking pictures guard Connor Essegian (17 factors), a Wisconsin switch who had solely reached double figures thrice within the earlier eight video games since Feb. 5. Between them, Gary and Essegian scored 17 straight within the span of six minutes to rework a three-point deficit into an eventual four-point lead with 4:54 remaining.
“That sparked us,” Williams informed FOX Sports activities. “That gave us just a little little bit of power, gave us just a little little bit of encouragement, confirmed that we had just a little little bit of life in us (and) injected the gang with lots of power.”
From then on, and with renewed momentum, Williams reasserted himself as Nebraska’s alpha and one of many higher closers in faculty basketball this season, evidenced by his 89.4% clip on the free-throw line. Williams buried seven of eight makes an attempt from the charity stripe over the ultimate 1:37 as soon as Arizona State determined to foul, bolstering his clutch taking pictures with a transition dunk and slashing layup that formally put the sport out of attain.
He was there early, he was there late, he was there when it mattered most to make sure Nebraska’s season lasts a minimum of just a few days longer.
“I feel I’ve positively proven all through the season that I could make free throws at a excessive clip, particularly in crunch time,” Williams informed FOX Sports activities. “However then it was sort of my teammates that seemed for me, made positive I received the ball. After which if I could not get the ball, they only made performs and fed off completely different matchups. We fed off of one another.”
Michael Cohen covers faculty soccer and faculty basketball for FOX Sports activities. Observe him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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