Nebraska starts quickly, finishes off Omaha

C.J. Wilcher scored 21 points to lead host Nebraska to a 75-61 home win over in-state foe Omaha on Thursday in Lincoln, Neb.

Wilcher went 8-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

Sam Griesel had 18 points and seven rebounds, Emmanuel Bandoumel supplied 18 points and six rebounds, and Blaise Keita had nine points and 12 rebounds for Nebraska (2-0).

Jaeden Marshall scored 16 points and Marquel Sutton had 14 points for Omaha (0-2), which lost its season opener to No. 5 Kansas.

Nebraska shot 50 percent (25 of 50) from the field and 36.8 percent (7 of 19) from 3-point range, which helped the Cornhuskers overcome an 18-of-31 performance at the free-throw line.

Omaha shot 41.4 percent (24 of 58) from the field and 29.4 percent (5 of 17) from distance 3-point range. The Mavericks committed 16 turnovers to 11 for Nebraska.

The rebounding battle was even at 35.

After leading 41-31 at halftime, Nebraska opened the second half on a 10-4 run to take a 51-35 lead with 14:18 remaining.

Omaha responded, cutting Nebraska's lead to 55-48 with 9:36 remaining, but the Cornhuskers built their lead back up to double-digits at 60-48 with 8:43 left.

Shortly thereafter, Nebraska used a 6-0 run to grab a 66-51 lead with 5:45 remaining.

The Cornhuskers led by as many as 19 points with 2:01 left.

Nebraska wasted little time establishing itself, scoring the first 11 points of the game and taking a 21-6 lead with 11:22 remaining in the first half.

The Cornhuskers were up 29-12 before Omaha went on an 11-0 run of its own to shave the deficit to 29-23 with 5:15 to go in the first half.

Nebraska later went on a 7-1 run and led 41-29 lead with 17 seconds left until halftime.