After a frustrating couple of days in Orlando with losses to Oklahoma and Memphis, Nebraska men’s basketball bounced back on Sunday with a strong performance in defeating Florida State 75-58 in the ESPN Events Invitational 7th place game.
Senior forward Derrick Walker, who returned to the lineup for the first time this season on Friday against Memphis, was the best player on the floor for either team. Walker scored 20 points on 10-for-12 shooting, grabbed 13 rebounds, and dished four assists. Six of his 13 boards were on the offensive end, and he only turned it over once.
Walker led a balanced Big Red attack that featured five double-figure scorers. Senior point guard Sam Greisel, sophomore guard C.J. Wilcher, and junior 6th man Keisei Tominaga scored 13 points apiece, and junior forward Juwan Gary added ten points.
As the game unfolded over the first 20 minutes, neither team could separate, with the Seminoles briefly grabbing a six-point lead at 15-9. NU proceeded to rattle off a 10-0 run, including one possession with three offensive rebounds and sophomore forward Wilhelm Breidenbach scoring the rare fourth-chance points. The Huskers led 19-15 with 8:31 to go before the break.
Both teams traded blows, with FSU tying the game at 26-26 at the 3:44 mark. Nebraska then scored the last seven points of the half. That sequence included Tominaga hitting a three-pointer, closing down on a double-team and forcing a bad pass, Gary intercepting and pushing all the way to the rim for a dunk to make it 33-26 at the break.
Coming out of the locker room with their largest lead of the contest, the Huskers picked up right where they left off as they knocked down six of their first eight field goal attempts. Gary found Walker cutting inside from the right wing and Walker slammed it home. Greisel made a four-point-play from the right wing. Wilcher, stuck underneath the basket, kicked it out to Greisel on the left wing for another triple. Emmanuel Bandoumel finished off the sprint with a nifty baseline reverse layup to make it 48-34.
All along the way, Derrick Walker was doing work. Whether it was bullying a 7-foot-4 opposing center, snatching rebounds, and occasionally running the point. In one first-half sequence, Walker collected the rebound off a Seminole miss, dribbled the ball up the floor, and upon crossing half-court decided to post up his man, then hesitation-dribbled by him for an easy coast-to-coast lay-in.
Although NU lost on Friday to Memphis in his first game back this season, Walker made his season debut and played 34 minutes with 15 points and 12 boards.
Walker collected this double-double with over 14 minutes remaining.
Another Walker layup at the 12:19 mark put NU up 59-41, and neither team scored for over three minutes. Florida State resumed the offense with a quick 8-0 response to cut it to 59-49.
That was as close as the Seminoles would get.
Juwan Gary turboed straight down the lane for a tomahawk jam. Gary tomahawked another a few minutes later, the second along the left baseline for a 69-51 lead. The Huskers extended their advantage to 20 and won by 17, 75-58.
Nebrasketball will now try to prove that they are a different team with a healthy Walker, their captain who missed the first five games with a health issue.
Next up is Boston College in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln.