Lincoln - Behind an outstanding offensive effort that featured five players in double figures and the highest point total of the Doc Sadler era, the Nebraska basketball team pulled away late for a 90-77 victory over TCU Saturday afternoon at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
In a game that featured 11 ties and 13 lead changes, Nebraska (2-1) outscored the Horned Frogs 46-33 in the second half after the game was tied at 44 at the half. Jorge Brian Diaz, who came off the bench for the first time in his young career, led NU with 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Ryan Anderson and Brandon Richardson - who made his first start as a Husker - added 15 points each, while Sek Henry had 11 and Quincy Hankins-Cole scored 10 points.
Diaz, Richardson and Hankins-Cole each produced career-high point totals, while Henry had a double-double and flirted with a triple double. The Los Angeles native had 11 assists, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks to go with his 11 points.
As a team, Nebraska shot 54.0 percent (27-of-50) in the game, including 60.0 percent (12-of-20) in the second half. The Huskers were also 6-of-13 from 3-point range (46.2 percent) and 30-of-41 from the free-throw line (73.2 percent). NU topped the 90-point plateau for the first time since February of 2006.
TCU shot 47.1 percent in the game, but the Horned Frogs hit only 11 of their 26 second-half shots (42.3 percent). Ronnie Moss led TCU with a game-high 23 points, while Greg Hill and Garlon Green added 11 points each.
It was a wild and explosive first half that featured a flurry of runs and some streaky shooting. The teams combined for 88 first-half points, the highest total ever in Sadler's tenure. TCU shot 52 percent in the half, knocking down 13-of-25 shots, including 6-of-11 from 3-point range and 12-of-13 from the free throw line. NU hit 15-of-30 shots, but the Huskers were only 3-of-6 from long distance and just 11-of-16 at the charity stripe.
TCU hit its first two shots of the game - both with the shot clock under 10 seconds - to take a quick 4-0 lead. Anderson and Henry then combined to score seven straight points as Nebraska hit its first two shots from the field as well.
The Huskers then missed five straight shots, as TCU caught fire, hitting four consecutive baskets - including a trio of 3-pointers - and knocking down 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. TCU was only able to grow its lead to as large as three during its hot shooting, however, as Nebraska heated up as well.
Brandon Ubel ended the streak of five missed shots with a jumper to cut the lead to one. The Huskers then hit eight consecutive shots and used a 9-2 run to build a 30-21 lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the half.
The Huskers appeared to be in control before the Horned Frogs scorched the nets again. TCU quickly erased the deficit by going on a lightning-quick 15-0 run in the span of under two minutes. The Horned Frogs hit five consecutive shots during the run, including three 3-pointers just 1:14 apart. When a Richardson jumper finally ended the run, Nebraska trailed 36-32 with 5:17 left in the half.
Following Richardson's jumper, NU missed six consecutive shots but TCU was only able to stretch its lead to seven. Trailing 39-33 with 3:24 remaining, Nebraska hit four of its final five shots of the half, using an 11-4 run to take a one-point lead with 22 seconds remaining when Ray Gallegos hit the first shot of his Husker career - a 3-pointer. Zvonko Buljan then hit 1-of-2 free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining to tie the score at 44-all at the half.
TCU then scored six of the first seven points to open the second half before the Huskers scored eight straight points to take a 53-50 lead four minutes into the period. Both teams hit four of their first five shots to open the second half and fittingly, the game was tied at 55-55 six minutes into the period.
While it looked like the fans were in for another fast-paced high-scoring half, the pace began to slow. Nebraska went more than five minutes without a field goal and TCU hit only a 3-pointer during that same stretch. Diaz broke Nebraska's drought with a layup that put NU back in front 61-60 with 10 minutes left.
The Huskers and Horned Frogs then traded one-point leads three times over the next five minutes before a Diaz jumper in the paint put Nebraska in front by two. A pair oMoss free throws tied the game at 67-67 before Eshaunte Jones and Anderson each knocked down treys on consecutive possessions to stretch the Huskers' lead to 73-69 with under four minutes remaining.
Anderson followed up his three by knocking down both ends of a one-and-one and answering a TCU steal and score with a basket of his own to score seven straight points for the Huskers. Henry then reached double figures with a pair of free throws that pushed the lead to 79-71 with two minutes left. The Husker defense also stepped up, holding TCU to just two field goals over the final four minutes.
Down the stretch, Nebraska connected on 11-of-12 free throws to pull away for the 13-point win.
Nebraska is back in action on Tuesday at the Devaney Center against UMKC. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be seen in the state of Nebraska on Fox Sports Midwest and nationally as part of the ESPN Full Court package and on ESPN360, where available.
