Nebraska started red hot from the floor, relied on offensive rebounding and free throw shooting late and moved to 2-0 on the young season with an 86-67 win over North Texas.
Red hot probably doesn’t do the start head coach Tim Miles’ squad got off to justice, either. Nebraska came out of the gates on a 25-2 run fueled by 11 points on 3-for-3 shooting from transfer guard James Palmer Jr. The Huskers also hit four of their first six triples.
On the other end, North Texas missed 12 of its first 13 shots and entered the halftime break trailing 52-30 while shooting a bleak 31 percent from the field.
The Mean Green hung around well into the second half thanks to improved shooting and a cold streak from the Huskers from the field, but Nebraska was able to maintain its distance on the strength of its offensive rebounding and foul-drawing ability.
The Huskers attempted 24 free throws in the second half and grabbed 12 offensive boards. The shooting was ugly (25 percent from the floor and 11 percent from three), but the Huskers did enough to cruise to an easy win.
Fourteen played for Miles and 11 of them scored. The Huskers were lead offensively by Palmer, who finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, four blocked shots and two assists. Junior point guard Glynn Watson Jr. hit five of his 10 shots for 15 points while adding four boards, two assists and two steals. Forward Isaiah Roby keyed the Huskers’ bench with 11 points and seven rebounds in 20 minutes.
Up next for Nebraska is a trip to New York City for a battle with St. Johns on Thursday. The game will tip off at 5:30 p.m. CT.
Derek is a newbie on the Hail Varsity staff covering Husker athletics. In college, he was best known as ‘that guy from Twitter.’ He has covered a Sugar Bowl, a tennis national championship and almost everything in between (except an NCAA men’s basketball tournament game… *tears*). In his spare time, he can be found arguing with literally anyone about sports.
