Nebraska pounds Southern, 77-43

Connor Essegian recorded 20 points and six rebounds to help Nebraska roll to a 77-43 victory over Southern on Monday night in nonconference play at Lincoln, Neb. Brice Williams added 11 points and seven rebounds as the Cornhuskers (11-2) extended their season-best winning streak to five games. Andrew Morgan added 10 points for Nebraska, which won its 19th consecutive home game, one victory shy of the program record achieved on two occasions. Jayce Depron scored 13 points to pace Southern (5-8), which lost its fourth straight game. The Jaguars have lost those games by an average of 23.5 points. Essegian knocked down a career-best six treys for the third time this season. The Cornhuskers made 49.1 percent of their shots overall and were 13 of 30 from 3-point range. Nebraska held a 48-39 rebounding advantage. Southern shot just 25.4 percent from the field, going 3 of 24 from behind the arc. The Jaguars committed just eight turnovers while forcing the Cornhuskers into 14. Andre Nunley grabbed eight rebounds for Southern. Nebraska opened the game with a 12-2 run and never trailed during the easy victory. Essegian drained two 3-pointers during an 11-0 run that allowed the Cornhuskers to hold a 30-8 lead. Braxton Meah completed the run with a three-point play with 5:08 left in the first half. Berke Buyuktuncel nailed a trey to make it 37-11 with 2:36 left in the half. The Nebraska lead was 39-15 at halftime behind three treys and 11 points from Essegian. Southern was just 7 of 32 (21.9 percent) from the field and missed all 11 of its 3-point attempts before the break. Essegian knocked down his fourth trey of the game to push the lead to 30, 53-23, for the first time with 12:59 left in the contest. Juwan Gary made two free throws to give Nebraska a 62-31 lead with 8:27 remaining, and the Cornhuskers cruised to the finish while Southern missed its final eight shots from the field. --Field Level Media