Nebraska survives South Carolina Upstate with 72-63 victory

Nebraska men's basketball (8-0) welcomed in South Carolina Upstate (4-5) on Saturday afternoon, following a close victory over Winthrop. Despite another close-for-comfort outing, the Huskers pulled off the win, taking down the Spartans 72-63.

Upstate brought a sharp offensive attack in the first half, staying on pace with Nebraska. The Spartans landed one more shot from the floor than Nebraska, including one extra three-pointer. But the Huskers tossed in five free throws to help enter halftime up 32-30. Nebraska built its lead further in the second half, even though Upstate remained in the hunt.

Free throws played a major role in the Huskers' win. The team outshot the Spartans 14-3 at the line, while they lost the battle on the floor (25-24) and beyond the arc (12-8). Nebraska did dominate in the paint, outrebounding Upstate by a 45-36 margin and outscoring it 34-17 there.

Pryce Sandfort reached 20 points in the win, leading the Huskers by going 5-of-13 from the floor, 4-of-8 from three-point range and 6-of-7 from the foul line. He also hauled in a team-high nine rebounds. Rienk Mast tallied 15 points on the day, shooting 6-of-10 from the floor and hitting three of his four free throws. He snatched six rebounds as well.

Cale Jacobsen and Braden Frager each posted 11 points for the Huskers. Jacobsen shot 5-of-7 on the day and secured four rebounds. Frager hit just 3-of-7, but landed two from beyond the arc and finished 3-of-4 from the free throw line.

Nebraska now faces another major test next Sunday afternoon when it takes on in-state rival Creighton at home. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. CT on FS1.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: Nebraska survives South Carolina Upstate with 72-63 victory