The rout began when Braxton Meah won the opening tip.

The Nebraska men’s basketball team is in Honolulu, Hawaii over the holidays to play in the 2024 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. The Huskers faced the Murray State Racers in a quarterfinal game on Sunday night, and it was all Big Red from the start.

After a team-high 15 points and five 3-pointers from Connor Essegian and a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double from Andrew Morgan, NU cruised to a 66-49 win to improve to 8-2 overall .

Fred Hoiberg’s team (8-2, 1-1 in the Big Ten) advances to a semifinal game against the winner of host Hawaii and Charlotte, which will be played late Sunday night. The Huskers’ semifinal is scheduled to begin Monday night at 9:30 p.m. local time. MSU fell to 6-5 on the season.

NU won the game in the first half and secured the victory in the second half. The Huskers led 34-14 at halftime and shot 50% from the field while playing great defense, forcing MSU to shoot 14%. The Racers went just 4 of 28 from the field in the first half.

“I think we’re off to a really good start after a long layoff,” Hoiberg told Huskers Radio Network after the game. “When the boys come out of the final you’re always worried about that, plus you have to travel a long way. We arrived a day later than I think all the other teams here and it took a lot of effort to recover and get out. I thought we did that.”

Seven different Husker players got on the scoresheet in the first half, where the Huskers went 16-0. Essegian came off the bench to score 9 points on three 3s and did his best Keisei Tominaga impression with this 3 that almost matched the logo:

Juwan Gary set the tone early by being physical at the basket, scoring seven points in the first half, three of them at the free throw line. He finished the game with nine points and three rebounds.

Both Berke Buyuktuncel and Morgan were problems for the smaller MSU team. Each player added six points in the first half and combined for 14 rebounds (Morgan with eight, Buyuktuncel with six).

Before leaving the game late due to injury, Buyuktuncel had six points, nine rebounds (two offensive), one block and one steal.

It was a very strong first half for NU. However, there is one thing you should not pay attention to: sales. NU had 10 of them in the first 20 minutes and finished the game with 15. To their credit, the Husker defense only allowed the Racers seven points off those 15 turnovers.

Part of NU’s dominance in the first half was its play at the rim, where the Huskers used their larger bodies to gain a 20-2 scoring advantage.

According to the ESPN broadcast, Murray State’s 14 points in the first half against Nebraska are the fewest in Diamond Head Classic history.

“It kind of became a pretty ugly game in the second half and we held on. The guys made some great plays for us down the stretch,” Hoiberg said. “But overall I thought we performed really well considering the last eight or nine days we had off.”

Morgan’s double-double was his first as a Husker. The 6-foot-10 transfer from North Dakota State used his size and strength against the Racers’ smaller defenders. He was efficient on offense, shooting 6 of 7 from the field while also showing good footwork in the post.

“He was outstanding. I loved his effort on the glass. He was everywhere, he was eating rebounds out there,” Hoiberg said of Morgan. “When we needed a basket, he was the guy we went to out there.”

Morgan has now scored in double figures in the last four games and in six total games this season.

Entering the second half, NU’s lead was 23 points, 39-16. But MSU never quite got it right and actually cut its deficit to 12 points with 3:33 to play. Here, too, it is NU’s credit that the Huskers sealed the win with their defense and did not allow the Racers to score another point.

NU was without backup point guard Ahron Ulis against MSU. After the game, Hoiberg said Ulis sprained his ankle during practice on Saturday. Ulis was seen on the bench wearing a protective medical boot.

Either Hawaii or Charlotte.

If it’s Charlotte, that will be notable because it’s where Brice Williams spent his first four seasons of college basketball and where his late father Henry is the all-time leading scorer.

Whatever team it is, however, Hoiberg said his team will be prepared in the short term.

“Both teams have shown a lot this year, so we have to be ready for that,” Hoiberg said. “We’re going to get them (Husker players) up, flush them out, do another film session and hopefully come out tomorrow and play well again.”

>> GET FULL ACCESS with an annual or monthly subscription for less than $10/month

>> NEW SUBSCRIBERS get 30 days FREE

>> pFind out about the current topics in our INSIDER’S BOARD

>> Follow us on Twitter (@NebraskaRivals)

>> Follow us on Instagram (@nebraskarivals)

>> Subscribe to the Inside Nebraska YouTube channel for FREE