Watson leads with 19 as Nebraska romps past MVSU 106-37
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Glynn Watson, Jr. scored 19 points to lead Nebraska, which led by as many as 72, over cold-shooting Mississippi Valley State 106-37 Tuesday.
The 67-point victory margin was Nebraska's largest at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The 106 points were the most the Huskers have scored at the five-year-old arena and the 37 points the fewest scored by a Nebraska opponent there.
Nebraska held the outmanned Delta Devils to just one field goal in the game's first 10 minutes, using a 21-3 run to take a 24-5 lead on Thorir Thorbjarnarson's fast break layup with 11:01 left in the first half. The Huskers shot 63 percent in the game's first 9 minutes.
Mississippi Valley State made only three field goals in the first half, shooting just nine percent over the long, athletic Huskers. The Delta Devils reached double digits in scoring at the 5:07 mark on a layup by Dante Scott, their last basket of the period. MVSU's 13 points tied a Pinnacle Bank Arena record for the fewest points scored in a half.
The MVSU cold shooting continued in the second half, missing their first four shots as Nebraska went 8-0 and took a 63-13 on Palmer's dunk with 17:39 left. The Delta Devils hit just 13 of 68 shots in the game, 19 percent, a Pinnacle Bank Arena opponent record low.
Nebraska coach Tim Miles said he thought his team played well, despite the lop-sided nature of the game.
"I thought the guys respected the game, played hard throughout the game," Miles said. "I thought Glynn was really good, James Palmer put up a great line...I thought we did a lot of things right tonight. Sometimes after a game like this you don't feel good, whatever. But I thought our guys just hung in there and kept doing the right things for a long time."
On the other side, Mississippi Valley State coach Andre Payne said he could find little good with the Delta Devils' performance.
"There wasn't a whole lot that I liked from today," Payne said. "Tonight was a reality check. These guys are really that good, they're really that tall, they're really that long, they're really that athletic and they really shoot it that well... We have to learn that we have to be 10 times smarter. Play 10 times harder. Make 10 times less mistakes in order for us to compete."
Also scoring in double figures for Nebraska were Nana Akenten with 18 points, James Palmer, Jr with 17 points and Isaac Copeland with 10 points. Jordan Evans led Mississippi Valley State with 12 points. Scott had 10 for the Delta Devils.
BIG PICTURE
Nebraska won its 18th straight season opener and 28th straight home season opener. The Huskers last season-opening loss came at Oral Roberts in 1990.
The margin of victory was the second largest in Nebraska history. The largest was 74 in a game against Crete in 1907.
Mississippi Valley State returns three starters from last year's 4-28 team, aiming to build around the 3-point shooting of seniors Scott and Evans.
UP NEXT
Nebraska hosts Southeastern Louisiana Sunday in the second game of the Lincoln regional round of the Hall of Fame Classic.
Mississippi Valley State will face Texas Tech in Lubbock Friday in the second of five consecutive road games to open the season.
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