Big second half lifts BYU over Nebraska in exhibition

Collin Chandler scored a game-high 19 points in BYU's 72-61 victory over the Cornhuskers.

Author Ben Ward
Big second half lifts BYU over Nebraska in exhibitionBig second half lifts BYU over Nebraska in exhibition
BYU Photo

PROVO, Utah – Collin Chandler scored a game-high 19 points as BYU defeated Nebraska in front of 15,864 fans on Friday evening at the Marriott Center. 

A 19-10 run to open the second half, following a slow first half, propelled the Cougars to the win. After shooting just 3-for-19 from deep in the first half, BYU knocked down five 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the second half to regain a lead it never relinquished.

"We’re gonna be a high volume three point shooting team. Based on tonight I think that was pretty obvious with this with the group that we've assembled," head coach Kevin Young said. "I thought in the fisrt half Nebraska did a really good job of rotating on our first drive. In the second half, we started breaking them down a little bit more with the 2nd drive and the extra pass. We have a really dynamic shooting team. So if we can move the ball like it did in the second half, we are able to see stats like what we saw tonight with 12 assists in the second half alone. When we're playing like that it’s clear that's what we want our identity to look like."

Chandler was one of four Cougars to score in double figures as the junior shot 6-of-13 from the field, 2-of-7 from three and 5-of-5 from the free throw line en route to 19 points. Robert Wright had 17 points and seven assists with Bruce Branch III finishing with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists in his unofficial collegiate debut. 

Jaxson Kohler recorded a double-double as the American Fork native had 10 points and 10 rebounds, four of those coming on the offensive glass. All of his points came in the second half after picking up two fouls in eight minutes of action in the opening 20 minutes. 

The Cougars shot 41.3 percent from the field, 27.8 percent from three and 58.8 percent from the free throw line to avenge last season's exhibition setback to the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Neb. The Cougars turned 18 Nebraska turnovers into 21 points while holding 30-18 advantage in the paint. 

First Half
After winning the tip, the Cougars got on the board first as Branch III followed a miss with a tip-in layup. Nebraska followed with two buckets as both teams exchanged steals, but junior Tyler Betsey found Chandler in the corner for BYU’s first 3-pointer of the game. Wright added a driving layup, and Nebraska guard Braden Fager hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key, giving the Cornhuskers an 8-7 lead going into the first timeout.

Chandler found the bottom of the net again, scoring a layup and drawing a foul on an inbounds play. Nebraska responded with a 7-1 run to take a 15-11 lead and force BYU to take its first timeout of the game.

The Cougars got back on the board thanks to a driving layup from Wright III, ending an almost four-minute scoring drought. On the very next possession, Wright III found Betsey at the top of the key for a 3-pointer that cut the deficit to two.

The highlight of the half for the Cougars came on a fast-break alley-oop from Branch III to Chandler. After knocking down his first 3-pointer of the game, Branch III found Chandler cutting to the basket in transition for a tomahawk slam.

The Huskers scored five straight to maintain the lead before Wright III got back into the lane for his third bucket of the game. A fast-break layup from Khadim Mboup brought the score to 27-25 heading into the final media timeout of the half.

The Cougars fell into another three minute scoring drought, creating open shots but struggling to find the basket. Nebraska extended its lead to seven, but a Chandler layup through two Husker defenders cut it back to five. The Cougars added a free throw from Clemson transfer Jake Wahlin and headed into halftime trailing 32-28.

Second Half
The Cougars came out of the halftime break firing, knocking down five 3-pointers in the first five and a half minutes of the second half. Wright III hit two, while Chandler, Branch III and Kohler each added one. The barrage of 3-pointers put BYU up 47-42, giving the Cougars their first lead since going up 21-20 in the first half.

BYU’s offense slowed down, but its defense kept Nebraska in check to preserve the lead. The team forced a shot-clock violation by the Huskers and limited Nebraska to just 12 points through the first nine minutes of the half.

Freshman Brooks Bahr became the eighth Cougar to score when he finished a layup through a foul by Nebraska’s Damon Wilkinson. BYU’s defense trapped the ball in the corner on the other end of the floor, forcing a Nebraska timeout as the Cougars led 52-46.

Another 3-pointer from Kohler and a pair of free throws from Chandler increased the Cougar lead to nine, its largest of the night. Nebraska responded quickly with a pair of long balls from Jacob Lanier, cutting the lead back to three. But BYU answered with a six-point run of its own, and the Cougars went into the final media timeout leading 63-56.

A quick Nebraska 3-pointer out of the timeout made it a two-possession game, but a baseline layup from Wahlin and a corner 3-pointer from Branch III put BYU back up seven and began to put the game away. On the defensive end, Chandler drew a charge with 1:01 left on the clock to effectively seal the win.

Chandler jumped into the passing lane on the next possession to record his third steal of the night. He then found a driving Branch III on a fast break for an emphatic alley-oop slam, returning the favor after their first-half connection and putting an exclamation point on the 72-61 win.

Up Next
BYU visits UNLV in Las Vegas on Saturday, Oct. 24, to round out exhibition play at the Thomas & Mack Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. MDT. The game will be broadcast on MW+.