Two of Nebraska’s most proven basketball players came through Wednesday night when the Huskers needed them most.

With Fairleigh Dickinson only nine points behind with 11 minutes left in the game, Nebraska’s Juwan Gary And Brice Williams took control of the situation and the Huskers eventually cruised to an 86-60 victory at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Trailing by 20 at halftime, FDU (1-3) cut Nebraska’s lead to 58-49 with 11 minutes remaining. But Williams went on to score or assist on the Huskers’ next seven points, and Gary capped his team’s 13-2 surge with two free throws, followed by a conventional three-point play to push NU’s lead to 71-51.

Order was restored and the FDU was never seriously threatened again.

Gary, a 6-foot-1 senior, finished with a game-high 19 points, and the 6-7 Williams, also a senior, finished with 10.

Nebraska’s three-point shooting woes continued — it was just 7-for-28 (25%) — but the Huskers won the rebounding battle 43-31, forcing 17 turnovers while committing just eight.

Still, coach from Nebraska Fred Hoiberg was probably unhappy with the way Nebraska came out of halftime. Fairleigh Dickinson had spikes of 6-0 and 8-0 to tie the game at 52-39 at the first media timeout.

Steven Sipple: Pairing Dana Holgorsen and Dylan Raiola makes sense for Nebraska, both in the short and long term