In NU’s 87-67 over Texas Rio Grande Valley, Williams was aggressive, scored from all three levels and was a spark as he scored 27 points and helped the Huskers avoid an opening-night catastrophe.

“Everything was coming naturally, playing through the offense, not really forcing anything, and really that’s how I’m successful,” Williams said.

In front of 14,305 fans at Pinnacle Bank Arena, Williams scored the first eight points of the game and became more aggressive at the end of the first half, getting to the rim and drawing fouls with easy offense hard to come by for a team still building chemistry.

When the second half began, he again briefly pulled the Huskers (1-0) up from their stagnation as he touched the ball on most possessions, continued to put pressure on the defense with his drives and pulled up from midrange. He got to the free throw line 11 times. Nebraska collectively attempted 35.

When Williams’ well ran dry, so did Nebraska’s. Like in their exhibition a week earlier, the Huskers were disjointed offensively. Halfcourt possessions in the first half flowed with as much ease as pulling teeth. Rollie Worster threw a bad pass when the Vaqueros sped up the Huskers by briefly going into a zone defense. Connor Essegian dribbled into a crowd and lost the ball as UTRGV (0-1) capitalized on mistakes

Clean looks and easy baskets were few and far between as Nebraska committed 13 turnovers against 11 assists. Sam Hoiberg and Berke Buyuktuncel both missed point-blank shots at the rim as UTRGV stayed within striking distance in the second half.

 Williams overthrew Andrew Morgan on an entry pass, and UTRGV guard Jaylen Washington got to the rim on the next possession. The Vaqueros had trimmed the deficit to 4 points with under eight minutes left in the game.

The Huskers finally landed the knockout blow moments later when Essegian scored seven straight points on a 3-pointer, a fast-break layup and two free throws. Williams was on the bench dealing with cramps as Essegian found the room to operate

“They did a really good job just kinda wedging through,” Essegian said. “They did a lot of top-blocking, so I couldn’t just come up off screens, coming up to the top of the key. It just kind of happened naturally, just to kind of play free.”

Along with Williams, Morgan emerged as a source of offense while Nebraska was spinning its wheels. The North Dakota State transfer was a force on the low block, posting up and getting to the rim against a smaller UTRGV frontcourt. He finished with 10 points and five rebounds after being cleared from concussion protocol Monday morning.

“He got us off to a nice start in the first half,” NU coach Fred Hoiberg said of Morgan. “He and Brice had it going and gave us some toughness in the paint. We were able to throw him the ball, and I think you see what he can do on the block.”

The contrast to Nebraska’s tepid offense was striking on the other side of the court. UTRGV pushed the pace and slashed through the paint out of its five-out offense. The Vaqueros launched 3-pointers early in the shot clock, undeterred by hands in their faces, and made enough to trade 3 points for 2 with NU for much of the first half.

By the end of the night they were 13 of 41 from 3.

The Vaqueros scrambled for loose balls, poked at rebounds and hustled on both ends with a similar abandon. All night, UTRGV made NU pay if the Huskers didn’t box out or communicate, staying competitive until the final minutes.

“I think you guys see why I had some anxiety with this game,” Hoiberg said. “That’s a really good team, well coached, they shoot a lot of 3s and they’ve got five threats out there, generally, at all times.”