Juwan Gary scored 19 points to pace a balanced scoring attack as host Nebraska cruised to an 86-60 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday night in Lincoln.

Berke Buyuktuncel added 12 and Brice Williams scored 10 points for the Cornhuskers (3-0), who connected on 43.1 percent of their shots from the field and converted 23 of 28 free throws.

Nebraska also gained a 43-31 rebounding edge and committed just eight turnovers.

Four players reached double figures for the Knights (1-3), led by Terrence Brown’s game-high 23 points. Jo’el Emanuel, Ahmed Barba-Bey and Dylan Jones each scored 10, but FDU simply didn’t have enough firepower to pull off the upset, sinking just 40.4 percent of its field goal attempts.

The Cornhuskers had a 20-point lead at halftime, but had to make some effort in the second half as the Knights pulled within 58-49 at the 11:02 mark when Barba-Bey drilled a 3-pointer. But Williams converted a three-point play to start a 13-2 run that restored a 20-point cushion with 5:26 left.

All 12 players in the game for Nebraska scored, and Gary collected five of the team’s 20 assists on the Cornhuskers’ 28 made baskets.

A pregame storyline was how Nebraska would respond after a lackluster effort in Saturday night’s 63-58 home win over Bethune-Cookman. Coach Fred Hoiberg said he considered a litany of solutions before deciding to ask his team to run the fast, free-flowing offense in a more consistent manner.

He got his wish for most of the first half as Nebraska was able to punish FDU inside, making nearly two-thirds of its two-point shots and also committing a flurry of fouls. The Cornhuskers sank 14 of 17 at the free throw line in the half, while the Knights were just 4 of 7.

A 10-0 run gave Nebraska a 21-10 lead at the 9:10 mark after an Ahron Ulis layup. The margin grew to 22 later in the half before the Cornhuskers settled for a 45-25 cushion at intermission.

–Field-level media