While lying on his back in the first half against South Dakota, the sharp-shooting junior raised both arms toward the ceiling of Pinnacle Bank Arena, setting the tone for the rest of the evening. He had just buried a three-pointer and was fouled. An early sign would come in Nebraska’s 96-79 win over South Dakota.

Essegian stepped into catch-and-shoot 3s confidently throughout the game, knocking down five in a span of six minutes in the first half en route to a career-high 29 points on 10-of-22 shooting. Andrew Morgan canned a transition jumper in the same stretch. Brice Williams took advantage of his open looks to score 21 points, and Ahron Ulis, who entered the game 0-7 from deep, beat the buzzer in the first half with a heave from midfield. Nebraska finished the night 13 of 33 from three-point range. Ten of his makes came in the first half.

Less than three minutes into the game, Nebraska forward Juwan Gary went to the ground under the USD basket and stayed there as play continued in the other direction. Finally, he walked to the locker room with a towel over his face. He returned to the bench later in the half with a noticeably swollen right eye and did not play. Berke Buyuktuncel limped late in the half of the field and his evening was also over prematurely.

Nebraska’s size advantage was evident from the moment the 6-foot-1 Buyuktuncel outpaced 6-foot-1 Max Burchill on the game’s opening possession. The double team came quickly, making room for an easy lob to Braxton Meah. It was the first of two alley-oops the center threw down in the opening minutes; all 12 of his points came on dunks. NU won the restorative battle 43-33.

Even as Nebraska held USD at bay all night, the Coyotes avoided being blown away by capitalizing on Husker turnovers. South Dakota’s entire field pushed hard throughout the game, taking advantage of long, looping passes and moments when Nebraska was disconnected offensively. NU recorded 12 turnovers, earning 18 USD points.