The Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball team have tipped their season For a while on Monday, it looked like there would be more pain for Huskers fans. Ultimately, they managed to score a big win over the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros.

There were times when NU looked like she was ready to take command. And then UTRGV would make a small comeback. But in the last minutes of the match newcomer Connor Essegian stepped up and the team got hot when it finally needed to skating to an 87-67 victory.

The return of Brice Williams and Juwan Gary the offseason was huge for the Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball team. That was immediately clear, but Williams showed how big he was from the first game of the year.

Williams had a Husker career high, leading all scorers Monday night with 27 points to go with 5 rebounds. He was also steady at the free throw line, hitting 10 of 11 attempts. While he wasn’t great from long range (1-of-6 from 3-point land), there were times when he was NU’s only offense. With Keisei Tominaga gone, Nebrasketball needs a go-to guy. It could be him.

The Huskers had problems with turnovers throughout the season and at the start of this year’s practices. Those issues came up early and often at PBA on Monday. They finished the night with 13 turnovers, which isn’t terrible for a full game.

But against an opponent at UTRGV’s level, it’s not great. The Vaqueros also turned the ball over 20 times. If they hadn’t reached that insane number, things would have been much scarier.

The opening night around the sport is always interesting as everyone goes outside. It’s hard to judge much of the rest of the season based on a team’s first game. South Carolina lost to North Florida on Monday. No. 13 Texas A&M lost to unranked South Carolina.

Take victory for today. But the Nebraska Cornhuskers need to step up their game, as a showdown with Creighton is not far away. And for that, a match against St. Mary’s will be far from easy.