“Brice was phenomenal the whole sport,” Hoiberg mentioned.
In reality, Williams has been phenomenal all season because the unquestioned greatest participant for a crew that endured parabolic waves of emotion: the 12-2 begin that included wins over Creighton, Indiana and UCLA; the six-game dropping streak in January that sunk Hoiberg’s crew to 2-7 in convention play; the back-to-back victories over Illinois and Oregon, each of which made the NCAA Event; the 5 straight losses from Feb. 19 by means of March 9 that known as into query whether or not the Cornhuskers would play postseason basketball of any form after reaching the Large Dance final 12 months.
However by means of each peak and valley, each excessive and low, Nebraska may all the time depend on Williams as its headlining act. He gave them 32 factors within the championship sport of the Diamond Head Traditional, an in-season match performed in Hawaii through the Christmas break. He gave them 27 factors in an time beyond regulation win over then-No. 18 Illinois on Jan. 30 to ignite a run of 4 straight wins. He gave them six consecutive 20-point video games throughout the canine days of winter and scored 47 of his crew’s 111 mixed factors (42.3%) in slender, low-scoring losses to then-No. 15 Michigan and Minnesota within the span of every week. That his taking pictures proportion improved from 44.4% through the 2023-24 marketing campaign to 46.8% this season — all whereas upping his scoring common by practically seven factors per sport — speaks to how spectacular Williams’ growth has been.
Which is why it got here as no shock on Monday night when Williams, a fifth-year senior enjoying his last week of faculty basketball, scored 11 of his crew’s 13 factors throughout a very torrid stretch within the opening half. His repertoire included a mid-range jumper excessive of a defender adopted by the nifty use of a display screen, and re-screen, from large man Andrew Morgan for a 3-pointer from the highest of the important thing. He buried one other triple two possessions later and finally drew a taking pictures foul on a subsequent 3-point try after curling round a choose, racking up 13 factors within the opening half whilst Nebraska fell behind by eight. None of his teammates scored greater than six.
“I simply did not assume that we had been enjoying with the hearth that we would have liked to win a basketball sport in opposition to a really gifted crew,” Hoiberg mentioned, later including: “I give our guys a number of credit score. They responded in a giant means.”
Their response was consistent with the mindset Hoiberg’s crew adopted when deciding whether or not to simply accept an invite to the Faculty Basketball Crown. It was in mid-March when Williams reportedly advised his teammates that the Cornhuskers would solely take part in a postseason match if everybody on the roster agreed to hitch. He did not need Nebraska arriving in Las Vegas, or another locale, with a skeleton crew diminished by potential opt-outs and transfers. That situation would not have been conducive to chasing each the Faculty Basketball Crown and the NIL cash that’s connected to this occasion.
However even with a whole roster, Nebraska discovered itself trailing by double digits early within the second half earlier than embarking on a formidable, extended 32-12 run that every one however extinguished the Solar Devils’ hope for an upset. A flurry of transition baskets from small ahead Juwan Gary (18 factors) gave strategy to an offensive explosion from taking pictures guard Connor Essegian (17 factors), a Wisconsin switch who had solely reached double figures thrice within the earlier eight video games since Feb. 5. Between them, Gary and Essegian scored 17 straight within the span of six minutes to remodel a three-point deficit into an eventual four-point lead with 4:54 remaining.
“That sparked us,” Williams advised FOX Sports activities. “That gave us a bit of little bit of vitality, gave us a bit of little bit of encouragement, confirmed that we had a bit of little bit of life in us [and] injected the group with a number of vitality.”
From then on, and with renewed momentum, Williams reasserted himself as Nebraska’s alpha and one of many higher closers in school basketball this season, evidenced by his 89.4% clip on the free-throw line. Williams buried seven of eight makes an attempt from the charity stripe over the ultimate 1:37 as soon as Arizona State determined to foul, bolstering his clutch taking pictures with a transition dunk and slashing layup that formally put the sport out of attain.
He was there early, he was there late, he was there when it mattered most to make sure Nebraska’s season lasts no less than a couple of days longer.
“I believe I’ve positively proven all through the season that I could make free throws at a excessive clip, particularly in crunch time,” Williams advised FOX Sports activities. “However then it was sort of my teammates that seemed for me, made positive I received the ball. After which if I could not get the ball, they simply made performs and fed off totally different matchups. We fed off of one another.”
Michael Cohen covers school soccer and school basketball for FOX Sports activities. Comply with him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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