South Carolina Upstate Spartans at Nebraska Cornhuskers
· NCAA Men's Basketball
Nebraska gains the win over USC Upstate after announcing Essegian's season-ending injury
Reserves Cale Jacobsen and Braden Frager each scored 11 points for the Huskers.
Karmani Gregory scored 20 points, Mason Bendinger 13, backup Isaiah Skinner 12 and Carmelo Adkins 11 for the Spartans (4-5).
Nebraska never trailed in the second half. Frager's 3 with 2:17 left gave the Cornhuskers their largest lead, 64-50. The first half was completely different.
The Spartans' Gregory made a 3 with 15:45 before halftime for a 7-6 lead and they proceeded to outscore Nebraska 23-9 over nearly the next eight minutes and built a 27-15 advantage with 7:22 left before halftime.
Despite an almost three-minute scoring drought, the Cornhuskers rallied using a 15-3 outburst in the last 4 1/2 minutes to take a 32-30 halftime lead.
Skinner's 3 for the Spartans with three seconds left before the break ended a more than 7-minute scoring span for USC Upstate.
Before the game, Nebraska (8-0) coach Fred Hoibeg announced that senior guard Connor Essegian will miss the remainder of the season with an ankle injury suffered in Tuesday’s 80-73 win over Winthrop.
Essegian left the game midway through the second half and tests following the game revealed a significant right ankle injury. Last year, he averaged 10.7 points per game and led the Huskers with 78 3-pointers, the most by a Husker since 2019.
Up Next
USC Upstate hosts Coastal Carolina on Wednesday. Nebraska hosts Creighton on Dec. 7.
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| 2nd 0:00 | End of Game | 63 - 72 |
| 2nd 0:00 | End of 2nd half | 63 - 72 |
| 2nd 0:00 | Pryce Sandfort Defensive Rebound. | 63 - 72 |
| 2nd 0:00 | Karmani Gregory missed Three Point Jumper. | 63 - 72 |
| 2nd 0:05 | Braden Frager made Free Throw. | 63 - 72 |
Statistics
 UPST |
 NEB |
|
|---|---|---|
| 24-66 | FG | 25-60 |
| 36 | Field Goal % | 42 |
| 12-35 | 3PT | 8-30 |
| 34 | Three Point % | 27 |
| 3-8 | FT | 14-18 |
| 38 | Free Throw % | 78 |
| 36 | Rebounds | 45 |
| 9 | Offensive Rebounds | 10 |
| 27 | Defensive Rebounds | 35 |
| 11 | Assists | 15 |
| 9 | Steals | 8 |
| 3 | Blocks | 5 |
| 11 | Turnovers | 13 |
| 0 | Team Turnovers | 0 |
| 11 | Total Turnovers | 13 |
| 0 | Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Total Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 6 | Points Off Turnovers | 11 |
| 3 | Fast Break Points | 7 |
| 12 | Points in Paint | 34 |
| 18 | Fouls | 12 |
| 12 | Largest Lead | 16 |
Game Information
Location: Lincoln, NE
Attendance: 14,107 | Capacity:
2025-26 Big South Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Point | 0-0 | - | 7-1 |
| Charleston Southern | 0-0 | - | 5-4 |
| Longwood | 0-0 | - | 4-4 |
| Winthrop | 0-0 | - | 4-4 |
| Presbyterian | 0-0 | - | 4-5 |
| South Carolina Upstate | 0-0 | - | 4-5 |
| Radford | 0-0 | - | 3-6 |
| UNC Asheville | 0-0 | - | 2-4 |
| Gardner-Webb | 0-0 | - | 0-9 |
2025-26 Big Ten Conference Standings
| TEAM | CONF | GB | OVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 0-0 | - | 8-0 |
| Indiana | 0-0 | - | 7-0 |
| Iowa | 0-0 | - | 7-0 |
| Michigan | 0-0 | - | 7-0 |
| Michigan State | 0-0 | - | 7-0 |
| Purdue | 0-0 | - | 7-0 |
| USC | 0-0 | - | 7-0 |
| Penn State | 0-0 | - | 7-1 |
| Ohio State | 0-0 | - | 6-1 |
| Illinois | 0-0 | - | 6-2 |
| Northwestern | 0-0 | - | 5-2 |
| UCLA | 0-0 | - | 5-2 |
| Washington | 0-0 | - | 5-2 |
| Wisconsin | 0-0 | - | 5-2 |
| Maryland | 0-0 | - | 5-3 |
| Rutgers | 0-0 | - | 5-3 |
| Oregon | 0-0 | - | 4-3 |
| Minnesota | 0-0 | - | 4-4 |