Nebraska routs Cataluna All-Stars to finish 3-0 in Spain
Even with a roster that featured just nine available players, Nebraska made the most of its team trip to Spain by going a perfect 3-0 in its exhibition contests.
The exclamation point came in Saturday’s 82-62 route of the Cataluna All-Stars in Barcelona.
C.J. Wilcher capped an impressive tour with 14 points and six rebounds in the win, as four Huskers finished in double figures. True freshman Eli Rice continued his hot start with a team-high 16 points.
Walk-on Cale Jacobsen nearly posted a triple-double with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, nine boards, nine assists, and four steals. Jamarques Lawrence added 10 points and a team-high six assists.
Forward Juwan Gary, who has been limited while recovering from shoulder surgery, also finished with his best outing of the tour. The junior scored 13 points in 13 minutes while going 6-of-6 from the field with five rebounds.
Behind nine early points from Wilcher, Nebraska jumped out to a 22-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. That turned into a 32-20 halftime advantage, as Lawrence had eight of his 10 points in the first half.
The Huskers turned it on after the break and opened with an 18-0 run. That led to a 29-point third quarter to go into the final period with a commanding 27-point lead.
“I really challenged our guys at halftime to come out and go on a big run and try to put this team away, and that’s exactly what we did,” NU head coach Fred Hoiberg said.
Nebraska will return home on Monday and take a two-week break before the start of the fall semester.
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Gary continues rapid return to 100%
Of Nebraska’s nine available players in Spain, one was Gary, who was still returning from offseason shoulder surgery.
NU only planned to play the junior roughly 10-12 minutes in the exhibitions. In the first two contests, he didn’t play at all in the second half.
After getting through the opening two games without any setbacks, Hoiberg dialed up Gary’s workload even more on Saturday.
Gary still only played 13 minutes, but he took the court after halftime for the first time on the trip. The former Alabama transfer scored nine of his 13 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter.
His play helped the Huskers blow the game open with an 18-0 run after the break.
“We wanted to continue to ramp up his activity levels and just make sure that he’s not aggravating something else,” Hoiberg said. “He had a little bit of soreness with some of the work that he was doing early, but to get him out here – I think the big thing with Juwan, it gives him confidence to know that he can go out there and play and not have to worry about the shoulder.
“That’s always something you worry about coming back from a major surgery is how you’re going to respond to that and get over the hump on it. I think that’s what this trip allowed Juwan to do.”
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Wilcher caps a strong Spain trip
While Nebraska lacked several top players during the three Spain exhibitions, Wilcher remained constant throughout the trip.
The junior guard put together his third-straight impressive performance in the win over Cataluna. After dropping 18 and 19 points in NU’s victories in Madrid and Valencia, Wilcher finished with 14 in Barcelona.
In addition to scoring, the Plainfield, N.J., native added six rebounds, five assists, and only two turnovers in 23 minutes of work. He averaged 17.0 points and 7.3 boards per game during the Huskers’ 3-0 run.
“C.J.’s had a great summer,” Hoiberg said. “I think a big part of that is he’s worked on his body and continues to do that. C.J., not just shooting the ball and putting the ball in the basket, but he rebounded the ball well on this trip, and he passed the ball well.”
RELATED: After an impressive Spain debut, Eli Rice continues his rapid rise at Nebraska
Around the rim
***Forward Josiah Allick and guard Sam Hoiberg didn’t play in Spain while recovering from surgery/injury. But Fred Hoiberg said both players had strong workouts to end the week and were now “pretty much pain-free.”
***Because Nebraska broke away in the third quarter, it finished the fourth with all young guys and walk-ons on the floor.
Rice, Jacobsen, Ramel Lloyd Jr., Henry Burt, and Jeffery Grace played nearly all of the final period.
Lloyd had 10 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in 29 minutes. Walk-ons Burt and Grace played nearly 17 and 15 minutes, respectively.
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