Jack McVeigh, Nebraska holds off South Dakota, 73-61

(AP) Jack McVeigh had 16 points and hit a key 3-pointer late as Nebraska opened up a 22-point first-half lead then held off a second-half South Dakota rally to take a 73-61 win on Saturday.

Nebraska (5-3) hit 10 of its first 15 shots, 4 of 7 from 3-point range, while the Husker defense stifled South Dakota (6-4). The Coyotes hit just 2 of their first 11 shots and turned the ball over six times in the game-opening stretch that saw Nebraska lead 26-4 with 11:23 left in the first half.

Nebraska led 41-21 on McVeigh's 3-pointer with 2:53 left in the half, but the Huskers hit just one field goal and a pair of free throws the rest of the half and the Coyotes trailed 45-31 at halftime.

The Huskers made 5 of 16 shots against South Dakota's zone defense to open the second half and turned the ball over eight times. Nebraska hit 33 percent of its shots in the second half.

Trailing 56-42, the Coyotes went on a 12-0 run, cutting the Husker lead to two on Matt Mooney's layup with 7:30 left. Nebraska's Tai Webster countered with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to five and McVeigh's 3 with 2:45 left made it 67-58.

Webster had 12 points and a career-high nine assists for Nebraska, Michael Jacobson added 11 points and Ed Morrow Jr. and Glynn Watson Jr. finished with 10 each for the Huskers

Mooney led South Dakota (6-4) with 18 points. Tyler Flack finished with 13 points and Trey Dickerson had 11.

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: Saturday's contest against South Dakota was a breather in the Huskers challenging pre-conference schedule. Nebraska played No. 11 UCLA the Friday after Thanksgiving, traveled to Clemson last week and will face No. 10 Creighton and No. 4 Kansas in its next two games.

South Dakota: South Dakota is off to its best start since joining NCAA Division 1 in 2008.

UP NEXT

Nebraska host Creighton on December 7.

South Dakota hosts Montana State on December 7.