The tale of the first half was a scary eye injury to Juwan Gary and two big runs by Connor Essegian and Brice Williams to jet out to a big lead at half and a 17 point victory over the South Dakota Coyotes.

Nebraska men's basketball followed up the domination in Omaha with a dominant showing at home. NU topped South Dakota 96-79 Wednesday evening at Pinnacle Bank A

Connor Essegian poured in a career-high 29 points and hit six threes, Brice Williams added 17 points — 10 in a row at one point — and Ahron Ulis hit his first three of the season on a half-court buzzer-beater just before halftime.

Connor Essegian had a career-high 29 points off the bench and Nebraska hit 13 3-pointers in a 96-79 nonconference win over South Dakota on Wednesday night in Lincoln, Neb.