Brice Williams and Juwan Gary combined for 53 points in the win over Hawaii

Brice Williams matched his career high with 32 points and made four 3s, while Juwan Gary scored 21 points and three 3s to help Nebraska advance to the Diamond Head Classic championship game with a 69-55 win over host Hawaii in the semifinals on Monday night.

Nebraska (9-2) plays Oregon State for the tournament title on Wednesday, Christmas Day. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. local time. Oregon State enters the game with a record of 10-2. The Beavers beat Oakland 80-74 in overtime in the other semifinal on Monday.

Monday night marked NU’s first win over Hawaii since Dec. 3, 1976 – snapping a five-game series by the Warriors – and the Huskers’ two star veterans, Williams and Gary, led the way with a combined 53 points . The rest of the team shot 8 of 27, or 29 percent.

NU shot 47 percent from the field and 41 percent, 7 of 17, from 3. Other than Williams and Gary, no Husker player scored more than six points.

It was a slow start for NU, which trailed by a point, 22-14, in the first half. But the Huskers fought back and got going thanks to a strong defensive performance. Hawaii had 13 turnovers in the second half – three more than the number of shots the Warriors took in the second half (10).

“They felt pretty comfortable at the start of this game,” Fred Hoiberg told Huskers Radio Network after the game about Hawaii’s strong start. “But I thought we really put them in their place and that got us going again.”

The Huskers failed to make a shot and had a string of seven straight missed throws, paving the way for an 8-0 Hawaii run and a 15-9 Warriors lead.

Hawaii extended its lead to 20-12, but NU defended well and went on a huge 17-2 run, with Williams hitting his third three-pointer of the half to give his team its first lead since a 5-4, 24-22. gave a lead. During that run, Williams scored eight points while Braxton Meah scored his sixth point.

Meah, the 7-foot-1 Washington transfer, finished with six points, five rebounds, one assist and one block. His plus/minus was plus-14.

“I thought Braxton was absolutely phenomenal tonight,” Hoiberg said. “His energy out there, I thought he was on fire defensively.”

However, NU finished the first half poorly by allowing the Warriors to score five points in 40 seconds. Instead of going into halftime with a 29-22 lead, NU was ahead 29-27.

But then Williams and Gary did what is expected of experienced leaders. They gave their best and led their team to victory.

Williams scored 21 points in the second half and was efficient, shooting 7 of 11 from the field and 6 of 6 from the free throw line. Gary scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

“We found a little rhythm, especially with Brice. He was obviously the one who did it tonight and I think our guys did a good job of finding him,” Hoiberg said.

NU extended its lead in the second half thanks to a 9-2 run that included a three-pointer by Williams, a shot in the post by Berke Buyuktuncel and two turnovers by Hawaii, one of which was a shot clock violation. Williams had seven of the nine points.

NU took a 45-39 lead after Gary scored seven straight points. Midway through the second half, Hawaii cut its deficit to just three points, 32-29, but that’s all the Warriors could accomplish.

“In the last 10 or 12 minutes I’m really proud of the way the guys went out there and defended. That will sustain us,” said Hoiberg. “Last year’s team was pretty, we executed, we cut, we got easy baskets. In this we have to play some games. But this team, in my opinion, is made for it, and it will be made up of different players on different nights.

Hoiberg said he and his staff will immediately get to work with Oregon State Film before developing a game plan for Wednesday night.

“It’s a team that throws different things at us,” Hoiberg said. “They are very talented and I saw part of the game today, they played a lot of zone. So we’re going to go to the gym tomorrow, do a good walk-through, have a nice film session and get the guys out there. “I’m feeling and hopefully ready to come out on Wednesday and fight for that championship.”