Oregon State’s 6-game winning streak ends as Nebraska’s second-half surge proves too much

Nebraska’s defense and Brice Williams were too much for Oregon State down the stretch as the Cornhuskers won the Diamond Head Classic championship on Wednesday night in Honolulu.

The Beavers lost for the first time in seven games as Williams scored 25 points and led Nebraska to a 78-66 win. After wins over Charleston and Oakland, Oregon State looked to beat Nebraska and win its first eight-team regular-season tournament title since 1989.

Oregon State (10-3) was down to four points with 3:09 left. But Williams, who fired four shots in the final three minutes, and Nebraska’s tenacious half-court defense allowed the Cornhuskers to take a comfortable lead.

Nate Kingz scored 19 points and Damarco Minor 16 to lead Oregon State. Minor, the Beavers’ starting senior point guard, earned all-tournament honors. Nebraska frustrated the Beavers’ interior duo of Michael Rataj and Parsa Fallah, who combined for just 12 points and hit 3 of 11 shots.

Williams made 9 of 13 shots and grabbed seven rebounds to give Nebraska (10-2) the lead.

Nebraska led 34-32 at halftime, the difference being a Berke Buyuktuncel layup with 12 seconds left in the first half. Both offenses did a lot of damage in threes as they combined for 11 shots from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes.

Oregon State’s best performance came midway through the first half. Lelevicius and Josiah Lake II hit consecutive three-pointers to give the Beavers a 17-13 lead. Nebraska prevailed with a 22:18 deficit, and the Cornhuskers scored eight points in a row to take the lead.

Nebraska’s largest lead was 32-26, but the Beavers responded with a 6-0 run and tied the game on two free throws from Parsa Fallah.

Kingz gave Oregon State a boost early in the second half, scoring the team’s first eight points as the Beavers raced out to a 40-36 lead. The Beavers and Cornhuskers spent the next few minutes trading off the lead.

Nebraska took the lead for good midway through the second half when Buyuktuncel’s rebound basket gave the Cornhuskers a 53-51 lead. Oregon State tried desperately to stay in the mix. Consecutive baskets from Kingz and Fallah cut the deficit to 64-60 with 3:51 left. The dam appeared to break, however, as Williams hit a foul line jumper and then Buyuktuncel hit a three-pointer to give Nebraska a 72-63 lead.

The Cornhuskers outscored OSU 11-3 in the final three minutes to secure the win.

Oregon State returns to its West Coast Conference opener on Monday when the Beavers play Portland at Gill Coliseum at 6:30 p.m.

–Nick Daschel can be reached at 360-607-4824, [email protected] or @nickdaschel.

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