Behind a trio of 20-point efforts, Nebraska rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to defeat UCF, 77-66, in the championship game of the College Basketball Crown Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas.

Brice Williams and Connor Essegian had 21 points apiece while Tournament MVP Juwan Gary added 20 points and eight rebounds, as Nebraska finished the season with a 21-14 record and earned its first postseason title since the 1996 NIT Championship. 

While Williams, who became Nebraska’s single-season scoring leader on Sunday with 713 points, it was the play of Essegian and Gary that led the Huskers back from a 49-35 deficit with 14:55 remaining.

Gary, who was knocked briefly out of the game in the second half with a cut on his forehead, provided the spark, scoring nine of his 20 points in an 11-0 run that pulled NU to within 49-46 with 12:19 left.

A 3-pointer from Jordan Ivy-Curry stopped stemmed the run momentarily, but two straight Essegian 3-pointers tied the score at 52 before Williams found Andrew Morgan for a pair of dunks to put the Huskers up for good.

Essegian, who had 14 second-half points, hit his third 3-pointer of the 13-0 blitz to push the Husker margin to 59-52 with 7:27 remaining.

In all, the Husker defense held UCF to one field goal over eight and half minutes in the decisive 24-3 spurt and just 39.7 percent shooting on the day.

The Knights (20-17) got to within 62-57 after a Darius Johnson basket with 5:28 left, but a 3-pointer from Cale Jacobsen keyed a 9-2 Husker run that pushed the lead back 71-59 with 2:35 remaining, ending the Knights’ comeback bid.

NU dished out 20 assists on the day, including a career-high seven from Sam Hoiberg, who also did an outstanding job on Darrius Johnson, holding the guard to 1-of-11 shooting after his 43-point effort in the semifinals.

In the first half, the Huskers and Knights traded runs, as the game was 35-all at the break. Willliams paced the Huskers with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

Nebraska used an 8-0 spurt over 1:14 to turn a one-point lead into an 18-9 advantage after two straight Williams 3-pointers. Nebraska eventually built a 23-11 cushion on a 3-pointer from Essegian with 10:21 left in the half before the Knights regrouped.

UCF rallied behind the play of Ivey-Curry, who had 15 first-half points to pace the Knights. Currey scored eight points in an 11-4 spurt that pulled UCF within 27-23 with 6:25 left in the half. Ivey-Currey finished with a game-high 29 points off the bench while Nils Machowski added 13 points in the loss.

Nebraska stretched the lead to 33-26 with just under five minutes left in the half after jumpers from Essegian and Williams, but went ice cold, missing its last seven field goal attempts in the half.

UCF started the second half with a 14-0 run over the first 5:05 of the second half, building a 49-35 lead after a Tyler Hendricks 3-pointer, as NU missed its first seven shots of the half before Gary’s basket got NU on track.

College Basketball Crown All-Tournament Team
Juwan Gary, Nebraska (MVP)
Brice Williams, Nebraska
Tyson Degenhart, Boise State
Eric Dixon, Villanova
Darius Johnson, UCF

Postgame Notes
*-Nebraska wins the first-ever College Basketball Crown and finishes the season with a 21-14 record.
*-Nebraska’s 21 wins this season ties for seventh on NU’s single-season list.
*-This marks Nebraska’s second postseason event title, including the 1996 NIT. NU is now 28-26 all-time in postseason games, including 2-0 in title games.
*-Juwan Gary (19.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.5 spg) and Brice Williams (23.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.5 apg) were named to the five-member all-tournament team. Gary was chosen as the MVP of the event following his 20-point, eight-rebound effort on Sunday.
*-Brice Williams (21), Connor Essegian (21) and Juwan Gary (20) all finished with 20-or-more points, the first time NU had three 20-point scorers since NU had three 20-point scorers at Iowa on March 10, 2019
*-Nebraska overcame a 14-point second-half deficit, the fourth time NU has overcome a double-digit deficit this season. It is NU’s second double-figure comeback of the College Basketball Crown (11 vs. Arizona State).
*-Juwan Gary posted his 10th 20-point game of the season and fifth in the last seven games dating back to March 1, as he finished with 20 points and eight rebounds. His 20-point effort was the 13th of his career.
*-Gary finished the season averaging a career-high 14.6 ppg and 5.1 rpg while shooting a career-best 34 percent from 3-point range.
*-Gary finishes with 510 points this season and ends his Husker career with 996 points at Nebraska and 1,299 points in his college career.
*-Brice Williams became NU’s single-season scoring leader with 713 points after his 21-point performance on Sunday.  Williams passed both Dave Hoppen (1984-85, 704) and James Palmer Jr. (708, 2018-19) on Sunday vs. UCF.
*-Williams finished the season averaging 20.4 ppg, the most by a Husker since Tyronn Lue in 1997-98.
*-Today marked Williams’ 20th game with at least 20 points. He finishes one shy of Dave Hoppen’s school record of 21.  
*-Williams finished with 1,168 points at Nebraska to finish 22nd on NU’s career list in just two seasons. His 16.9 ppg in two seasons at Nebraska ties Stu Lantz for seventh in career scoring average.
*-Connor Essegian posted his fifth 20-point game of the season and seventh of his career with 21 points off the bench.
*-Essegian’s 21 points marked the 31st double-figure effort by a Husker reserve this season and the 11th 20-point game by a Husker reserve in Fred Hoiberg’s six seasons at Nebraska. Essegian had three of them this season.
*-Essegian has 78 3-pointers, moving past Keisei Tominaga (76, 2023-24) for eighth place on NU’s 3-point list.
*-Nebraska finished 20 assists, the most by the Huskers since Feb. 20. Sam Hoiberg dished out a career-high seven assists without a turnover on Sunday. His previous best in a game was five against Southern. Hoiberg’s seven assists were the second-highest total by a Husker this season. In addition, Hoiberg helped limit Darius Johnson to four points on 1-of-11 shooting after he had 43 points in the semifinal win over Villanova.
*-Nebraska held UCF to 39.7 shooting and is now 14-2 this year when holding an opponent under 40 percent.
*-Andrew Morgan dished out four assists, matching his career high done two previous times at North Dakota State.
*-Nebraska used its 10th different starting lineup of the season on Sunday.