By Terry Douglass
terry.douglass@theindependent.com

The Cornhuskers held Charlotte to 31.5-percent shooting from floor and completely shut down 49ers leading scorer Leemire Goldwire during a 67-48 victory at the Devaney Sports Center. Nebraska improved to 10-0 all-time in first-round NIT home games while advancing to second-round Monday at Mississippi with its best defensive effort in program's postseason history.

"I think tonight's basketball game was just a mirror of most of our games here in the last part of the season," Nebraska coach Doc Sadler said. "I thought our defense was about as good as you're every going to play.

"When you hold Goldwire and (Lamont) Mack to 2-of-13 and 4-for-13 from the field, you couldn't be any happier with the effort."

Ade Dagunduro scored a game-high 15 points to lead a balanced scoring effort for Nebraska. Six Huskers scored seven or more points with Jay-R Strowbridge joining Dagunduro in double figures with 10.

"I'm definitely a lot more comfortable and it's just mainly me taking my time and taking good shots," said Dagunduro, who led Nebraska in scoring for the second straight game. "I'm taking what the defense is giving me, not really forcing it and trying to create one-on-one offensive play. I'm just mainly taking what they're giving me."

Nebraska senior center Aleks Maric had nine points, 10 rebounds and five assists in what could've been his final home game. The Huskers shot 46 percent and were able to overcome the illness of second-leading scorer Steve Harley, who had just two points in 17 minutes.

The Huskers reached the 20-win mark since the 1998-99 season and the 12th time overall. Only six Nebraska teams in the program's 112-year history have won more.

"That's a number that separates you from a lot of teams," Sadler said of victory No. 20. "You get an opportunity to play in postseason play and that separates you.

"It's a credit to our players. If you would've thought this back in early January, you'd be even more proud of it. If you can get 20 wins a year in this league, then you're going to have a successful program."

Sadler said defense was clearly the key.

Goldwire entered the contest averaging 19 points per game for Charlotte (20-14), topping the 30-point mark six times this season. Against Nebraska's hard-guarding trio of Sek Henry, Strowbridge and Harley, the 49er senior finished with just six points.

Henry said Nebraska's defensive strategy on Goldwire was simple.

"We tried to just stay in his face and tried not to let him catch the ball because he has a really quick release," Henry said. "As soon as he catches it, he's ready to shoot. So we tried to stay very, very close to him and not give him any space."

Mack led Charlotte with 13 points. Teammate Charlie Coley finished with 12.

Nebraska trailed 16-15 after a Mack 3-pointer with 8:40 left in the first half. However, the Huskers then went on an 18-5 run, sparked a Maric dunk, to lead 33-21 at halftime.

NU equaled its largest lead at 62-36 on a Dagunduro 3-pointer with 5:38 to play. The 49ers managed to cut their deficit below 20 against the Huskers' second-line players in the final two minutes.

"A lot of us were a little nervous before the game started because this was brand new for us," Henry said. "But we had fun and we were successful tonight."

Game notes

& Maric became the second Nebraska player to reach 1,000 rebounds for a career. He's just the third player in Big 12 Conference history to score more than 1,600 points and grab more than 1,000 boards.

& Nebraska's second-round game at Mississippi will be played at either 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. Monday. The Rebels beat UC Santa Barbara 83-68 Wednesday night in their first-round game.

& The Huskers improved to 23-19 all-time in the postseason, including a 23-13 mark in the NIT.

& NU's 19-point victory was its largest margin of victory ever in the postseason. The previous best was a pair of 13-point wins, coming against UNLV in the 1999 NIT and Canisius in the 1985 NIT.

& With 37 wins, Sadler equaled the highest victory total for a second-year coach at Nebraska. He tied Paul Schlisser (1920-21).

NEBRASKA 68, CHARLOTTE 47

CHARLOTTE (20-14)

Coley 6-9 0-0 12, Wilderness 0-3 3-6 3, Mack 4-13 3-4 13, Harris 1-1 0-0 2, Goldwire 2-13 0-0 6, Gerrity 0-0 0-1 0, Ngoundjo 0-1 0-0 0, Andersen 2-7 0-0 5, Church 0-0 0-0 0, Dewhurst 1-2 0-0 2, Phaler 1-2 0-0 2, Jones 0-3 2-4 2. Totals 17-54 8-15 48.

NEBRASKA (20-12)

Maric 3-7 3-4 9, Henry 2-7 1-2 6, Harley 1-4 0-2 2, Dagunduro 6-8 2-4 15, Anderson 3-7 0-0 7, Krenk 0-0 0-0 0, Strowbridge 2-3 5-6 10, Ping 0-0 1-2 1, Miller 3-5 1-3 8, Velander 3-5 0-0 9, Balham 0-1 0-0 0, Wicklund 0-1 0-0 0, Nelson 0-1 0-0 0, Salomon 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 13-23 67.

Halftime Nebraska 33, Charlotte 21. 3-point goals Charlotte 6-29 (Coley 0-2, Wilderness 0-1, Mack 2-8, Goldwire 2-9, Ngoundjo 0-1, Andersen 1-5, Phaler 1-2, Jones 0-1), Nebraska 8-22 (Henry 1-5, Harley 0-2, Dagunduro 1-2, Anderson 1-3, Strowbridge 1-2, Miller 1-3, Velander 3-5). Fouled out None. Rebounds Charlotte 33 (Coley 8), Nebraska 39 (Maric 10). Assists Charlotte 12 (Harris, Gerrity 4), Nebraska 16 (Maric 5). Turnovers Charlotte 15, Nebraska 15. Total fouls Charlotte 21, Nebraska 14. Technicals None. A 9,427.