Gill, Copeland lead Nebraska past winless Marist 84-59.

Nov 25, 2017, 03:07 am

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Nebraska made sure quickly that Marist could not get on a roll.

Anton Gill and Isaac Copeland had 17 points each, and Nebraska cruised by winless Marist 84-59 in a consolation game Friday night at the Advocare Invitational.

James Palmer Jr. added 15 points for Nebraska (4-2), which made 57 percent (34 for 60) of its shots.

"This is us," Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. "Move the ball, play off each other, get easy shots. We hadn't done that."

Any momentum Marist (0-5) had after hanging with No. 23 West Virginia Thursday before falling 84-78, evaporated early on as the Red Foxes fell behind by 12 points seven minutes in.

"We played man, we played 2/3 zone, 1-3-1 zone, we tried to trap them. We had no answers. At the end of the day they looked like a really well-coached, motivated team," Marist coach Mike Maker said.

Aleksandar Dozic topped Marist with nine points.

Nebraska, coming off a 68-59 loss to Central Florida, shot 62 percent (18 for 29) en route to a 45-29 halftime lead. The Cornhuskers' hot shooting continued into the second half as they went 8 for 11 to open up a 64-37 advantage.

"I thought our defensive energy was much better than it had been against Central Florida which led into good offense," Miles said. "Anytime you can get guys feeding off that, it was really good."

BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: Palmer, a newcomer entering with a 14.6 average, had 20 of his 22 points in the second half against UCF.

Marist: The Red Foxes shot 55 percent (26 for 47) in Thursday's near upset of West Virginia, including 74 percent (17 for 23) during the second half.

STREAK OVER

Marist guard Brian Parker was held to eight points on 1-for-7 shooting. The junior was lone player to score in double-digits in each of the Red Foxes' first four games.

SPEADING THE TIME

Nebraska had 15 players get playing time and Marist 14 -- with 10 scoring for each team.

UP NEXT

Nebraska plays Long Beach State in Sunday's fifth-place contest.

Marist faces Oregon State in the seventh-place game.