Nebraska beats USF 74-67, grabs 3rd place in Cayman Islands

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands -- Haanif Cheatham scored a career-high 26 points, Dachon Burke Jr. added a career-best 19 and Nebraska got rolling with 61% shooting in the second half for a 74-67 victory over South Florida on Wednesday in the third-place game of the Cayman Islands Classic.

Nebraska (4-3) shot 55% overall to conclude the tournament with two wins sandwiched around an 85-66 loss to George Mason.

Burke had 19 points that included three 3-pointers and Cheatham added 15 points after the break. Each finished 8-of-11 shooting, with Cheatham making 9 of 11 free throws.

David Collins scored 16 points and Laquincy Rideau added 15 for South Florida (3-4), which shot 38.6% overall. Six made at least one 3-pointer, but they finished 8-of-27 (29.6%) shooting from long range. Michael Durr grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and had eight points for the Bulls.

Cheatham and Rideau were each named to the all-tournament team.

South Florida had a 35-33 edge at halftime and stretched it to seven with 12:39 left. Cheatham scored 10 points and Burke had a 3-pointer and dunk during a 17-2 run as Nebraska built its largest lead, 63-55 with 6:42 left.

Collins' 3-pointer and layup pulled the Bulls to 63-62 with four minutes remaining. Burke answered with consecutive 3-pointers between a Justin Brown free throw to extend Nebraska's lead to 69-63 with about two minutes left as the Cornhuskers pulled away.

Each team lead by as many as eight points.

LAST MEETING

It was only the third game between the teams and the first at a neutral site. Each team won previously at home: The Bulls 65-60 in 2002, and Nebraska 79-52 in 2003.

UP NEXT

South Florida: Hosts Furman on Monday.

Nebraska: At Georgia Tech on Wednesday.