The rout was on as soon as Brice Williams drained his first shot of the night, a 3-pointer with 19:04 showing on the game clock.

Nebraska didn't waste much time gaining a sizable lead on the Southern Jaguars and putting them away in the first half inside a packed Pinnacle Bank Arena on Monday night.

The Huskers turned a 24-point halftime lead, 39-15, into a 77-43 win to improve to 11-2 on the season while the Jags out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference dropped to 5-8.

It wasn't all pretty. NU gave up a whopping 17 offensive rebounds and committed 14 turnovers. Southern just didn't have the talent to do anything with it.

"I've liked how we've gone out and competed on that end. Got to get better on the glass," Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg said after the game. "They got 17 (offensive boards), but they missed a lot of shots. I think it's about 30 percent, that's the number. We want to keep them under 30 percent on on their offensive rebound percentage. So clean that up. Clean the turnovers up. And hopefully we'll have chance to have a good season."

Southern was not at full strength on Monday night. Guards Michael Jacobs and Tidjian Dioumassi — two of the team's best players — didn't make the trip to Lincoln. Jacobs is averaging a team-best 10.6 points per game while Dioumassi is averaging 9 points and 3.8 assists.

But even if Southern had Jacobs and Dioumassi, there was little evidence it would have made much of a difference. Hoiberg's team was flying around on defense and had media members looking up what the record is for fewest points allowed.

The answer is 26 points, which was set by Bethune-Cookman on Dec. 20, 2003, when NU beat the Wildcats 70-26.

"Our defense has to be our constant. We're not a real pretty team, obviously. So defense has to be our calling card," Hoiberg said after the game. "Every time we step on the floor, that has to be what gets us going. And we had a little bit of a rhythm. We shot the ball, I think we made 13 threes. But if we go out there and guard like we have been, then we're going to have a chance to win most nights that we step on the floor."

While Husker assistant Nate Loenser's defense was scrambling around like mad men and forcing Southern to an abysmal 22% from the field and 0-of-11 from 3 in the first half, Hoiberg's offense was getting contributions from several players in the first 20 minutes.

In the first half NU shot 46.2% from the field while connecting on 42.9% from 3-point range (6-of-14) and 81.8% (9-of-11). NU's biggest 3-point threat, Connor Essegian, came off the bench to score nine points and go 3-of-6 from deep.

Essegian finished his night with a game-high 20 points and tied his career-high from the South Dakota game earlier this season with six made 3s on 12 attempts. Two other Huskers scored in double-figures: Brice Williams with 11 points and Andrew Morgan with 10.

Nine total Huskers found the scoring column and moved the ball well for most of the night— NU dished out 22 assists on 26 field goals.

A sloppy turnover-filled start to the second half didn't matter much for Nebraska, which still went on to cruise to the victory in the final 20 minutes and outscored Southern 38-28.

"It was important for us to get off to a really good start, and that's what we did defensively," Hoiberg said after the game. "Not real thrilled how the offense was in the second half. I thought we got stalled. I thought we got stagnant and held the ball too much after a really good couple days of getting that thing moving around and playing point-five basketball. But tonight, in the second half, we just didn't have it."

One bright spot in what was mostly a forgettable second half? Gavin Griffiths came off the bench and scored eight points in four minutes.

The 6-foot-7 transfer wing from Rutgers who's had a slow start to his Husker career didn't miss a shot when he was out there — he went 3-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from 3. He also grabbed two rebounds and blocked a shot.

Each of his makes had the PBA crowd — what was left of it — cheering loudly.

"I'm going to give Gavin a lot of credit for keeping himself ready," Hoiberg said. "He had a good week of practice. And that's what this thing's all about, is taking advantage of your minutes and going out there and playing to the best of your ability. And I thought he did that on both ends, not only offensively, but I thought he had a couple good defensive possessions out there as well, and that's what leads to more time."

NU didn't have backup point guard Ahron Ulis in Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic because he sprained an ankle at practice before the Huskers even played a game on the islands.

After the game, Hoiberg said Ulis is making progress.

"He'll get a light workout in tomorrow, and then most likely do some non-contact work on Wednesday and we'll see how he responds to that," Hoiberg said.

A big measuring-stick game against No. 15 UCLA (11-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m. in what's sure to be a jam-packed and loud PBA is what's next.

The Bruins have two top-15 wins already this season: against No. 12 Oregon (73-71) and No. 14 Gonzaga (65-62). UCLA beat the Zags on Saturday while Nebraska was beating Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl and have been off since, so they'll have some fresh legs, just like the Huskers will.

Can't be said loud enough: this is a huge game for Hoiberg and crew.

"It's very important we have good days of preparation. Guys can't go out and get crazy for New Years. You can have fun after the season," Hoiberg said. "We got two days of prep — Wednesday, Thursday — to get ready for an early game on Saturday. So we got to put this one behind us, this non-conference portion of our schedule, and get ready for an unbelievably skilled, talented, tough UCLA team."

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