The level of importance Monday night’s first true road game of the year at Clemson had for Nebraska’s NCAA Tournament hopes couldn’t be overstated, and the Huskers’ stars made sure the opportunity didn’t get away.

Seniors James Palmer (20 points), Isaac Copeland (16) and Glynn Watson (12) combined to score 48 points in a 68-66 victory in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Littlejohn Coliseum.

The Huskers shot 53.6 percent from the field and were 4-of-8 from 3-point range in the second half and led by as many as eight with just 2:29 remaining in the game.

The Tigers rallied back with an 8-2 run to make it 66-64 with just 57 seconds left, but two key free throws by Watson and some tough defense down the stretch helped NU hold on to improve to 6-1 overall and pick up its best resume win yet.

“It was a hard-fought game tonight,” Palmer said on the Husker Sports Network postgame show. “We just wanted to come and prove a point. We knew this was a statement game, and we just wanted to come and take care of business.”

A questionable double-technical call on Clemson’s Elijah Thomas and NU’s Isaiah Roby got the game off to an odd start, but things settled down and the Tigers jumped out to an early 8-2 lead.

A basket by sophomore wing Nana Akenten would give Nebraska its first lead at 12-11, and a put-back dunk by Copeland put the Huskers on top again 24-23 with seven minutes left in the half.

That would spark a 9-2 run by the Huskers to give them their biggest advantage yet at 29-25, but NU would go the final 5:14 without a field goal and entered halftime tied at 31-31.

Copeland had 10 of his 16 points in the opening half as Nebraska shot 40.7-percent from the floor as a team. Clemson was even more efficient offensively, shooting 48.1 percent and recording assists on nine of its 13 made baskets.

Leading by one point with just over seven minutes left to play, a clutch 3-pointer by sophomore Thomas Allen capped an 11-4 run that gave Nebraska its largest lead of the night at 64-56 with 2:29 remaining.

A dunk by David Skara finished an 8-2 run by the Tigers that cut the lead to 66-64 and put the game in jeopardy. But Marcquise Reed was called for traveling with 12 seconds left and two free throws by Watson made it a two-score advantage and sealed the deal with just 6.8 on the clock.

When the final buzzer sounded, Nebraska had led for the last 16:04 of the game and trailed for a total of just 1:09 in the second half.

“I can’t say enough about our kids,” head coach Tim Miles said. “Tough road environment; got a quality win.”

Palmer (nine), Copeland (six), and Watson (four) also combined for 19 rebounds as Nebraska was able to limit the bigger Clemson frontcourt to just a 30-29 rebounding edge.

After playing four games in eight days, the Huskers will get a needed break this week before returning to Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday for their Big Ten Conference opener against Illinois. That game is set for a 4 p.m. tip and will be televised on BTN.

“People obviously had high expectations for us, but we’re just worried about ourselves,” Palmer said. “We’re going to take care of our business with what we do as a team. Coming out here tonight was definitely a great win.”

1. The seniors answered the call

During Clemson’s last full timeout in the final minutes of the game, Miles said Copeland was screaming at his teammates, “We are not losing this game!” Miles then said Palmer came back with the perfect Palmer response: “Chill, bro.” What Palmer meant was that despite how much was at stake at that moment, everyone in NU’s huddle was on the same page and knew what needed to be done. That mentality was prevalent the entire night, especially with the Huskers’ core group of seniors. Each time Nebraska needed a big play, one of that senior trio would answer the call to keep the game under control. That was something the Huskers glaringly lacked against Texas Tech in Kansas City, but the way they rallied together in their first road test of the season showed they were built to handle that type of pressure.

2. NU's bench came up big

After the Big Three, no other Huskers scored more than seven points in the win. But that doesn’t mean Nebraska didn’t get some huge minutes from its bench. With Roby battling foul trouble all night, senior center Tanner Borchardt and played 16 quality minutes off the bench, finishing with three points, two rebounds, and providing NU with some desperately needed defensive post presence. Akenten played 13 minutes and added five points, two boards, and an assist, and all his points came early when the Huskers were still finding their groove on offense. Even freshmen Brady Heiman (five minutes) and Amir Harris (four) contributed some needed relief for the starters, even if it didn't reflect on the final box score.

3. Nebraska got its statement win

Despite winning 22 games and finishing 13-5 in the Big Ten last season, Nebraska’s lack of signature victories away from Pinnacle Bank Arena ended up being its undoing when it came to missing out on the NCAA Tournament. That’s what made Monday night so important, especially after a disastrous neutral-site showing a few days ago vs. Texas Tech. The Huskers had to find a way to win a game like this to fill that hole in their resume, and now that they did, it changes the complexion of the rest of the non-conference schedule a bit. With a big home tilt vs. Creighton, another neutral-site matchup with Oklahoma State in Sioux Falls, S.D., and two early Big Ten games vs. Illinois and at Minnesota, NU has a chance to put together a strong NCAA Tournament bid by the end of December. There’s obviously so much season still to play, but the win over Clemson shifted the landscape of Nebraska’s path to the Big Dance. “This will be a quality win in March, we know that,” Miles said. “They can’t take it from us. So we’ve got that.”