It took a while for Nebraska to get rolling, but a spark from Keisei Tominaga off the bench and another strong effort by Bryce McGowens were enough to lead the way to an 83-70 victory over South Dakota on Saturday.

McGowens posted 22 points for his third 20-point effort in his first seven college games, while also hauling in a team-high eight rebounds with four assists. Tominaga scored a career-high 23 points in 22 minutes while hitting 5-of-6 3-pointers.

A 21-4 run by the Huskers pushed a six-point lead up to 23 late in the second half, as NU scored 24 points off of 18 USD turnovers, including a season-high 10 steals.

The game was much closer than the final score might indicate, however, as the Coyotes hit a season-high 12 threes and turned 13 offensive rebounds in 20 second-chance points.

But Nebraska kept the game under control and held on for its fourth-straight victory.

The first half was a game a wild runs, as Nebraska shot out to the gates for an 11-3 lead but then South Dakota answered with a 13-0 rally.

The Huskers trailed by as many as six with eight minutes to go in the half before Tominaga provided a needed boost with three made 3-pointers to spark a 20-6 run to end the half and give NU a 43-35 lead at the break.

The Coyotes, which came in averaging just over five made threes per game, matched their season average with five triples in the opening 10 minutes.

Nebraska came out firing to start the second half and pushed its lead up to 14 after the first five minutes. But back-to-back 3-pointers by South Dakota began another Coyote rally and trimmed their deficit to as few as 57-51 with 12 minutes still to play.

The game swung for good on a critical five-point sequence when C.J. Wilcher hit a three and then Tominaga stole the in-bounds pass for a layup. That began an 18-2 Husker run, and Tominaga drilled his fifth 3-pointer of the game to give NU its largest lead at 78-55 with 4:50 remaining.

Derrick Walker posted his fourth-straight game in double figures with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and five rebounds. Alonzo Verge Jr. led the team with five of its 18 assists, but he also scored just three points while going 1-of-7 from the field in a season-low 16 minutes.

Kruz Perrott-Hunt led South Dakota with 19 points while Mason Archambault added 12. That duo combined to make eight of USD’s 12 3-pointers in the loss.

One of the more head-scratching developments over Nebraska’s first six games had been how cold Tominaga had been from behind the arc.

A player regarded as the best junior college 3-point specialist in the country last season who head coach Fred Hoiberg called one of the best shooters he’d ever seen, the sophomore guard was just 4-of-19 from downtown (21.1%) going into Saturday.

The lid finally came off the basket less than two minutes after Tominaga checked into the game. He drained his first 3-point attempt right after South Dakota took its largest lead of the day with 8:52 left in the first half.

Tominaga drilled a second trey the next time down the floor, and then hit his third just over a minute later to spark a 14-3 run in his first three minutes on the floor.

What makes him such a valuable weapon is that he’s not just a scorer. Tominaga has been a much better defender than most expected early on, and his high-level basketball IQ allows him see the game and his spacing on the floor differently than many players.

Most of all, Tominaga brings immediate energy to his teammates and fans at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska desperately needed someone to provide a jolt, and Tominaga changed the course of the game from the moment he checked in.

“I just keep shooting in practice and stuff,” Tominaga said. “It felt good today.”

Tominaga was a big reason why Nebraska had some improvement with its 3-point shooting, which had really struggled over the previous two games.

The Huskers shot a combined 10-of-48 (20.8%) from behind the arc in wins over Southern and Tennessee State. On Saturday, NU went 9-for-23 (39.1%).

However, the issues at the 3-point line remained on the defensive end of the floor.

South Dakota entered the game shooting just 29.5% from three on the season and averaged 5.2 made 3-pointers per game. As has been the case all too often, NU provided the Coyotes with a cure for their shooting woes.

The 12 made threes nearly doubled USD’s previous season-high of seven, which it got against NAIA foe Presentation. South Dakota shot 48 percent from downtown overall on Saturday.

Hoiberg noted that Nebraska’s close-outs and defensive rotations got much better as the game went on.

After the Coyotes made six of their first nine 3-pointers to start the day, it finished 6-of-16 the rest of the way. That included a stretch of going 1-of-8 from the 7:50 mark in the first half to 14:58 left in the second.

After playing easily his best basketball of the season over the past three games, Verge reverted back to some of the same poor decision-making that plagued him to start the year.

The senior point guard started as usual and played the first six minutes, which included a rebound, an assist, and a steal in his first two minutes of work.

But he followed that with a three-possession series of a rushed missed 3-pointer, a turnover, and then another low-percentage missed three. Hoiberg immediately subbed him out.

When Verge returned at the 7:01 mark, he instantly recorded an assist on a Tominaga 3-pointer and converted an And-1 the next time down the court.

Again, that was followed a couple minutes later by two more bad shots and another quick hook by Hoiberg to send him to the bench. Verge did not return for the rest of the first half and played just seven minutes in the second half.

After the game, Hoiberg said he thought Verge shared the ball well at times but also made too many poor decisions in the paint.

“Getting into the paint is a big part of his job, and then making the right play from there,” Hoiberg said. “Again, as we continue to grow with this thing, I’m confident he’ll make those plays.”