Diamonds are forever

Good morning. Hope you had a lovely, relaxing Christmas Day with friend and family.

Amid the NBA games and the Chiefs somehow winning yet another game (whatever deal they made, it’s a good one), you might’ve missed the four college basketball games that happened yesterday. So let’s dive in.

1. Nebraska puts finishing touches on its holiday trip

Nebraska entered the Diamond Head Classic as the team to beat. Behind Brice Williams, it left as the top team, too.

Williams scored 11 of his 25 points in the final six minutes of the Cornhuskers’ 78-66 win over Oregon State on Wednesday night in the championship game. It was Nebraska’s first tournament title since the San Juan Shootout in 2000, and also gave coach Fred Hoiberg his second Diamond Head Classic trophy. He won with Iowa State in 2013 and is the first coach with two.

"You just don't get a lot of chances in life to play for a championship, and this is a big tournament for us," Hoiberg said, via the Scottsbluff Star Herald. "...Just really proud of the guys for finding a way to muster up the energy and play our best stretch of basketball, those last five minutes."

Nebraska (10-2) shook off the Beavers (10-3) thanks to a 10-2 run midway through the second half, then used another 6-0 run to cap the victory. Williams was superb all tournament, averaging 22 ppg on 56% shooting.

It also helped that the Huskers made 20-of-24 shots from the free-throw line — and were 86% overall in three games — while Oregon State struggled. It was just 39.6% from the field. Nebraska’s put together a solid non-conference record, and has become underrated under Hoiberg.

The Huskers entered the tournament ranked 55th in KenPom, but are now up to 39th. That places them just behind Penn State and ahead of Iowa among Big Ten teams. They should to be favored to win every home game of their Big Ten slate, including Jan. 4 when it hosts UCLA.

Maybe there’s another tournament in its future when March rolls around.

Other Diamond Head results:

Hawai’i 73, Oakland 70 (OT): Gytis Nemeiksa scored 25 points, but his biggest play was blocking a potential game-tying 3-pointer in OT.

The host Rainbow Warriors (8-4) needed two last-second free throws to force OT (credit Tanner Christensen for an offensive rebound and subsequent free throws) against the Grizzlies (4-9), who got 27 points from Malcolm Christie.

Charleston 84, Charlotte 81: Ante Brzovic scored 32 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and helped the Cougars (10-3) claim fifth place on Wednesday. They maintained a double-digit second-half lead until the final few minutes when Charlotte (7-6) scored 15 points in the final two minutes to close the margin.

2. When a Hawai’i trip goes bad

Maybe Drew Valentine can call Dan Hurley for some commiserating.

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