Nebraska Cornhuskers star breaks decades old record in win over South Dakota

During the first six games of the Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball season, there have been plenty of impressive outings. There was the game where NU romped over Creighton and shut down Ryan Kalkbrenner entirely. 

There was the game early in the season when Brice Williams scored a career-high for a team that is working hard to try and replace Keisei Tominaga. And on Wednesday night, there was the best performance in 20 years by a Husker player off the bench.

Connor Essegian is one of the newest Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball players, but he’s making himself right at home rather quickly. Over the last few games, the transfer guard has started to find his game. On Wednesday, according to the university, he scored 29 points, the most by any NU bench player since 2004. 

Nebraska Cornhuskers star sets 20 year high

It just so happens that Essegian’s 29 points was also his career high. It was also his season high in minutes with 33. 

On the night, the former Wisconsin Badger was 10-for-22 from the field and 6-for-15 from 3-point range. He also had 5 assists.

His game against South Dakota marks the second straight where he’s scored 15 or more points off the bench. Against Creighton he scored exactly 15 points while hauling down 2 rebounds.

When talking about guys who need to step up in the absence of Tominaga, Essegian is one that could be a real help for the Nebraska Cornhuskers basketball team. With the potential absence of Juwan Gary and Berke Buyuktuncel due to injuries they suffered on Wednesday night, he might need to step up even more.