ST. LOUIS (AP)—Kwamain Mitchell scored 20 points and Saint Louis hit three of its seven 3-pointers in succession to help pull away from Nebraska in a 69-55 victory on Wednesday night.
Christian Salecich added 11 points and had three 3-pointers, two in an 11-0 run that put Saint Louis (2-0) ahead 44-31 with just over 14 minutes remaining. Nebraska twice cut the deficit to eight but shot only 33 percent in the second half and 40 percent overall.
Mitchell, part of a lineup featuring one freshman and four sophomores, was 7-for-10 from the field and 2-for-3 from 3-point range.
Sek Henry had 14 points and Ryan Anderson added 10 for Nebraska (1-1), which has lost 13 of its last 14 road openers. Lance Jeter, who had 17 points in the Huskers’ 76-49 opening victory over South Carolina Upstate, was held to seven.
Nebraska center Jorge Brian Diaz broke a tooth when he was elbowed in the mouth with 18 minutes 36 seconds to go in the first half and didn’t return.
Saint Louis survived a prolonged drought at the end of the first half, scoring only two points on 1-for-12 shooting in the final 7:34 and settling for a 28-27 lead. Nebraska failed to capitalize, scoring only seven points during that stretch.
Nebraska led only once, on Anderson’s layup to open the second half for a 29-28 lead.
Both teams stumbled at the end of the half with Nebraska whistled for a shot-clock violation and Saint Louis working the ball for the final 30 seconds without getting off a shot.
