Nebraska 67, Charlotte 48

3/19/2008 9:28 PM

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -Ade Dagunduro scored 15 points to lead Nebraska, and the Cornhuskers used tough defense to pull away from Charlotte in a 67-48 victory in the first round of the NIT on Wednesday night.

The Huskers (20-12) advance to a second-round game Monday at Mississippi, which defeated UC Santa Barbara 83-68.

Nebraska led by 12 points at halftime and by as much as 26 late in the second half against the Atlantic 10's 49ers (20-14).

Charlotte scored just one field goal the first seven minutes of the second half. The Huskers outscored the 49ers 14-4 over that stretch, taking a 47-25 lead on Aleks Maric's three-point play with 12:28 left.

The Huskers built a big first-half lead by holding Charlotte to five points in the last 8:34 of the half. The 49ers shot just 31 percent.

Jay-R Strowbridge added 10 points for the Huskers, who are making their 15th NIT appearance.

Maric, who scored nine points, moved past Jaron Boone into fifth place on Nebraska's career scoring chart with 1,612 points. Maric's game-high 10 rebounds gives him 1,005 for his career. He needs 10 more to tie Venson Hamilton's single-season record of 335. Kansas' Nick Collison and Missouri's Arthur Johnson are the two other Big 12 players to post 1,600 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Lamont Mack led Charlotte with 13 points. Charlie Coley added 12 for the 49ers. Season scoring leader Leemire Goldwire, averaging 19 points, was held to six on 2-of-13 shooting. He came into the game with 126 3-pointers, but he made only 2-of-9 from long range.

The Huskers won for the first time in three NIT games since 2004.