Behind a dominant defensive effort, the Nebraska men's basketball team closed its exhibition season with a 71-39 win over Hastings College on Tuesday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

The Huskers' harrassing defense held Hastings to 21.3 percent shooting as the Broncos hit just 13-of-61 from the field. Nebraska forced Hastings into 37 3-point attempts and the Broncos only connected on six of those tries, including a 1-of-12 performance in the second half. NU also recorded eight steals and six blocks while forcing 22 turnovers.

On the offensive side, Nebraska used its height advantage to outscore Hastings 42-6 in the paint. Nebraska hit 54.7 percent of its shots on the night, including 72.0 percent in the second half when the Huskers connected on 18-of-25 attempts. NU outscored Hastings 43-18 after halftime.

Freshman Christian Standhardinger paced NU with 18 points, while sophomore Toney McCray scored 11 points and junior Lance Jeter added 10 points. Freshman Jorge Brian Diaz narrowly missed a double-double for the second straight game, as he had eight points and nine rebounds. The Huskers out-rebounded the Broncos 43-31.

Waid Vontz was the only Bronco in double figures, as he scored 12 points. Eleven of those points came in the first half, as the Nebraska defense held him to only one field goal attempt in the second half.

Hastings raced out to a 5-0 lead to begin the game as the Huskers opened the game with a 4:01 scoring drought, while turning the ball over on five of their first six possessions. Standhardinger then hit back-to-back baskets before Vontz drilled consecutive 3-pointers to give the Broncos an 11-4 advantage.

Hastings relied heavily on the three throughout the first half, as 16 of the Broncos' first 20 shots were 3-pointers. Although Hastings only made four of those long-range tries, the Broncos were able to build a 14-10 lead. Nebraska pulled even for the first time at 14-14 with 8:49 remaining on an offensive putback by Diaz.

After Hastings regained the lead with a basket, Nebraska rattled off 10 straight points to build a 24-16 lead with 3:45 left in the half. Four different players scored during the run, including four points from Standhardinger, who scored 10 of the Huskers' first 20 points.

Overall, Nebraska closed the first half on a 14-5 run to take a 28-21 lead into the locker room. Hastings hit only two field goals over the final eight minutes of the half and the Broncos hit only 8-of-33 first-half field-goal attempts. Hastings was 3-of-8 from inside the arc and only 5-of-25 from 3-point range. The Huskers shot just 39.3 percent in the half and were 0-of-6 from beyond the arc, but Nebraska hit six free throws while the Broncos did not have an attempt.

Just as they did to close the first half, the Huskers opened the second half on a big run. NU scored the first five points of the period and after Hastings answered with four straight points, the Huskers rattled off seven consecutive points to take a 40-25 lead five minutes into the half.

The Huskers ran away from the Broncos from there, stretching the lead to 60-28 with seven minutes remaining. The lead ballooned to 32 thanks to a 20-1 run that was highlighted by three-point plays from Jeter and sophomore Brandon Richardson and an alley-oop dunk from Richardson to McCray. During the seven-minute run, the Husker defense forced the Broncos into five turnovers and 0-of-8 shooting.

Nebraska's lead hit 30 for the first time at 63-33 on a 3-pointer by sophomore Eshaunte Jones with 5:24 left. The first basket of freshman Mike Fox's career stretched the lead to 71-37 at the 2-minute mark before Hastings scored the final two points of the game.

Nebraska opens the regular season on Saturday at 7 p.m. against South Carolina Upstate at the Devaney Center.