Arizona State held a slim lead early, as Basheer Jihad and Adam Miller had all 10 Sun Devil points. Juwan Gary and Brice Williams would keep things close, as Nebraska used a 12-2 run to take a quick lead. The game would go back and forth for quite a while, but then the half got really stagnant offensively.
Nebraska had 3 different scoring droughts of 3+ minutes, while Arizona State nearly went 6 minutes without a field goal. Basheer Jihad did plenty of damage throughout the first half from the free-throw line, going a perfect 8-8.
Nebraska would commit multiple turnovers in the last 4 minutes and the Sun Devils used a 14-4 run to close out the half.