LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska opened up a 22-point lead in the first half, then watched South Dakota cut that lead to two before the Huskers were able to turn back the upset bid 73-61 on Saturday.I was really proud of our guys to perform down the stretch, said Nebraska coach Tim Miles. South Dakota competed really hard and really, I thought, out-competed us the second half. When you get punched in the mouth, you cant look at that and say `Oh gee, whats going on, do I have any teeth left? Youve just got to swallow them, spit the blood out and keep battling.Nebraska (5-3) hit 10 of its first 15 shots, 4 of 7 from 3-point range, while the Husker defense stifled South Dakota (6-4). The Coyotes hit just 2 of their first 11 shots and turned the ball over six times in the game-opening stretch that saw Nebraska lead 26-4 with 11:23 left in the first half.We looked like Edward Scissorhands out there for the first eight minutes or so -- a lot of turnovers, just driving in there and playing volleyball, throwing it up there and seeing what happened, said South Dakota coach Craig Smith We had to adjust and once we finally kind of settled in, I really liked we saw our of team. I thought we had great resolve. Im proud of how we played when we got down 22 in a hostile environment.Nebraska led 41-21 on Jack McVeighs 3-pointer with 2:53 left in the half, but the Huskers hit just one field goal and a pair of free throws the rest of the half and the Coyotes trailed 45-31 at halftime.The Huskers made 5 of 16 shots against South Dakotas zone defense to open the second half and turned the ball over eight times. Nebraska hit 33 percent of its shots in the second half.Credit to them, said Nebraska forward Michael Jacobsen. They definitely switched defenses and pressed and did some things that kind of got us on our heels and out of our attack mindset, which I thought was pretty good at the outset of the game.Credit to them, no doubt. They definitely switched defenses and pressed and did some things that kind of got us on our heels and out of our attack mindset, which I thought was pretty good at the outset of the game.Trailing 56-42 in the second half, the Coyotes went on a 12-0 run, cutting the Husker lead to two on Matt Mooneys layup with 7:30 left. Nebraskas Tai Webster countered with a 3-pointer to push the lead back to five and McVeighs 3 with 2:45 left made it 67-58.McVeigh finished with 16 points and made 4 of 9 from behind the arc.McVeigh hit some big shots in the second half, Smith said. He got a groove going, exactly what he needed early on, hit three 3s in the first half and started feeling it. Then hit a couple big 3s in the second half when we were in the midst of a big-time run. Coach (Miles) has been upfront and honest about it, theyve got to make some threes that way.Webster scored 12 points with three 3s for Nebraska and Michael Jacobson added 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.BIG PICTURENebraska: Saturdays contest against South Dakota was a breather in the Huskers challenging pre-conference schedule. Nebraska played No. 11 UCLA the Friday after Thanksgiving, traveled to Clemson last week and will face No. 10 Creighton and No. 4 Kansas in its next two games.South Dakota: South Dakota, which has four players on its roster from the state of Nebraska, is off to its best start since joining NCAA Division 1 in 2008.POSTGAME COMEDYSmith was an assistant with Miles at four different schools, including Nebraska, before taking the South Dakota job two years ago. They did the postgame press conference together, turning it into a comedy act.I figured if we didnt do a joint press conference Id never get him out of here, Miles said opening the press conference.Im surprised you let me talk, Smith replied. In 11 years, I didnt say a whole lot.I had a lot of answers, Miles said.UP NEXTNebraska will host in-state rival Creighton WednesdaySouth Dakota will return to Vermillion to host Montana State Wednesday.Vapormax Off White Solde . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. Vapormax Plus Moins Cher . Pedro scored from a pass by Lionel Messi in the 33rd minute and added two more goals in the 47th and 72nd after Valdes saved his second penalty in four days following his stop in Wednesdays 4-0 over Ajax in the Champions League. http://www.vapormaxsolde.fr/basket-vapormax-blanche-grossiste.html .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Vapormax Off White Pas Cher .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. Vapormax Flyknit Vente . -- When the Florida Panthers fell behind by two goals in the first period to the top team in the NHL, it appeared they were on their way to yet another loss.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Atlantic Coast Conference has shaken off a four-year Final Four drought with strong back-to-back postseason runs that have included winning one national title, playing for another and putting three teams in the national semifinals.The trick now is to keep that momentum going for the league that considers itself college basketballs best. The ACC also wants to increase its number of NCAA Tournament bids toward a still-unreached target of 10 invitations.I think with our 15 programs and as good as those programs generally are, I dont think its unrealistic to point to that, Commissioner John Swofford said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press during the leagues preseason media day. But I also dont think, if youve got seven, eight, nine and everybody talked about 10, thats not failure -- especially when theyre winning in the tournament.The ACCs series of expansions over the past decade were supposed to push the league to juggernaut status by adding programs like Louisville, Syracuse, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh to a lineup that featured tradition-rich charter members Duke and North Carolina.Its taken some time -- maybe a little longer than expected, the way North Carolina State coach Mark Gottfried sees it -- but the league is starting to earn that status.I think youre seeing now what we thought was going to happen a couple of years ago, said Gottfried, whose Wolfpack has been to the NCAAs in four of his five previous seasons with two Sweet 16 runs. Couple of years ago, we all said this is the best basketball league in America. It probably wasnt just yet.I think what youre seeing now, its happening. Just took a few years for us to get there. And part of that is because I think everybodys better.Compare that to a year earlier, when Gottfried said the league had work to do to earn its claim as the nations best by regularly earning more than the six bids it got in 2015. The league went on to tie its record of seven and wouldve had a new high mark had a 23-win Louisville team not sat out with a self-imposed postseason ban amid an ongoing NCAA investigation into allegations that a former staffer hired escorts and strippers for sex parties with recruits and players.Once in the tournament, ACC teams kept winningg.ddddddddddddNorth Carolina reached the NCAA championship game. Syracuse made a surprise run to the Final Four. Four teams reached the Elite Eight and a record six teams got to the Sweet 16.The league finished with a record 19 NCAA Tournament wins, surpassing the previous mark of 18 set by the Big East in 1985.And that came one year after Mike Krzyzewskis Blue Devils -- this years preseason favorite for the 15th time under the Hall of Famer -- won the NCAA title.The ACCs two-year run of 36 NCAA wins is also a record for all leagues, surpassing the Big East (2008-09) and the Big Ten (1999-2000) by eight.Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, whose Fighting Irish have gone to two straight Elite Eights, believes momentum from a strong finish can carry through the offseason and into the next season. He figures thats a factor in the ACCs broader success from the past two tournaments.Once you get to that second weekend, then youve got a group of guys coming back, Brey said. They talk about stuff like that. Then if you get the bid, theyre more believing they should advance. Theres a confidence instead of maybe a fear or an anxiety. I think thats whats happened with a number of programs.If Brey is right, the league could be in for another big year. Duke is considered a national-title contender, while UNC and Virginia have earned top-10 rankings in several preseason publications.If one of those teams have a deep run, then it will be up to the next tier -- Louisville, Syracuse, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Florida State and Miami -- to get the league within reach of double-digit NCAA Tournament bids.I think they both matter in their own regard, but everybody wants to say, `Oh the Big 12 put this many teams in or `the Big Ten put this many teams in, Miami senior guard Davon Reed said. And thats good. The ACC not only puts a lot of teams in, but I think our record in the tournament each year ... speaks for itself -- the ACCs quality and the wins that they produce in the tournament.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap---Online:More AP College Basketball site: http://collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '