Brice Williams proves to be main attraction at College Basketball Crown

LAS VEGAS — Of the eight teams that kickstarted the College Basketball Crown on Monday across four games at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, where a new postseason tournament was officially born, none brought more supporters with them to Sin City than Nebraska. Widely recognized as one of the most passionate and loyal fan bases in collegiate athletics, the Cornhuskers' faithful flocked to the desert despite watching head coach Fred Hoiberg's team drop its last four games of the regular season and its opening-round matchup in the Big Ten Tournament. But for them, any chance to back Nebraska is a chance worth taking.

So they flew to Las Vegas eager and hoping for at least one more virtuoso performance from star guard Brice Williams, a first-team all-conference performer who ranks sixth nationally in scoring among players from the power leagues with a scoring average of 20 points per game. They'd watched Williams pour in a school-record 43 points against Ohio State earlier this month and exceed 20 points on 17 occasions throughout the season. They knew he was one of the most talented scorers in the country, and that fact alone would give Nebraska a fighting chance to win this tournament, where the Cornhuskers are among the best two or three teams on paper. Williams, they believed, could be the event's breakout performer on a team that hasn't won a postseason competition of any kind since capturing an NIT title in 1996. He's the type of player that the NBA scouts in attendance want to see. 

The anticipation and expectation that Nebraska's fans attached to Williams was audible from the opening minutes against Arizona State, whenever the 6-foot-7, 214-pound veteran touched the ball. "Let him cook!" one fan shouted from a courtside