It was a night of happy returns for the Nebraska men's basketball team, as the Huskers broke into the win column with a 65-49 victory over Rutgers Thursday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

The win not only snapped a two-game losing streak for Nebraska (9-6, 1-2 Big Ten), but saw the return of a pair of post players who had sidelined for a significant stretch of the season.

Seniors Leslee Smith and Moses Abraham both returned to the court against Rutgers, and their combined totals of five points and five rebounds in 26 minutes only told part of the story, as Nebraska's frontcourt depth have been limited over the past month.

Smith, who tore an ACL in July and returned to practice last Friday, had two rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot, while Abraham, who had been sidelined since Dec. 9 with a broken hand, had five points and three rebounds off the bench.

The return of Abraham and Smith, along with the play of redshirt freshman Nick Fuller, who had four points and four rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench, helped limit the wear and tear on the starters, as no Husker played more than 34 minutes in Thursday's win.

Terran Petteway led the Huskers with 20 points - his eighth 20-point effort of the season - and five assists, as NU enjoyed a balanced offensive night. Shavon Shields, Benny Parker and Walter Pitchford combined for 29 points and 12 rebounds and five assists, as all three finished with between nine and 11 points.

Photo Courtesy Scott Bruhn/NU Media Relations

Terran Petteway had 20 points and five assists in the win over Rutgers.

Parker and Shields combined for all eight points in 8-0 surge that stretched a 28-27 lead in the opening minute of the second half into a nine-point cushion. Parker hit consecutive 3-pointers before finding Shields on a driving layup that pushed the lead to nine and forced a Rutgers timeout.

The Scarlet Knights (9-7, 1-2 Big Ten) got within 38-33 after a Greg Lewis jumper with 12:23 left, but Nebraska blitzed the visitors with a 9-0 run over the next 1:21, as a pair of Petteway layups after steals pushed the margin to 47-33 and the Huskers led comfortably the rest of the way.

Nebraska forced 19 Scarlet Knight turnovers forced Rutgers to shoot 35 percent from the field, including 2-of-13 from 3-point range.

Bishop Daniels led Rutgers with 12 points, while Kadeem Jack finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

In the first half, the Huskers overcame a slow start with a strong defensive effort and took a 26-23 lead into the locker room.

Rutgers got out of the gate quickly, scoring the first five points and taking a 14-8 lead after a pair of free throws by Jack. The Huskers cut the lead to four at 14-10 after a Fuller layup, but the visitors scored the next five points, including a 3-point play from Kerwin Okoro to take their largest lead of the half at 19-12 with 9:04 left in the half.

Rutgers, which shot over 50 percent in the first nine minutes, then went ice cold as Nebraska toughened up on defense. The Scarler Knights hit one of their final 10 shots of the half, as Nebraska fought back.

Walter Pitchford keyed a 14-2 run for the Huskers to erase a seven-point deficit and take its first lead of the night at 22-21 after Shields scored off a Parker steal. Pitchford had five points in the run, including a putback slam dunk that brought the crowd to its feet, as Nebraska pushed the lead to five points in the final minute of the half before settling on a three-point halftime cushion.

The Huskers return to action on Sunday night, as they take on Illinois at 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised on BTN and available on the Husker Sports Network and tickets are available by calling 800-8-BIGRED