Central Florida @ Nebraska preview

Isaac Copeland gave Nebraska a glimpse of what he could provide last time out and the Georgetown transfer hopes for more of the same when the Cornhuskers take on Central Florida on Thursday in the first round of the Advocare Invitational at Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Copeland, who had back surgery nine months ago, scored 30 points Sunday in the 92-70 victory over North Dakota.

“He’s been doing this his whole life,” Nebraska senior guard Anton Gill said of Copeland, who averaged 11.1 points in 2015-16 at Georgetown. “I’ve known him forever. This is him. This is what we expected.” Copeland had just 21 points in the first three games of the season combined, including five in the Cornhuskers’ only loss to St. John’s, and will need another big effort against an unbeaten UCF team that has allowed 37.1 percent shooting. The Knights have knocked off Mercer, Gardner-Webb and William & Mary despite injury issues and can start the season 4-0 for the first time since 2010-11 on Thursday just a short ride from their campus. “On the defensive end, we’re doing a good job of holding guys’ field goal percentage to a low level, but we could be better,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins told reporters. “I think our guys realize that too. A lot of times we give up too many easy baskets and we’re not as focused as we should be.”

TV: 6 p.m. ET, ESPN3

ABOUT CENTRAL FLORIDA (3-0): The Knights have been without first-team All-American Athletic Conference preseason pick B.J. Taylor (broken foot) for the last two games, but 7-6 junior center Tacko Fall made his season debut with 13 points in the 75-64 victory over William & Mary on Saturday. Senior forward A.J. Davis has gotten off to a strong start, averaging 13.3 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks. Davis shares the team scoring lead with sophomore guard Chance McSpadden, who is shooting 50 percent from the field overall and recorded a season-high 18 points on Saturday.

ABOUT NEBRASKA (3-1): The Cornhuskers have been quite balanced overall with six players averaging double figures in scoring, led by junior guard Glynn Watson Jr. at 13.5 points per contest. Miami (Fla.) transfer James Palmer Jr. and Copeland are next at 12.8 while Gill, who came over from Louisville last season, has averaged 11.5 in his first two games of 2017-18. Sophomore forward Isaiah Roby has also made quite an impact in the early going, averaging 10.3 points with team-highs of 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 22.3 minutes per game.

TIP-INS

1. UCF freshman G Ceasar DeJesus, averaging 11.7 points and 2.3 steals, was named AAC rookie of the week Monday.

2. Nebraska is shooting just 40.5 percent from the field overall and 30.4 from behind the 3-point arc.

3. Fall registered 164 blocks in his first two seasons with the Knights and swatted one in his 2017-18 debut Saturday.

PREDICTION: Nebraska 72, Central Florida 68