Nebraska's Andre Almeida was just too much for South Dakota.

Almeida scored 20 points and had his way inside to lead the Cornhuskers to a 76-68 victory over South Dakota in the season opener for both teams.

At 6-foot-11 and 325 pounds, Almeida was too big and strong inside for South Dakota to handle. He was 9-of-12 from the field and added seven rebounds for Nebraska (1-0).

Brandon Ubel and Christian Standhardinger also had solid games in the paint for the Cornhuskers. They finished with 10 points a piece.

Almeida scored 12 of his points in the first-half, making 6-of-7 shots from the field to help Nebraska build a 36-31 lead.

The Cornhuskers could never deliver the knockout blow in the second half, but were able to play in front the rest of the way. Standhardinger scored consecutive baskets to give Nebraska a 70-54 lead with 5:30 to go and South Dakota never threatened down the stretch.

Charlie Westbrook led the Coyotes (0-1) with 24 points. Jordan Boots added 14 for South Dakota, which was unable to offset Nebraska’s advantage inside with its shooting.

The Coyotes were just 24-of-64 from the field (38 percent) and made only 7-of-30 three-pointers (23 percent).