Courtesy of Husker Athletics
Josiah Allick had a team-high 15 points to lead five Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska posted a 75-69 win over Northwestern Saturday afternoon.
Allick, who replaced an injured Juwan Gary in the lineup, set the tone with 10 first-half points and finished the day hitting 4-of-5 shots from the floor and 7-of-8 from the foul line to help Nebraska (14-5, 4-4 Big Ten) snap a two-game losing streak.
The Huskers, who improved to 12-1 at home, shot a season-high 55.3 percent from the floor, including nearly 70 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.
Despite the shooting, the game was in doubt until the final minute. C.J. Wilcher’s basket with 3:29 remaining broke a 65-all deadlock before Keisei Tominaga’s putback with 2:45 left made it a four-point game.
Tominaga had seven of his 14 points in the final four minutes, as his 3-pointer with 25 second left iced the contest after the Wildcats got to within 71-69.
Nebraska held Northwestern (13-4, 4-3 Big Ten) to just 1-of-12 shooting in the final 6:30 and just 38.1 percent shooting on the day.
The Huskers got the ball to Allick early as the senior scored six of NU’s first nine points, but Northwestern was connecting from 3-point range, hitting four of their first five en route to building an early 14-11 lead.
Nebraska trailed 16-11 before Wilcher keyed a 9-0 Husker spurt with five points off the bench as NU built a 20-16 advantage with 11:02 left in the half. The rest of the half would be closely fought, as the Huskers had 12 assists on 16 baskets and shot nearly 70 percent from the floor, while the Wildcats countered by hitting 7-of-15 from 3-point range. Nebraska took a 39-35 lead into the locker room as Williams was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 0.3 seconds left and hit a pair of three throws to five NU a four-point halftime advantage.
The Huskers got off to a blistering start of the second half, using a 10-3 spurt, including a pair of Jamarques Lawrence 3-pointers to stretch the lead to 49-38, forcing a Wildcat timeout with 17:27 left.
Northwestern would come back behind Brooks Barnhizer, who had 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, as the Wildcats pulled to within 52-54 after Boo Buie’s 3-pointer with 12:41 left. The Huskers responded with an 8-0 run of their own to stretch the lead to 62-52 after Sam Hoiberg’s layup with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Nebraska eventually led 65-54 after a Williams’ 3-pointer with 9:32 left, but the Wildcats would battle back.
Northwestern used an 11-0 run to pull even at 65 all before Wilcher’s layup gave Nebraska the lead for good and ended a six-minute scoring drought.
Up next, the Huskers are back at home to face Ohio State on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT) in Lincoln, Neb., and will be streamed on Peacock. Tickets are available for the matchup by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets.
