Juwan Gary had 20 points in his first start of the season and Nebraska ended an 11-game losing streak to Michigan State with a 77-70 victory in Big Ten Conference play on Sunday night in Lincoln, Neb.
The Cornhuskers (8-2, 1-1) had not beaten the Spartans (4-5, 0-2) since 2016, ending the longest active streak by one Big Ten team over another. It was their first home win over Michigan State since 2015.
Gary was starting in place of senior Josiah Allick, who suffered an ankle injury in Wednesday’s loss at Minnesota. Gary shot 8-of-11 from the field and made 2 of 4 3-pointers as Nebraska hit 10 3s and shot 50 percent for the game, including 64 percent in the second half.
Michigan State dropped below .500 after nine games for the first time since 2003-04 and is 0-2 in Big Ten for the first time in three years.
Malik Hall had a game-high 22 points for Michigan State.
Down 34-31 at the half, Nebraska made nine of its first 11 shots after halftime to build a 51-45 lead with 12:04 remaining. A layup by Sam Hoiberg due to goaltending on Michigan State put the Cornhuskers up seven with 10:54 remaining, but a few minutes later during a media timeout the basket was waved off.
That left Nebraska with a 56-55 lead with 7:04 to go, and the Spartans moved ahead 63-60 with 4:54 left on back-to-back Tyson Walker 3-pointers. That was part of a run of 13 points in a row for Michigan State from Walker, who had 17 for the game.
Nebraska retook the lead at 67-65 on Brice Williams’ 3-pointer with 2:14 to go, and Rienk Mast hit a hook shot late in the clock to make it a 71-67 lead with 1:04 left. Mast finished with eight points, 14 rebounds and six assists.
Keisei Tominaga had 15 points, Williams scored 14 and C.J. Wilcher added 10 for Nebraska.
–Field Level Media
