Braden Smith finished two rebounds shy of a triple-double as No. 13 Purdue overcame blowing two big leads to beat No. 7 Nebraska 80-77 in overtime in a Big Ten Conference game Tuesday night in Lincoln, Neb.
The Boilermakers (20-4, 10-3) moved into a tie for third in the Big Ten by picking up their second road win over a Top 10 team. Purdue won at then-No. 9 Alabama in November.
Smith had 13 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists while Fletcher Loyer scored 18. Oscar Cluff had 12 points and 14 rebounds, his basket with 5.2 seconds left giving Purdue the lead for good at 78-77. Cluff missed the chance for a three-point play, however, but after Nebraska forced a turnover, Purdue’s Gicarri Harris stole the ball and was fouled. He hit both free throws to seal the win.
Trey Kaufman-Renn had 19 rebounds as Purdue was plus-17 on the boards with 21 offensive rebounds. The visitors hit 13 3-pointers on 46 attempts (28.3%) and were just 11 of 20 from the line, missing several late in regulation and OT.
Nebraska (21-3, 10-3) lost for the third time in four games after a school-record 24-game win streak dating to last season. The Cornhuskers got 18 points from Rienk Mast, who tied the game on a layup with 12.8 seconds in regulation but missed the and-one that would have given Nebraska the lead.
Purdue led 40-24 at halftime and increased the margin to 22 just over a minute into the second half. Nebraska went on a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to nine with 10:32 remaining, then back-to-back 3-pointers by Mast and Sam Hoiberg got the Cornhuskers within 54-49 with 7:14 to go.
A 10-0 Purdue run extended the edge to 14 with 2:45 left only to see Nebraska end regulation on a 15-1 spurt.
Purdue began the game on a 14-1 run, with Loyer and Smith each nailing a pair of 3-pointers. Nebraska missed its first five shots but then started hitting 3-pointers, getting within 21-14.
A 9-0 run put the Boilermakers up 36-19 with six minutes left in the first half.
–Field Level Media
