Ty Berry had a career-high 26 points and Northwestern won its second game in three days after an unscheduled week off, beating Nebraska 78-63 on Wednesday night in a Big Ten Conference game in Lincoln, Neb.
Berry was 10 of 17 from the field and made 6 of 12 from 3-point range, scoring 21 in the first half. He paced an offense that shot 51.8 percent and hit 11 threes, eight in the first half.
The Wildcats (14-5, 5-3) were forced to postpone two games last week due to COVID issues within their program, beating Wisconsin at home on Monday as the first of those two makeups. That prompted their trip to Nebraska to be moved back a night.
Nebraska (10-11, 3-7) played without two starters, as senior guard Emmanuel Bandoumel joined junior wing Juwan Gary with season-ending injuries that require surgery. Freshman Jamarques Lawrence started for Bandoumel and scored a career-high 12, but the Cornhuskers were so thin they turned to walk-on (and coach’s son) Sam Hoiberg in the first half.
Keisei Tominaga led Nebraska with 22 points, 17 in the first half, including the team’s first 12.
Northwestern lead 43-30 at the half, upping the advantage to 63-40 with 12:11 left on a 3-pointer by Boo Buie, who had 17. Nebraska got as close as 68-56 with 4:12 left via a 9-0 run, but Chase Audige dunked on the other end to stifle the comeback.
A 9-0 run — on 3-pointers from three different Cornhuskers — put Nebraska up 25-22 with 8:01 left before halftime. Northwestern responded with its own 8-0 run, going up 30-25 with 5:43 left on back-to-back threes from Berry.
The Wildcats ended the first half on a 10-0 run as Nebraska failed to score the final 4:37 before the break.
Northwestern is back home Saturday to host Minnesota, while Nebraska visits Maryland on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
