They’re not done yet.
After a six-game losing streak had the fan base ready to call it quits on the season, Fred Hoiberg’s Nebraska Cornhuskers have now won two straight against ranked opponents in No. 18 Illinois and, most recently on Sunday night in Eugene, the No. 16 Oregon Ducks.
Behind 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists from Brice Williams and 23 points and five rebounds from Juwan Gary, Nebraska beat Wilber, Neb., native Dana Altman’s Oregon 77-71.
The victory was the first Big Ten road win for the Huskers and the fourth over a ranked opponent this season, which ties a program record.
Nebraska improves to 14-8, 4-7 in Big Ten play while Oregon drops to 16-6, 5-6.
It’s a nice Quad 1 road win for the Huskers as Oregon had a NET rating of 33 entering the game and 37 after it. Nebraska’s NET rating climbed five spots after the win, from 55 to 50.
Nebraska played one of its better games of the season, and it came after the team had to deal with a 5-hour flight delay, which had the team getting into Eugene at around 10:30 p.m. local time — so midnight in their central-time body clocks.
The plane delay didn’t seem to bother the Huskers much as they led all but 46 seconds of the game.
The Huskers shot 51% from the field, and while the perimeter offense wasn’t there tonight — they went just 4-of-23 from 3 — Big Red made sure to connect on the attempts closer to the hoop and finished the game 13-of-15 on layups.
A lot of those layups were Williams being aggressive and using his 6-foot-7 size to attack the paint. Williams also saw success as the primary ball handler Sunday night, and did well in the pick-and-roll game with his two bigs, Andrew Morgan and Berke Buyuktuncel.
“Inside the arc I thought we were very efficient,” Hoiberg told Huskers Radio Network after the game.
Defensively, Nebraska’s rotations were quick and crisp, and Oregon struggled to make shots, finishing the night shooting 40% and 5-of-20 from 3. Nebraska won the rebounding battle 35-32 and saw success in its transition offense, outscoring the Ducks 24-18 in fast-break points.
“We’ve gotten our identity back, and that was the biggest thing for me, was to go out and play consistent on the defensive end,” Hoiberg said. “…Overall, I thought really a complete performance on the defensive end in the last two games.”
After taking a 34-28 lead into halftime, Nebraska had done so well in the second half that it was leading by 10 points in the first three-and-a-half minutes. The edge was pushed to 11 points, 54-43, at the 8:48 mark, but Oregon made its runs like any good team would.
But the Huskers had answers all night, and it made life difficult for Oregon, which saw its momentum halted with each Husker answer, which came from a variety of players.
The Ducks cut Nebraska’s lead to five points, 58-53, with six minutes left. But Gary responded with a corner 3. A couple free-throw makes from Williams pushed the lead back to 10 shortly after that.
“Huge shot by Juwan in the left corner,” Hoiberg said. “We needed somebody to step up and make a three, and Juwan did that.”
And when Oregon cut the lead to six points, an unlikely player came up with a clutch bucket — Rollie Worster. Worster, not known as a shooter, hit a contested mid-range jumper to again stop the Duck momentum and extend Nebraska’s lead back to eight, 67-59 with 1:51.
“I thought Rollie had a couple of huge plays as well,” Hoiberg said. “…Rollie, I thought his finish was much better, his balance was better, and he knocked down some huge ones.”
Worster ended his night with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists. He was very efficient on Sunday, going 4-of-4 from the field and 3-of-4 at the free-throw line.
It was a free-throw game for Nebraska after that, and the Huskers did just enough, even when the Ducks came within four points, 70-66, with 50 seconds left. Williams and Gary each went 2-of-2 at the line. So did Connor Essegian — the Wisconsin transfer was limited to two points and was 0-of-3 from the floor and 0-of-2 from 3 — while Worster went 1-of-2 down the stretch.
It was a good-enough outing at the charity stripe for Nebraska, which ended the game 21-of-29. Oregon went 18-of-22, which were enough to keep the Ducks at arms-length the whole game.
The first half saw something that Hoiberg routinely harps on — a strong start. Nebraska even held a 15-point lead, 32-17, at the 4:53-mark. Williams scored 12 points and dished off three assists. He was aggressive — he attacked the paint and had two dunks — and looked like a player who knew he was the best player on the court.
“It was all about the start for us. We got out of the gate quickly again and built that double-digit lead,” Hoiberg said. “I didn’t love how we finished the half, but we built a big-enough cushion. I told them in the locker room, I said, ‘Guys, we have a lead at halftime on the road against a ranked team. We get a chance to catch our breathe and get our composure back,’ and then I thought we came out and threw the first punch in the second half.”
NU’s defense held Oregon to 32% shooting and 2-of-8 from 3 in the first half. The Huskers were efficient for the most part offensively the first 20 minutes, shooting 52% overall.
Berke Buyuktuncel was one of the players who was making winning plays for much of the first half. He ended the opening 20 minutes with three points, six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block. His energy and effort was a key part to the Huskers making the run they did.
Nebraska will travel from Eugene to Seattle, Washington, to play the Washington Huskies (11-10, 2-8) on Wednesday with a late tip — 9:30 p.m. central time. Nebraska will stay on the West Coast and not fly back to Lincoln.
“It’s about regrouping,” Hoiberg said. “This doesn’t mean anything unless we come out and play well on Wednesday. We’ll get a game-plan in tomorrow, it’ll be a mental-type day, and go a little bit harder on Tuesday and get ready for a good Washington team that’s coming off a road win as well.”
Just like Nebraska, Washington was recently riding a six-game losing streak before getting back on track with a win Saturday. The Huskies beat Minnesota on the road in Minneapolis, 71-68, and racked up 13 offensive rebounds while getting 23 points from 6-foot-8 guard Tyler Harris, who went 4-of-4 from 3 in the win.
Nebraska will practice in Eugene on Monday and fly to Seattle and practice at Washington’s Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Tuesday.
“We’re playing a team that’s very disciplined,” Hoiberg said of Washington. “They have one of the more unique players in Great Osobor in the league, and their guards can really shoot it and get downhill. This is a team that’s had some very good wins and most teams they’ve played, they’ve been very close in them, including some of the top teams in this league.”
The 6-8, 250-pound Osobor will head into Wednesday averaging 15.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.1 steals.
