The Nebraska Cornhuskers traveled to Evanston on Sunday afternoon to play Northwestern. The Huskers entered the matchup fresh off a loss to No. 25 Maryland, which snapped their four-game winning streak. Nebraska fell behind big to the Wildcats in the first half but bounced back in the second to win 68-64.
Less than a minute into the second half, the Huskers faced a 41-21 deficit. But from there, Nebraska outscored Northwestern 47-23 to erase the massive margin. The Wildcats suffered 13 fouls in the second half, allowing the Huskers to get 14 points at the free-throw line, eight of which were part of Nebraska’s final 10 points scored.
Northwestern committed 21 fouls on the day, allowing Nebraska to finish 22-of-28 at the line. This played the deciding factor, with the Wildcats dominating in every other part of the game. Nebraska finished 20-of-45 from the floor, while Northwestern shot 26-of-72. The Wildcats scored 36 points in the paint, while Nebraska scored 18. Northwestern also outrebounded the Huskers 46-27.
But most of the Wildcats’ dominance occurred in the first half, while Nebraska took control in the second half. The Huskers didn’t take the lead until 1:33 left in the contest, but once they secured it, they didn’t let it go.
Brice Williams and Juwan Gary led the comeback, scoring 27 points in the second half after going 8-of-10 from the floor, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 11-of-13 from the free throw line in the stretch. The duo combined for 10-of-21 in total shooting, 3-of-8 from three-point range and 15-of-17 from the line to tally up 38 points.
Braxton Meah finished 4-of-5 in total shooting and 2-of-3 at the line to finish with 10 points. He also led Nebraska in rebounds with seven. Andrew Morgan scored nine points, earning five at the line, and Connor Essegian racked up eight points, landing two shots from beyond the arc.
The Huskers improve to 17-9 on the season and 7-8 in the conference. They will continue out east to face Penn State on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: Nebraska men’s basketball storms back to take down Northwestern 68-64
