The Huskers picked up their fifth win of the season Wednesday night, defeating the Boston College Eagles 88-67.
It was a tale of two halves between the Huskers and the Eagles. The first was ultra-competitive. Both teams went on runs and changed leads eight times. When it seemed one was starting to pull away, the other played themselves back into the game.
Boston College had stellar ball movement in the first half taking advantage of Nebraska’s aggressive defense, and found success from the arc, hitting 5 threes. At one point, the Eagles went on 11-2 and held a 5-point lead with 3 minutes to go in the first. But out of the final media timeout of the half, Nebraska, carried by the shooting of Keisei Tominaga, went on a 9-1 run going into the lockerrooms up 37-34.
Keisei Tominaga scored 17 points in the first half and 15 of the last 23 Nebraska points. He ended up tying his career high in points with 23 and going 4-5 from three.
After the game, coach Fred Hoiberg said he enjoys seeing Tominaga get hot
“The kid plays with so much passion and heart,” Hoiberg said, “Its fun to see him when he gets it going like that”
From the last 3 minutes of the first half to 11 minutes remaining in the second half, The Huskers outscored the Eagles 25-3
The offense got red hot in the second, but coach Hoiberg was elated with the team’s defensive play in the second half
“Our contest were much more spirited in the second half,” Hoiberg said,” I thought our contest were great and we did a really good job rebounding the basketball tonight.”
Sophomore Forward Blaise Keita played a big role in the win. Keita picked up 5 points and 8 rebounds, four of which were offensive, along with 2 assists and two drawn charges.
Hoiberg said that Keita’s charges were big for NU and was ecstatic with his play.
“He was huge,” Hoiberg said. “Blaise was standing right there, took a charge, and those are huge momentum builders for your team when you make an unselfish play like that”
NU outscored Boston College 51-33 in the 2nd half shooting 68% from the field and 69% from three. 5 Huskers were in double figures for the second straight game, and the team shot 61.5% from the floor. That is Nebraska’s highest field-goal percentage in a single game since shooting 63% from the field against Northwestern in 2015.
The Huskers move to 5-3 on the season and have a challenging upcoming stretch of games coming up against Creighton, Indiana, and Purdue, who all are ranked and have a combined record of 18-1.