With dozens of former Nebraska men’s basketball players on hand, the current crop of Huskers did their predecessors proud by holding on late to earn a conference win.
Nebraska (14-5, 4-4 Big Ten) held off Northwestern (13-5, 4-3 Big Ten) 75-69 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The win snapped a seven game losing streak to the Wildcats.
At halftime, alumni, including 1993-94 Big Eight Championship team and coach Danny Nee, were honored.
The Huskers led by as much as 11 in the first half and held the lead at that same number with 9:32 to go in the game. But, as has been the case far too often, Nebraska went on a devastating drought.
Northwestern tore off on an 11-0 run as the home team went more than six minutes without a single point, let along a made basket. A CJ Wilcher layup got the momentum back before Keisei Tominaga could score the next seven Husker points, including a dagger 3 with 25 seconds left, to seal the win.
Nebraska got back to controlling the glass, outrebounding Northwestern 40-26 on the day.
Five Huskers scored in double figures, led by the 15 points of Josiah Allick. As a team, Nebraska shot 55.3% for the game, including 7-of-13 from 3.
Nebraska stays home Tuesday to host Ohio State.