Nebraska men’s basketball erased a 19 point deficit to upset No. 6 Wisconsin in overtime at Pinnacle Bank Arena Thursday.
The Huskers improved to 16-6 on the year and 6-5 in the Big Ten Conference. NU is also undefeated at home in league play.
Wisconsin drops to 16-5 overall and 8-2 in the Big Ten.
The Badgers built a double-digit lead quickly, stretching that lead to 27-8 midway through the first half. The Huskers grabbed a little momentum on a 14-4 run but those efforts were erased as Nebraska native and Badger point guard Chucky Hepburn put together a personal 9-4 run to close the half.
Out of the break, Nebraska made its first shot attempt but then couldn’t connect on the next six. That allowed Wisconsin to stretch the lead back to 18 points.
Then, CJ Wilcher took off.
The junior guard drilled a 3 to ignite a 9-0 run. After a Badger triple, Wilcher notched nine of the 12 points in a run that got NU to within a single point.
Wisconsin retook control until the closing minutes saw Nebraska put together an 8-0 run to take the lead. The Badgers got a layup and Nebraska missed a shot at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Wisconsin struck first with a made free throw before Rink Mast and Juwan Gary combined for a 5-0 run that would give NU the lead for good. Cue the second court storm of the season.
Nebraska shot 44.8% for the game, including 9-of-27 from 3. Wisconsin shot 42.2% from the field and 10-of-31 from deep.
While the shooting numbers were similar and the turnovers also close (Wisconsin-16, Nebraska-12), the big difference came at the free throw line. Nebraska made 19 on 26 attempts while Wisconsin was 8-of-12.
Wilcher led the Husker attack with 22 points, including five 3s. Mast finished with 20 points and eight rebounds. Brice Williams added 17 points and nine rebounds.
Since 2000, Wisconsin was 120-0 when leading by at least 15 points while Nebraska was 1-60 when trailing by that same margin.
Nebraska heads on the road Sunday to face Illinois.