Defense was the key Sunday afternoon as Nebraska continued their dominance at Pinnacle Bank Arena, defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions 68-49.
The Huskers move to 18-8 on the season, 8-7 in the Big Ten, and 16-1 at home.
The first half of this game was one word: sloppy.
Both teams had difficulty finding rhythm on offense, consistently lost dribbles, threw sloppy passes, and combined for 14 turnovers. Despite NU’s struggles on the offensive end, shooting 2-for-11 from three and under 40% from the field, their great defense and timely runs put them up 28-22 after 20 minutes of play.
It was a different story for the Big Red in half two. After not being able to find consistent offense in the first twenty minutes of play, NU flipped the script, shot lights, and continued their dominant defensive play.
In half two, Nebraska scored 40 points on 50% shooting from the field. What was more impressive was the team’s play on the other end of the floor. Penn State shot an abysmal 33% from the field and an even worse 21% from three. They turned the ball over 14 times and scored a season-low 49 points. Before Sunday’s 11 a.m. tip, the lowest number the Nittany Lions scored in a game was 61 points.
Keisei Tominaga was the star of half number two. The star shooting guard scored 12 of his 17 points in the final half of the contest. Tominaga not only made a lot of shots, but he also made massive momentum-swinging shots.
With seven minutes to play, NU led 55-37. With the game seemingly in hand and momentum on Nebraska’s side, some Husker fans began to make their way to the exits. Then Penn State rattled off back-to-back threes, cutting the lead to 12 with 5:50 to play. Suddenly, PBA went from confident to near silent and nervous.
Then Tominaga left wide open from three, knocked down his shot, putting any fear of a comeback to bed, bringing their lead back to 15.
Tominaga led NU with 17. Right behind him was Juwan Gary, who had 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Reink Mast also had a great game, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds. Sam Hoiberg also played an important role for NU, finishing with four points, six rebounds, and two steals.
The Huskers will be on the road this Wednesday, Feb. 21, when they take on the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall.