Courtesy Nebraska Athletics
No. 7 Nebraska men’s basketball erased a 14-1 deficit to No. 13 Purdue just 3:15 and a 22-point deficit in the second half to force overtime, but in the end, the Cornhuskers fell just short in an 80-77 overtime loss to the Boilermakers Tuesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Nebraska (21-3, 10-3 Big Ten) fell for the third time in the past four games, with all three losses to Top 13 opposition, after starting the season 20-0. Purdue (20-4, 10-3) took early control of the game, bolting out to a 14-1 lead in the first 3:15 of the game, forcing the Huskers to play behind the entire night. Nebraska cut the lead to seven in the first half, but spent most of the first 20 minutes down 10 or more, including a deficit as large as 17 on two occasions. A free throw by Sam Hoiberg to end the half sent the game to the intermission with Purdue leading, 40-24.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith pushed the Boilermakers’ lead to 46-24 just over a minute into the second half. But then Nebraska started chipping away. After Purdue again expanded the lead to 21, 52-31 with 14 minutes to go, a 12-0 run keyed by seven points by Pryce Sandfort shrunk the Boilermakers’ advantage to 52-43 with 10:32 remaining in regulation. After a basket by Purdue’s Trey Kaufmann-Renn, the Huskers went on a 10-3 run, cutting the Boilermakers’ lead to 57-53 with 5:20 to go. Purdue seemed to close out Nebraska on a 10-0 run to balloon the lead to 67-53 with 2:45 to go. But another 10-0 NU run pushed the Huskers back in it, 67-63 Purdue with 35 seconds to go in the second half. After the Boilermakers made a free throw, pushing the lead back to five, Mast went on a personal 5-0 run, first hitting a three-pointer, then driving and scoring while drawing a foul to tie the game at 68 with 13 seconds to go. But Mast missed the free throw and the game went to overtime.
In the extra period, Purdue scored the first four points to take a 72-68 lead. After a Jamarcus Lawrence basket, a three-pointer by CJ Cox pushed the lead to 75-70 Purdue with 3:09 to go in OT. But a 7-0 Nebraska run, culminating with a Sandfort layup gave the Huskers their first lead of the night, 77-75 with 1:31 to go in overtime. But Oscar Cluff hit a free throw to pull Purdue within one, then drained a putback to give the Boilermakers the lead with six seconds to go in OT, and two Jicari Harris feee throws clinched the Purdue win.
The Boilermakers had a marked edge in the post, outrebounding Nebraska, 54-37, while scoring 17 second-chance points to the Huskers’ six. Loyer led Purdue with 18 points, while Smith had 13 (while registering a double-double with 10 assists) and Cluff notched a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Kauffman-Renn scored just six points but snared 19 rebounds. Nebraska was led by Mast’s 18 points, while Lawrence scored 16 and Samdfort scored 15.
The Huskers are next in action Saturday at Pinnacle Bank Arena against Northwestern. Tipoff is slated for noon, with pregame coverage at 11 a.m. on KLIN.