Kenny Larabee, NRG Media
For a moment, it looked as if Iowa would come back late on Nebraska. The Hawkeyes erased a six-point deficit in the final 1:13 of regulation to force overtime. But in the extra period, Cale Jacobsen drained two three-pointers and snagged three rebounds to help propel the Cornhuskers to an 84-75 win over Iowa Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Nebraska closed out its most successful regular season on Senior Day with a thrilling win over their Missouri River rival, heading into the Big Ten Tournament with momentum and a triple-bye into Friday’s quarterfinals. The win was the Huskers’ 26th of the season, tying the school record set by the 1990-91 Huskers for most in a season. The victory also sets a new school record for most regular-season wins by NU.
Jacobsen’s overtime heroics were part of a larger career day for the Ashland-Greenwood product. He matched Pryce Sandfort and Sam Hoiberg for the team scoring lead with 15 points. Rienk Mast added 14 points in his final home game at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Cooper Koch and Kael Combs scored 18 points each to lead the Hawkeyes. Koch was especially hot from the perimeter, draining six three-pointers.
Iowa led 10-8 with just under 12 minutes to go in the first half. But a 7-0 run by the Huskers gave NU a 15-10 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the half, and Nebraska never again trailed. The Hawkeyes cut the Huskers’ lead to one, 27-26, before a Berke Buyuktuncel three-point play opened the lead to 30-26 late in the first half, and that was the score going into intermission.
The Huskers came out firing in the second half, with a Mast three and two Sandfort three-pointers opening the lead to 39-30 early in the second half. A Buyuktuncel free-throw made it 40-30. While never going on a big run to put Iowa away, Nebraska maintained a two-possession lead for most of the rest of the second half, leading 66-60 with three minutes to go. After a Hawkeyes basket, a Jacobsen layup pushed the lead to 68-62 with 1:47 to play.
But then, disaster nearly struck. Combs converted a Hoiberg turnover into a layup, slicing the lead to four. Jamarcus Lawrence missed the front of a one-and-one free-throw situation, and Combs again raced down the floor for a layup, shrinking the NU edge to 68-66 with 25 seconds to go. Lawrence again missed a front-end free throw, and Combs drew a foul. He hit one of two free throws to cut the Nebraska lead to 68-67 with 18 seconds to go. Sandfort was fouled on Nebraska’s next possession and hit both free throws, making it 70-67 with 15 seconds to go. Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz missed a three on the ensuing possession, but Alvaro Folgueiras grabbed the rebound. They worked the ball to Combs, who drained a three to tie the game with 2.7 seconds to go. Hoiberg missed his half-court heave, and the game went to the extra period.
Then Jacobsen took over. He drained a three from the left sideline on Nebraska’s first possession. After Combs missed a three on the ensuing possession, Jacobsen grabbed the rebound. After both teams made two free throws, a Koch three-pointer tied the game at 75. But Jacobsen drained another three, this one from the left corner, to give NU a 78-75 lead with 1:30 to play in OT. Jacobsen grabbed the rebound on Iowa’s next possession, and threw it ahead to Hoiberg for a layup. From there, Hoiberg drained two free throws and Lawrence atoned for his missed free throws with a layup to punctuate the victory.
The victory plus other results in the Big Ten secured the No. 2 seed for the Huskers in the Big Ten Tournament next week in Chicago. Nebraska has a triple-bye and will play Friday at 5:30 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. on KLIN.