The No. 11 Nebraska men’s basketball team was eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament as No. 18 Purdue defeated the Cornhuskers, 74-58, Friday in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Chicago.
The Boilermakers (25-8) were opportunistic, converting 10 Nebraska (26-6) turnovers into 17 points (compared to nine Purdue turnovers converted to five NU points). They were also tough, as usual, down low, outrebounding Nebraska 37-29 while building a 19-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Purdue never trailed and started the game on a 13-3 run in the game’s first four minutes. Back-to-back three-pointers by Pryce Sandfort and Jared Garcia shrunk the Boilermakers’ lead to 21-19 with 10:39 to play in the half, but an 11-3 Purdue run grew the lead to 33-22 with 5:52 to play until halftime. A Fletcher Loyer three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining in the half pushed the Boilermakers’ lead to 41-28, Purdue’s largest lead of the half.
Jamarcus Lawrence started the second half with a basket to cut the deficit to 41-30, but the Boilermakers went on a 7-0 run to push the advantage to 48-30 with 17 minutes remaining. Purdue led by at least 10 points from there until Sam Hoiberg drained a three-pointer with 8:24 to go, cutting the Boilermakers’ lead to 56-48. The teams traded baskets, but then Purdue charged on a 14-2 run to push the lead to 72-52 with 3:26 to go and the Boilermakers cruised in from there to victory.
Loyer led the Boilermakers with 19 points. CJ Cox and Oscar Cluff added 12 points, while Trey Kaufman-Renn tallied 10. Pryce Sandfort led the Huskers in scoring with 15 while Rienk Mast contributed 11.
Nebraska now waits for its selection to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA men’s basketball selection show will be Sunday at 5 p.m.