National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Nebraska 75, Northwestern 69
When: 2:15 PM ET, Saturday, January 20, 2024
Where: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska
Officials: # Earl Walton, # John Floyd, # Andy O'Brien
Attendance: 14977

Keisei Tominaga drilled a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left and Nebraska held off Northwestern 75-69 in a Big Ten Conference contest Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.

Tominaga, who was one of five Cornhuskers in double figures with 14 points, swished a straightaway jumper late in the shot clock that gave his team a 74-69 lead. Brice Williams added a free throw with 13 seconds remaining as Nebraska improved to 14-5 overall and 4-4 in the conference.

Josiah Allick, who started in place of the injured Juwan Gary, led the balanced Cornhuskers' attack with 15 points, going 7 of 8 at the foul line. Williams scored 12, while Jamarques Lawrence and C.J. Wilcher each added 10 points.

Brooks Barnhizer pumped in a game-high 24 points for the Wildcats (13-5, 4-3) and Ryan Langborg added 15, but it wasn't enough to overcome an off-night for leading scorer Boo Buie. Entering the game averaging 18.4 ppg, Buie made just 2 of 15 attempts from the field and scored just nine points.

Poor shooting ultimately cost Northwestern what would have been a good road win. It made just 24 of 63 from the field (38.1 percent), missing 11 of its last 12 shots, and was outrebounded 40-26.

The first half quickly became a battle of different philosophies as Northwestern's defense tried to disrupt Nebraska's offense with pressure that led to one of two things -- a turnover or a clean look that the Cornhuskers consistently converted.

The Wildcats also brought their 3-point shooting touch to Lincoln. Their first four buckets were all from behind the arc, helping them establish a 14-9 lead less than five minutes into the game. But Nebraska promptly rattled off nine straight points for a 20-16 edge at the 11:02 mark on a layup by Rienk Mast.

Later in the half, the Cornhuskers led by six on two different occasions but couldn't quite get further separation. They settled for a 39-35 advantage at the break when Williams made two of three foul shots with 0.3 seconds left.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Northwestern   Nebraska
Brooks Barnhizer 24 Scoring Josiah Allick 15
Boo Buie 7 Assists Rienk Mast 6
Brooks Barnhizer 7 Rebounds Rienk Mast 8
Brooks Barnhizer 4 Free Throws Made Josiah Allick 7
Brooks Barnhizer 4 Steals Jamarques Lawrence 2
Brooks Barnhizer 2 Blocks Eli Rice 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Northwestern 69 38.1 10-31 11-17 17 26 5 13 7
Nebraska 75 55.3 7-13 16-20 18 36 3 5 18