Armaan Franklin led five Indiana double-figure scorers with 13 points, leading the 11th-seeded Hoosiers to an 89-64 win over 14th-seeded Nebraska on Wednesday in the first round of the Big Ten tournament at Indianapolis.
The Hoosiers (20-12) secured another important win for their NCAA Tournament hopes. They move on to face sixth-seed Penn State (21-10) on Thursday night.
Kevin Cross led Nebraska with 23 points and nine rebounds, with Haanif Cheatham adding 17 points and Jervay Green scoring 15 points. Nebraska (7-25) finished its first season under coach Fred Hoiberg with 17 straight losses.
According to multiple media reports, Hoiberg left the bench late in the game due to an apparently illness and was taken to a hospital.
Justin Smith and Devonte Green added 12 points apiece for the Hoosiers, while freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis recorded his 12th double-double of the season with 11 points and 17 rebounds.
All 10 scholarship players who appeared in the game scored for the Hoosiers, and as a team, Indiana blocked 12 shots.
Nebraska led by as many as six points in the first half when forward Thorir Thorbjarnarson made a pair of free throws to put the Cornhuskers up 33-27. However, Indiana closed the half making seven of its last eight shot attempts during a 16-1 run to take a 43-34 lead into halftime.
Indiana stretched its lead to as many as 25 points early in the second half, but Nebraska went on an 11-0 run, cutting the deficit to 68-58 on a Cross 3-pointer. Another 3-pointer from Cross cut Indiana's lead to 70-61 with 7:36 left, but the Hoosiers were able to pull away by holding Nebraska to just one field goal the remainder of the game.
Nebraska played without starting guards Cam Mack and Dachon Burke, who were suspended indefinitely from the program after reportedly missing curfew last Friday night. With both players out, Nebraska added two players from its football team to the roster, quarterback Noah Vedral as a 6-foot-1 guard and offensive lineman Brant Banks as a 6-7 forward.
Both Vedral and Banks played three scoreless minutes Wednesday.
--Field Level Media
Nebraska | Indiana | |
Kevin Cross 23 | Scoring | Armaan Franklin 13 |
Jervay Green 4 | Assists | Rob Phinisee 7 |
Kevin Cross 9 | Rebounds | Trayce Jackson-Davis 17 |
Kevin Cross 5 | Free Throws Made | Armaan Franklin 4 |
Thorir Thorbjarnarson 3 | Steals | Devonte Green 1 |
Akol Arop 2 | Blocks | Trayce Jackson-Davis 4 |