Bryce McGowens scored a game-high 25 points Sunday night as Nebraska took a season's worth of frustration out on Penn State with a resounding 93-70 rout in State College, Pa.
Alonzo Verge, Jr. added 15 points and five assists for the Cornhuskers (8-21, 2-16 Big Ten Conference), who made 58.2 percent of their field-goal attempts and canned 13 of 20 from the 3-point line.
Nebraska also got 13 points from Lat Mayen, 12 from Trey McGowens and 10 points from Derrick Walker, who also chipped in seven rebounds and four assists.
Seth Lundy, Sam Sessoms and Jalen Pickett each scored 12 points for the Nittany Lions (12-14, 7-11), who had won three of their previous four games. Dallion Johnson added 11.
The Cornhuskers looked a lot more like a Big Ten contender than the last-place team in the league against a team that was playing some of its best ball of the year. Penn State beat No. 19 Michigan State to start its recent stretch of good basketball, but that team never made it out to the floor.
Nebraska set an early tone by scoring 19 points in the first 5:55 before Nittany Lions coach Micah Shrewsberry called a timeout that changed nothing. The Cornhuskers got stops, owned the boards to the tune of 34-22 and played at a fast tempo that Penn State couldn't slow.
Walker dunked with 5:46 left in the first half to make it 34-24 Nebraska, starting a half-ending 17-7 run that put the visitors firmly in control. Verge put a fitting cap on the half by draining a step-back 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining for a 49-31 advantage at the break.
Any hopes the Nittany Lions held of a miracle rally were quashed pretty quickly when the Cornhuskers shoved the lead to 25 on two free throws by Trey McGowens less than 6 1/2 minutes into the second half.
Kobe Webster's 3-pointer with 6:55 left upped the margin to an insurmountable 82-50.
--Field Level Media
Nebraska | Penn St. | |
Bryce McGowens 25 | Scoring | Seth Lundy 12 |
Alonzo Verge Jr. 5 | Assists | Jalen Pickett 5 |
Derrick Walker 7 | Rebounds | John Harrar 8 |
Bryce McGowens 6 | Free Throws Made | Caleb Dorsey 2 |
Trey McGowens 4 | Steals | Seth Lundy 4 |
Alonzo Verge Jr. 1 | Blocks | Seth Lundy 1 |