Carsen Edwards scored 27 points and sparked a 14-4 run at the beginning of the second half to lead No. 15 Purdue to an 81-62 win over the visiting Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Edwards' behind-the-back pass to Trevion Williams broke a 33-all tie, igniting Mackey Arena and deflating a Cornhuskers defense that had been playing with confidence.

Nojel Eastern followed with a layup, and by the time Nebraska called a timeout at the 14:33 mark after a Grady Eifert 3-pointer, Purdue led 47-35.

The 6-foot-1 Edwards also made the defensive play of the game, blocking 6-foot-8 Tanner Borchardt's driving dunk attempt with Purdue leading by 10 at the 4:33 mark of the second half.

Purdue pulled away, making their free throws and opening up an 18-point lead.

Eifert scored 16 points, his first double-digit game in his career. Eastern added 12 and Ryan Cline 10 points for Purdue (17-6, 10-2 Big Ten), which won for the eighth straight time.

Thomas Allen came off the bench and scored 18 points to lead Nebraska (13-11, 3-10), which lost for the seventh consecutive game.

James Palmer Jr., the Big Ten's second-leading scorer at 19 points a game, finished with 17.

There were six lead changes and three ties in the first half as the Cornhuskers didn't start out like a team that had lost six straight.

Nebraska played with confidence and was physical, making Edwards work hard for his nine first-half points.

Edwards was 4 of 10 from the field and 1-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.

The Nebraska bench, mainly Allen and Nana Akenten, were key in keeping the Cornhuskers in the game.

Allen scored six points in just eight minutes, while Akenten had five points and five rebounds to offset Isaiah Roby's and Glynn Watson Jr.'s struggles.

Watson, Nebraska's starting point guard, scored one point in the first half. Roby was held to two points in the first half.

Purdue held Nebraska without a field goal for the final 5:23 of the half and took a 33-31 lead into intermission.

--Field Level Media