(Lincoln, NE) — #13 Purdue built a huge lead and then had to hang on to beat #7 Nebraska 80-77 in overtime on Tuesday night in a Big Ten men’s basketball game.
The Boilermakers led 40-24 at the half and had a 22 point advantage early in the second half before the Huskers finally came to life. Trailing 52-31, Nebraska went on a 12-0 run. After Trey Kaufman-Renn hit a jumper to make it a 11 point Purdue lead, Rienk Mast made a three after three straight misses by the Huskers. The Boilers Fletcher Loyer missed a three and Sam Hoiberg another triple for the Huskers and it was 54-49 Purdue with 7:14 left.
Purdue pushed the lead back to 14 after C.J. Cox hit a three and Jack Benter hit two free throws to make it 67-53 with 2:45 left. Nebraska had to come back again and they went on a 10-0 run to cut the advantage to 67-63 with 35 seconds left. Loyer hit 1-2 from the line and 6 seconds later, Mast drilled a three to cut the lead to two. Cox missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Mast got a lay-up with 13 seconds left to tie the game at 68-68. Purdue’s Braden Smith missed a jumper at the buzzer and the fans in Lincoln got some extra basketball.
Loyer hit a three pointer to open the overtime for Purdue while Mast a jumper for the Huskers and Oscar Cuff hit 1-2 free throws to make it 72-68. Jamarques Lawrence hit a short jumper Nebraska but Cox answered with a triple to make it 75-70 Purdue. Pryce Sandfort made two free throws and after a Cox miss, Lawrence hit a three for the Huskers and the game was tied again at 75-75. Purdue missed twice at the other end and Nebraska actually took the lead on a lay-up from Sandfort. After 1-2 free throws from Cuff, Hoiberg missed a three and Cuff converted off an offensive rebound for Purdue to retake a 78-77 lead with 6 seconds left. Nebraska turned it over on their last chance and the Boilermakers put the game away with two free throws with 3 seconds left.
Nebraska (21-3, 10-3) was led by Mast with 18 points, Lawrence had 16, Sandfort 15 and Hoiberg added 8. The Huskers were 12-32 from three point land but now have lost 3 of their last 4 all to ranked teams.
Purdue (20-4, 10-3) was led by Loyer with 18 points, Smith had 13, Cuff had 12 and Cox added 11. Kauffman-Renn had 19 rebounds for the Boilermakers.
