Huskers.com
Nebraska matched its largest comeback in nearly 30 seasons, as the Huskers overcame a 20-point second-half deficit to stun Northwestern, 68-64, Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Trailing 41-21, the Huskers out-scored the Wildcats 47-23 over the final 19:15, taking the lead for good on a pair of Brice Williams’ free throws with 1:33 remaining. On the next possession, Juwan Gary got a steal before Braxton Meah’s basket with 51 seconds left put Nebraska ahead 63-60. Williams sealed the win by going 5-of-6 from the line in the final 20 seconds, as Nebraska went 14-of-16 from the line in the second half.
Williams finished with a game-high 21 points, including 15 in the second half, while Juwan Gary scored 13 of his 17 points in the final 19 minutes of the contest. The Huskers also got a major performance from Meah off the bench, as the senior had 10 points along with season highs in both rebounds (seven) and blocked shots (two).
As a team, the Huskers (17-8, 7-8 Big Ten) shot 61 percent in the final 20 minutes after shooting just 27 percent in the first half while holding Northwestern (13-13, 4-11) to just 36 percent shooting and turning 16 Wildcats turnovers into 17 points.
The win was NU’s fifth road win of the season, the most since 1998-99, and fifth win in the last six contests for Nebraska. The 20-point comeback was NU’s largest since a 20-point comeback against USC in 2010 and matched NU’s largest comeback since the 1997-97 season. Today’s win was also NU’s second straight double-figure comeback on the road.
Northwestern opened the second half by scoring the first five points to extend its lead to 21, at 41-21 with 19:15 left, before the Huskers rallied. A Gary 3-pointer started a 9-2 Husker run run to trim the deficit to 13 with 17:28 left after Williams’ four-point play.
Two straight Wildcat baskets pushed the lead to 18 before the Huskers started getting stops. The Huskers forced five straight Northwestern misses and Gary and Connor Essegian combined for 11 straight points, pulling the Huskers within 50-43 with just under 12 minutes left. A basket from Angelo Ciaravino stopped the run, but an Essegian 3-pointer helped NU start another 11-2 spurt as the Huskers pulled even on a Gary jumper with 6:06 left.
Trailing 58-56, Meah dunk and free throw capped a three-point play to give the Huskers a 59-58 lead – its first lead of the afternoon. Northwestern would regain the lead on a Martinelli jumper with 3:02 left before Williams’ two foul shots with 1:31 left gave Nebraska the lead for good.
In the first half, the Huskers got off to poor start and allowed Northwestern to take control early. The Wildcats scored the first seven points and never trailed in building a 36-21 halftime lead. Nebraska held Northwestern to 37 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes but allowed 14 offensive rebounds which led to 12 second-chance points for the hosts.
Nebraska pulled to within 14-7 after a Williams jumper, but Ty Berry’s four-point play 26 seconds later pushed the Wildcat lead to double figures, as Barry had 13 first-half points. The Huskers pulled to within 20-11 after a pair of Gary free throws at the 10:27 mark, but the Wildcats ran off seven straight points, capped by Martinelli’s basket to push the lead to 17 and force a Husker timeout. Nebraska, which shot just 27.3 percent in the first half, eventually got the deficit to 15 at the break.
Berry and Martinelli had 23 points apiece for the Wildcats in the loss, including six 3-pointers from Berry
The Huskers will continue their two-game road trip on Wednesday, as Nebraska travels to Penn State. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. (central) and the game will be televised on BTN and carried on the Huskers Radio Network.