Keisei Tominaga paced the Huskers with 22 points, but Nebraska was unable to keep up with Ty Berry and Northwestern, as the short-handed Huskers fell to the Wildcats 78-63 Wednesday evening.
Tominaga racked up 22 points, his second 20-point effort of the season, on 9-of-17 shooting for the Huskers. True freshman Jamarques Lawrence added a career-high 12 points, including four three-pointers, which ties the most three-pointers made by a Husker this season.
In all, the Huskers (10-11, 3-7 Big Ten) hit nine 3-pointers and shot 47.2 percent from the field, but Northwestern shot 52 percent and enjoyed a 35-23 advantage on the boards.
Berry notched career-highs in points (26) and three-pointers made (6), as Northwestern (14-5, 5-3 Big Ten) posted its second win in three days. Boo Buie added 17, while Chase Audige chipped in 15 points, as Northwestern took control with a 21-5 spurt in the final eight minutes of the first half.
Nebraska used the hot hand of Tominaga in the first half, as the junior guard had 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor, as the Huskers shot 50 percent from both the field and 3-point line in the opening 20 minutes. Nebraska trailed 22-16 but used a 9-0 run over a 1:40 span to take a 25-22 lead after Denim Dawson’s 3-pointer. The Wildcats came right back with an 8-0 spurt, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Berry to build a 30-25 lead.
Nebraska chipped the deficit to 33-30 on a Derrick Walker basket with 4:37 left in the half, but Berry’s 3-pointer started a 10-0 run for the Wildcats, who took a 13-point lead into the locker room.
Berry had 21 first-half points on 8-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-5 from the 3-point line, as Northwestern shot 55 percent, including 8-of-15 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
Nebraska got the Wildcat lead down 46-35 with 18 minutes left, but Northwestern responded with a 14-2 run of its run to push the lead to 23 with 12:51 left. The Huskers made one last run, using a 9-0 spurt to get to within 68-56 on Derrick Walker’s basket with 4:12 remaining, but could not get closer.
The Huskers return to action on Saturday, Jan. 28, as Nebraska travels to Maryland.