Nebraska basketball falls to No. 13 Purdue despite valiant comeback effort
Nebraska basketball (21-3, 10-3) suffered its third top-15 loss of the year against Purdue on Tuesday. The Huskers clawed back from a 22-point deficit to force overtime, but ultimately fell short, 80-77.
Rienk Mast led the way for Nebraska with 18 points and six rebounds. Pryce Sandfort didn’t score in the first half, but finished with 15 points and two 3-point makes. Jamarques Lawrence also struggled early before scoring 12 points in the second half and overtime combined.
The Huskers shot 44% from the field and 38% from deep. They were out-rebounded 54-37, including Purdue’s 21 offensive boards that turned into 17 second-chance points. Nebraska turned the ball over 14 times in an uncharacteristically sloppy outing.
Here is an instant recap of the loss:
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Boilermakers roll early
Purdue dominated the first half in every facet. The Boilermakers jumped out to a commanding lead thanks to fiery 3-point shooting and then controlled the paint throughout.
Over the first 20 minutes, Nebraska lost the rebounding battle 25-14 and scored 12 fewer points in the paint. Purdue’s nine offensive boards turned into 10 second-chance points.
Purdue’s active, scrappy hands had the Husker offense in shambles. They coughed up seven turnovers in the first half.
The Boilermakers let fly early, jumping out to a 14-1 lead on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. Veteran guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer each had two early makes.
Fred Hoiberg was forced to call a timeout with 16:44 left. Nebraska looked out of sorts offensively and was still looking for its first basket. The Huskers’ first first FG came five minutes into the night via Braden Frager.
Mast refused to go away quietly. He drilled back-to-back 3-pointers and followed them up with a nice dish to Jamarques Lawrence, pulling Nebraska within seven, 18-11. Loyer was fouled on a 3-point attempt and knocked down all three, but Cale Jacobsen answered at the other end, re-igniting PBA. Nebraska trailed 23-14 at the under-12 timeout.
Frager ended a two-minute scoring drought with his first triple, but the momentum didn’t last long. With Mast and Sam Hoiberg on the bench, the Boilermakers rattled off a 9-0 run to take full control, 36-19. Jared Garcia and Berke Buyuktuncel missed three combined 3-pointers over that stretch as Nebraska came up empty on five straight possessions.
The Huskers scored just one field goal over the final nine minutes of the half. Purdue’s offense actually slowed significantly, but Nebraska couldn’t take advantage. After a 4-of-6 start from deep, the Boilermakers made just one of their next 13 3-point attempts. They only scored four points over the final six minutes of the half.
It didn’t seem to matter, as the Huskers went into the locker room trailing 40-24.
Huskers claw back
Loyer and Smith flipped the 3-point script to open the second half. Each of them drilled an open look, extending the lead to 46-24, Purdue’s largest of the night.
Sandfort finally hit his first shot with 17:17 left in the game, knocking down a 3-pointer to cap off a 5-0 Husker run. Both sides traded baskets before Nebraska finally found some life.
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A 12-0 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Jacobsen and Sandfort, brought Nebraska within nine, 52-43, with 10:32 left. Trey Kaufman-Renn answered with a jumper at the other end, but the crowd inside PBA was brought back to life.
Mast and Hoiberg kept things rolling. They drilled back-to-back triples, shrinking Purdue’s lead even further, to 54-49. The Boilermakers were forced to call a timeout with 7:17 left in the game. They scored just two points over a seven-minute span, watching their lead disintegrate.
The Huskers got as close as four, as Hoiberg scored a fastbreak layup, but Purdue responded with a 10-0 run to extend their lead to 67-53 with 2:45 remaining. Two huge triples from C.J. Cox put the momentum back in the Boilermakers’ favor.
Once again, Nebraska refused to quit.
The Huskers scrapped together a late 10-0 run thanks to five points from Lawrence, before Mast drilled a 3-pointer to make it 68-66.
Two miraculous missed free throws by Cox gave Nebraska a shot. Mast took it. He grabbed an offensive rebound, laying it in to tie the game. He was fouled on the make, but missed the and-one opportunity.
Smith missed the potential game-winner at the other end to send the game to OT.
Overtime
Loyer hit a 3-pointer to open OT before a free throw put Purdue up by four. Lawrence answered with a fade-away jumper, but Cox continued his clutch shooting from deep to put the Boilermakers back up by five. Mast fouled out with 3:55 to go, ending his night.
Another 5-0 run and a Lawrence 3-pointer tied the game 75-75. Shortly after, Sandfort gave the Huskers their first lead of the night, 77-75, forcing a Purdue timeout.
The Boilermakers scored five straight points out of the break, however, to cap off an 80-77 win. Rebounding reared its ugly head once again, as Loyer scooped up an offensive board and dished it to Oscar Cluff. Cluff scored the go-ahead layup with six seconds to go.
Nebraska had one final chance, but Lawrence slipped while taking the inbound pass and Purdue scooped up the loose ball. A mind-boggling comeback resulted in a heartbreaking loss.
