Red-hot Huskers pull off stunning 82-72 road upset over Rutgers
The theme of Nebraska’s 2022-23 season had been that almost every step forward was immediately followed by a disappointing step back.
But on the heels of a record comeback win at home over Wisconsin, the Huskers kept things rolling with a stunning 82-72 road upset of Rutgers on Tuesday night.
Behind 22 points from Keisei Tominaga and 12 made 3-pointers as a team, NU shot 58.2 percent from the field and 42.8% from behind the arc. That included making seven of its final nine shots and all six free throws over the last 8:31 to seal the victory.
That marked Nebraska’s first back-to-back wins since beating Queens and Iowa in late December. It was also NU’s first consecutive Big Ten Conference victories of the season.
Rutgers (16-10, 8-7) suffered just its third home loss of the year. The Huskers won at Jersey Mike’s Arena first the first time since Jan. 24, 2018.
NU, which came in as 14-point underdogs, improved to 13-14 overall and 6-10 in league play. It’s now won three of its past four outings after a four-game losing streak.
Nebraska’s offense set the tone from the start
Aundre Hyatt scored eight of Rutgers’ first 10 points to help his team jump out to a 21-16 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half.
But C.J. Wilcher hit his first three 3-pointers, and Derrick Walker made all five of his shots to lead Nebraska to a 40-35 halftime advantage. NU ended the half on a 6-0 run, capped off by a steal from Tominaga and layup by Sam Griesel at the buzzer.
Walker scored 10 of his 16 points to lead the Huskers, who shot 65.4% from the field, hit six 3-pointers, and dished out nine assists in the first half.
Nebraska did turn it over eight times in the first 20 minutes, but those only resulted in five points for the Scarlet Knights. NU’s 40 points were the most it had scored in a first half in any Big Ten road game this season.
Tominaga, NU’s shooters take over in the second half
Nebraska missed six of its first seven shots to start the second half. But Tominaga and Wilcher hit 3-pointers to put NU back up 50-45 with 14:38 left.
Wilcher and Tominaga combined to make five threes in the first 10 minutes after halftime, giving the Huskers their largest lead yet at 61-52.
Sam Hoiberg added another 3-pointer to make it 66-54 with 7:42 left, matching NU’s season high with 12 made threes on the night.
A three by Cam Spencer cut the lead to eight with 1:04 remaining, but four straight free throws by Griesel and Hoiberg sealed the deal from there.
Nebraska shot 51.7 %, made six 3-pointers, and averaged a whopping 1.224 points per possession in the second half. That included Tominaga scoring 15 of his 22 points on 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc.
Hyatt, who came in averaging 9.5 points per game, finished with a game-high 24. Rutgers had four players score in double figures and shot a solid 45.9%, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the red-hot Huskers.
Nebraska will return to Lincoln for three straight home games at Pinnacle Bank Arena. That begins on Sunday against Maryland in a 4 p.m. CT tip on Big Ten Network.
