Shorthanded Huskers can't keep up with No. 3 Purdue in 73-55 loss
Nebraska was already facing arguably the most daunting task of its season on the road against No. 3 Purdue on Friday night.
Then the Huskers ended up without two key starters in point guard Sam Griesel (hip) and forward Juwan Gary (shoulder) due to injuries. That led to a 73-55 defeat in which they trailed by as many as 22 before all was said and done.
To NU’s credit, it kept things interesting longer than most imagined, only trailing by 11 at halftime. But the high-powered Boilermakers proved too much to contain down the stretch.
Led by 27 points and six 3-pointers from Fletcher Loyer, Purdue shot 50% and went 12-of-14 on free throws in the second half to put the game away. Derrick Walker scored a team-high 19 on 9-of-15 shooting, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
As a result, the Huskers fell to 9-9 overall, and 2-5 in Big Ten Conference play. They are now 0-11 all-time in West Lafayette, Indiana, and 0-9 at Mackey Arena.
A surprising start
Nebraska started 1-of-8 from the field, while Purdue hit five of its first 10 3-pointers to open the game. That eventually led to the Boilermakers jumping out to a commanding 15-4 lead after the first eight minutes.
It wouldn’t get any worse for the rest of the half, though. Walker carried NU with 13 of his 19 points, and NU held National Player of the Year frontrunner Zach Edey scoreless for the first 15 minutes.
The Huskers were eventually down just five after a layup by Keisei Tominaga with 2:23 left before the break. But Purdue got some cushion back by closing on a 6-0 run to take a 35-24 lead into halftime.
Purdue was too much down the stretch
The second half started much closer to how most expected the game would go. Purdue opened on an 11-0 run and took a 22-point lead after the first four minutes.
Tominaga scored 11 of his 16 points after halftime to briefly slow down the momentum, and NU got within 17 on four occasions in the second half. But it was far too little, too late, as each time the Boilermakers answered to keep the game in check.
Emmanuel Bandoumel was the only other Husker to score in double figures with 10 points. NU went 43% from the field and only attempted three free throws in the loss, making two. Purdue finished 16-of-20 at the charity stripe and owned a 38-19 rebounding advantage.
Edey had 12 points, 13 boards, and four blocks for the Boilermakers. Mason Gillis and Braden Smith both added 10 points.
Nebraska will hope to get healthy and re-group before returning home to take on Ohio State on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. CT tip on BTN.
