Defense, grit and free throws help Huskers knock off No. 15 UCLA

It’s been said by many before, but it deserves to be said again: Pinnacle Bank Arena is where nationally-ranked teams come to lose basketball games.

And the fans have a lot to do with that.

The PBA crowd played a key role in yet another Husker win over an opponent with a number next to its name. Saturday’s victim was Mick Cronin’s No. 15-ranked UCLA Bruins.

The visitors from Los Angeles were beat by Fred Hoiberg’s Nebraska, 66-58. It marked 20 straight wins inside PBA and the first win over UCLA since Dec. 16, 1955, a 71-65 win at the NU Coliseum. That Husker team was coached by Jerry Bush, Hoiberg’s grandfather.

“I thought the crowd was absolutely phenomenal, certainly the best crowd I think we’ve had without students in the building,” Hoiberg said after the game.

Perhaps the victory means Nebraska will find itself ranked inside the top-25 when it travels to Iowa on Tuesday for a game with the Hawkeyes.

Saturday was a game where the Huskers didn’t make a shot from the field in the final 7 minutes, 15 seconds. But it was also a game NU won with effort, toughness, defense and free throws.

UCLA, which was without injured starter and second-leading scorer Eric Dailey Jr., was held to 39% shooting overall and 14% from 3-point range (4-of-28). On a night when NU’s top scorers, Brice Williams and Connor Essegian, went a combined 2-of-18 from the field, NU shot 86% at the line, connecting on 25 of 29 attempts.

“That’s huge,” Hoiberg said of the free throws. “It’s hard to score on this team in the flow of the game, so to be able to manufacture some (points) at the line is very important.”

Williams scored 16 points and went 11-of-12 at the free-throw line but made just two shots from the field. Andrew Morgan added 12 points off the bench while Rollie Worster chipped in with 11 points. Both players were 4-of-4 at the line.

“It’s a big thing because as bench players, when we come off the bench, we prepare like the starters. We’re ready to go like the starters,” Morgan said. “When we go in, especially if we see what’s working and what’s not a lot better than they do. When we go in, we can see what’s going on on the offensive side and defensive side and also pick up the energy and change the pace of the game.”

NU improved to 12-2 overall and 2-1 against Big Ten competition while UCLA dropped to 11-3, 2-1.

What NU did in the turnover department was notable. NU finished the game with 13 turnovers, but after committing nine in the first half, the Huskers took better care of the ball in the second with four.

UCLA’s ball handlers, on the other hand, struggled all game against NU’s defense and committed 15 turnovers — seven before halftime and eight after.

And it’s what NU did with those mistakes that helped make the difference. The Huskers held a 17-13 edge in points off turnovers.

“I was happy with the way we responded in that second half,” Hoiberg said. “Took care of the ball and found a little bit of a rhythm for that one little stretch to push that lead up to double digits.”

After being tied at 24 at halftime, NU got a lift from Morgan off the bench to start the second half. The 6-10 North Dakota State transfer made impacts on both ends of the court. He executed an and-1 paint bucket that gave NU a 34-32 lead. Then on the other end he collected a pick-six steal for a break-away 2 and drew an illegal screen.

“I give Andrew Morgan a lot of credit, he had a tough go at it in the first half and I thought he was absolutely phenomenal in the second,” Hoiberg said. “I thought his pick-and-roll defense, his post defense was outstanding.”

After six made free throws — four from Williams and two from Essegian — Sam Hoiberg went to work. Hoiberg — the coach’s son was everywhere Saturday with seven points, three steals and two assists — hit a corner 3 to give NU a 45-38 edge. Then on the next possession he drove into the lane and dished off a pass to Morgan, who bullied his way to what was his second and-1 paint bucket that pushed the Husker lead to 10 points, 48-38.

A Gary 3 put NU up 13 points, 53-40, at the 7:15 mark.

“It was a rock fight today. We shot 32 percent and we still won by almost double digits,” Sam Hoiberg said. “Being able to win when it’s ugly is super important, and if we play tough like that, we’re going to be able to do it, no matter if our offense is clicking or not. We can still win games if we’re tough, and that was a perfect example tonight.”

It was truly a game of runs in the first half. Neither team took control and neither shot over 35% as UCLA ended the first 20 minutes at 33% from the field (3-of-17 from 3) while NU was at 31% (4-of-16 from 3).

UCLA started the contest by scoring seven unanswered points, but NU answered and went on a 15-0 run. That was followed by UCLA’s own 15-0 run before NU went on a 9-0 stretch. UCLA ended the half with a 2-pointer and the two teams went into halftime tied at 24-all.

Nebraska travels to Iowa City for a 7 p.m. matchup with the Iowa Hawkeyes (10-4, 1-2) on Tuesday.

Iowa will want a strong answer after what happened to it on Friday at Wisconsin. The host Badgers dominated the Hawkeyes, handing them an embarrassing 31-point loss, 116-85.

Iowa will have one win over a Big Ten opponent entering the game. The Hawkeyes beat Northwestern 80-79 on Dec. 3. Iowa has dropped two conference games so far, against Wisconsin and Michigan (85-83).

“We got to get over this one quickly,” Hoiberg said. “I think it was last year we beat Purdue, and then the next game was at Iowa and we got it handed to us. So we got to get over this one quickly and come back, have a good day tomorrow and go a little bit harder on Monday and then travel.”

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