Huskers’ rally falls short in 79-78 loss at Northwestern

In a year full of adversity, disappointment, and frustration, Sunday’s regular-season finale at Northwestern was a fitting ending.

Sputtering out of the gates and falling behind by 16 points, the Huskers rallied and led with 11 seconds left to play.

But a turnover on a shot-clock violation led to an offensive rebound and putback basket by Ryan Young to put the Wildcats back on top with 2.8 remaining. Kobe Webster’s final 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark, leaving NU with a 79-78 defeat.

Webster scored a season-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting from 3-point range, as Nebraska made a season-best 14 threes as a team. The Huskers also set their Big Ten high with 21 assists on 26 made shots.

Yet all of that wasn’t enough to top a Northwestern squad that shot 53.3 percent from the field, made 11 3-pointers of its own, had six players score in double figures, and also dished out 21 assists. The Wildcats hadn’t shot better than 48% from the field since Dec. 26, 2020.

NU ends the 2020-21 regular season at 7-19 overall and 3-16 in Big Ten play with the loss. It is now 5-34 in the conference over the past two years.

Nebraska was sloppy from the opening tip, as it committed five turnovers on its first 10 possessions of the game.

Northwestern wasn’t much better, missing its first seven shot attempts, but the Wildcats finally got going and made five of their next six to jump out to an 11-5 lead.

That would lead to a 14-1 Northwestern run to increase the deficit to 27-11 with 7:09 left in the half, as the Huskers went more than 5:30 without making a field goal.

A putback at the buzzer by Thorir Thorbjarnarson cut the deficit to 39-30 going into halftime, as NU didn’t commit a turnover over the final 8:58.

Northwestern shot 54.8 percent from the field in the first half but only scored six points off Nebraska’s nine giveaways. The Huskers also went 7-of-11 at the charity stripe while the Wildcats did not attempt a free throw in the first half.

Nebraska opened the second half on an 8-2 run and pulled within 45-43 on a 3-pointer by Kobe Webster. Then Northwestern responded with three straight 3-pointers of its own to push its lead back up to 11 just over a minute later.

The Huskers rallied again with a 14-2 run to take their first lead since 3-0 at 68-67 on a jumper by Webster with 4:10 to play.

A jump hook by Pete Nance and a free throw by Boo Buie put Northwestern back on top, but Trey McGowens responded with an And-1 to give NU a 78-77 lead with 1:00 remaining.

The Huskers got the stop they needed on the other end but failed to capitalize and gave the ball right back on a shot clock violation with 11 seconds on the clock.

Nance missed a layup on the ensuing Wildcat possession, but Young was there for the game-winning putback with 2.8 left. Webster had a good look on a 3-pointer at the buzzer but missed, and replays showed he didn’t get the shot off before the final horn anyway.

McGowens finished with 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while Thorir Thorbjarnarson also filled up the stat sheet with eight points, eight rebounds, and six assists.

Chase Audige led Northwestern with 14 points off the bench, and Nance scored 13 with seven rebounds.

Nebraska was already locked in as the No. 14 seed in next week’s Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, where it will play No. 11-seed Penn State in the first round on Wednesday night on Big Ten Network.

1. When Nebraska stays out of its own way, it’s pretty good

There have been so many instances this season where it’s looked like Nebraska couldn’t do anything right, and the first 11 minutes on Sunday were the latest example.

The Huskers struggled even to pass the ball correctly, turning it over on three of their first four possessions and giving it away nine times in the first 11 minutes.

But when NU stopped throwing the ball to Northwestern’s players, it started playing really good basketball by little coincidence.

Nebraska only turned the ball over nine more times from the 8:57 mark in the first half on, and as a result, it was able to erase a 16-point deficit and shoot 54.8 percent with nine made 3-pointers in the second half.

Head coach Fred Hoiberg once again pointed out that when his team was smart with the basketball and made “simple” plays within the framework of the offense, good things usually always happen.

Outside of maybe a game or two, the Huskers have been plagued by 10 or so minute stretches where they implode, and no matter how well they play beyond that, those ruts have usually been impossible to overcome.

It’s hard to think much will change in that regard before Wednesday’s Big Ten Tournament, but there has to be significantly more consistency for NU ever to reach its full potential.

2. Webster proved he belonged

When Webster committed to Nebraska last April as a graduate transfer from Western Illinois, one of the main draws was the chance to prove he could be just as productive in college basketball’s best conference.

While he went through his share of ups and downs this season, the senior guard proved he belonged on the Big Ten stage and then some with his performance at Northwestern.

After scoring just three points on 1-of-4 shooting in the first half, Webster went off in the second and put up 20 of his game-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting and 7-of-12 from behind the arc.

He made two of his 3-pointers in the first three and a half minutes of the second half to help pull Nebraska within 45-43, and then he made three more over the next 10 minutes to get NU back to 65-63.

His seventh three gave the Huskers their largest lead of the day at 73-69 with 3:16 to play.

In other words, every time Nebraska needed a play in the second half, Webster was there.

3. Andre continues to shine

With every game he plays, it looks like Nebraska found a diamond in the rough in Eduardo Andre.

The 6-foot-10 freshman had already flashed plenty of potential over the past few weeks, but Sunday was one of his best all-around efforts yet.

Andre finished with six points on 2-of-2 shooting, three rebounds, and a steal in 11 minutes off the bench. His plus-11 plus/minus rating was the highest on the team.

But when he does things like throw down a Fastbreak dunk with authority or dive on the floor for a loose ball to save a possession, you see the basketball intangibles that make NU so excited about his long-term prospects.

Over the last five games, Andre is averaging 5.2 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 78.6 percent from the field (11-for-14).

“Eduardo, I thought, gave us phenomenal energy out there,” Hoiberg said. “His running and finishing have really improved. Again, I know we’ve talked a lot about Eduardo, but I’ve loved his development, and I love our future with him on the floor.”