Nebraska men’s basketball falls to Northwestern on the road

The Wildcats methodically erased any of the Huskers’ ambitions of returning home with their first Big Ten road win of the season, outshooting, outrebounding, out-defending and outplaying Nebraska in a resounding 80-68 victory.

The Huskers topped Northwestern in January by containing star point guard Boo Buie. Wednesday night, Buie scored 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting, finding open looks in the flow of the offense and creating for himself.

Even as Nebraska stayed competitive, Northwestern had an answer for every push. There was always a Wildcat scoring run or ill-timed Nebraska turnover that stifled the momentum and kept the Huskers at a distance.

“It’s turnovers and it’s offensive rebounds … if you take care of one, you have a chance, which is what we did the first time we played Northwestern,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg told the Huskers Radio Network of his team’s 17 turnovers and Northwestern’s offensive rebounds. “And tonight we didn’t take care of either, and (the lead) got up over 20. I liked the fight there at the end that the guys showed, but it was too late.”

The first possession of the game ended with a nearly uncontested putback attempt for Northwestern guard Ryan Langborg. The ball rimmed out, but it foreshadowed a pendulum swing from Nebraska’s 40-26 advantage on the boards in the first meeting.

Playing for the fourth time in 12 days, the Huskers (16-8, 6-7) were a step slow getting to the ball, even with a super-sized starting lineup that had Juwan Gary step in at small forward, moving Brice Williams to point guard and Jamarques Lawrence to the bench. The Wildcats rebounded four of their first nine missed shots and ended the night with 13 offensive rebounds. They won the overall battle on the glass 36-29.

Eventually, the rebounding disparity became less important because there were fewer misses to go after.

Northwestern’s ball movement picked apart Nebraska, caught in rotations and late closing out as the ball pinballed inside, outside and around the perimeter, ending with open 3-pointers.

The Wildcats hit three on an 18-5 run that broke the game open in the second half and finished the night 11-25 from deep.

Buie was unbothered by Nebraska’s defense.

“We knew he was gonna come out aggressive and we had a tough time shutting him off,” Hoiberg said. “We went to a double team. We had to try to go get the ball out of his hands, and then our closeouts to the corner, we allowed that thing to get to the baseline, into the teeth.”

Northwestern (16-7, 7-5) averaged 1.176 points per possession, a level of offensive efficiency that kept Nebraska at arm’s length.

Nebraska hung around on the shoulders of Gary, who scored 15 points, grabbed three rebounds and provided an influx of grit and muscle on a night the Huskers badly needed it, and came within 11 points in the second half after a Williams 3-pointer. Northwestern responded with a 10-0 run. By the time the deficit got down to single digits, there was barely a minute remaining.

Nebraska didn’t help itself with its turnovers either, a familiar problem tacked onto all the new issues Northwestern created. Northwestern turned them into 26 points.

“That’s just way too many, and some are just careless,” Hoiberg said. “One-hand catch. We drill two hands. Two-hand catches. Two-hand passes. And when you go out there and you’re loose with it in another team’s gym… we knew it was gonna be tough. Our guys are fatigued right now with the schedule that we’re playing. We need to regroup quickly.”