Nebraska men’s basketball had a Big Ten Conference road win nearly in the bag Tuesday night.
Nearly.
The Huskers blew a 15-point lead in the second half to fall at Iowa, 97-87, in overtime. Nebraska falls to 12-3 on the year and 2-2 in Big Ten play while Iowa improves to 11-4 overall and 2-2 in the league.
A back-and-forth first half saw Nebraska lead by as many as eight points before a 5-0 Iowa run had the lead down to three at halftime. Out of the break, NU dominated both ends of the floor to stretch the lead to 15 points.
But then Iowa’s Payton Sandfort got hot and Nebraska went cold.
The Huskers made just four of their next 17 shots as Iowa tied the game at 64. Sandfort, meanwhile, hit five 3s in less than 10 minutes of game time.
The Hawkeyes held a 74-70 lead with 1:09 to play. But Brice Williams hit a 3 five seconds later. After Iowa missed a 3. Williams turned the ball over, and after an obvious double dribble was missed followed by several fouls, Iowa was at the line with five seconds to go.
Brock Harding made both free throws.
Nebraska wasn’t in the bonus, so Iowa could foul. They did so, fouling Williams at halfcourt. But the next attempt missed and Williams hit a triple at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Iowa opened on a 9-0 run and Nebraska never threatened, falling by 10 in Iowa City.
Nebraska shot 46.5% for the game, including 9-of-23 from 3. Iowa shot 47.5% overall, making 17-of-35 3s.
At the line, Nebraska shot well below its season average of 77.3%, making just 12-of-22 attempts. Iowa made 22 free throws on 25 attempts.
Sandfort finished with 30 points, one behind his teammate Josh Dix who had 31. Dix made seven 3s.
Williams led Nebraska in scoring, finishing with 28 points. Juwan Gary had a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds but shot just 5-of-21 from the field.
Nebraska stays on the road Sunday to face No. 20 Purdue. Tip in West Lafayette is set for 11 a.m. CST on the Big Ten Network.
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