Brice Williams converted 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:33 as Nebraska rallied from a 20-point second-half deficit to claim a 68-64 Big Ten victory over Northwestern Sunday afternoon in Evanston, Ill.
Williams finished with 21 points — his sixth straight 20-point effort — as the Cornhuskers (17-9, 7-8 Big Ten) claimed a Quad 1 victory despite trailing for the game’s first 33-plus minutes. Juwan Gary added 17 points and 7-foot-1 center Braxton Meah came off the bench to contribute 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
Nick Martinelli and Ty Berry each scored 23 points for Northwestern (13-13, 4-11), which owned a 41-21 lead a minute into the second half. The Wildcats have dropped three in a row while dealing with recent season-ending injuries to senior guards Brooks Barnhizer (foot) and Jalen Leach (knee).
Nebraska pulled even for the first time, 54-54, when Gary powered into the lane and hit a floater with 6:07 to play. The Cornhuskers claimed their first lead with 3:26 left when Rollie Worster fed Meah for an alley-oop that became a three-point play and a 59-58 edge.
After Nicholson’s tip-in pulled Northwestern within 63-62 with 29 seconds left, Williams hit two free throws with 19 seconds to go, but Martinelli answered with a short bank with 13 ticks on the clock to make it 65-64.
Williams sank two more free throws with 9.2 remaining, then the Wildcats turned it over 40 feet from the hoop while trying to set up the tying 3-pointer. Williams added a clinching free throw.
Northwestern bolted to a 28-11 lead as Berry swished three early 3-pointers and the Wildcats hammered the offensive boards. They grabbed nine of their 23 offensive rebounds in the first 10 minutes — three apiece by 7-footers Matthew Nicholson and Keenan Fitzmorris — and turned them into eight points as the lead swelled to 17 with 8:06 left in the half.
The hosts held a 36-21 halftime lead as they outrebounded Nebraska 29-11 and limited the Cornhuskers to 27.3 percent shooting.
Northwestern opened the second half with Berry’s fifth 3-pointer and Martinelli tipping in his own miss, which pushed the lead to 41-21. Nebraska gradually cut into the deficit and pulled within 50-40 on Connor Essegian’s layup with 12:39 to go.
–Field Level Media
