Post by nu5ncbigred on Jan 10, 2024 0:37:38 GMT -5
Husker hoops takes down No. 1 for the first time since 1982
Nebraska caught fire and played with great intensity to knock off No. 1.
Brian Christopherson75 mins
(Photo: Getty)
There are Quad 1 wins and then there are Quad 1A wins. Not technically, one supposes, but Husker fans understand.
There are Ws that come and go from the memory and then there are ones like this when you take down a giant. The Huskers did just that on Tuesday night, defeating No. 1 Purdue 88-72 at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
A court storming ensued as Fred Hoiberg notched the biggest win of his Nebraska coaching tenure, with the Big Red claiming a win over a top-ranked basketball team in men's basketball for the first time since beating Missouri in 1982.
That's a Purdue team with last season's national player of the year, 7-4 Zach Edey, that has wins over the likes of Arizona, Xavier, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Marquette and Alabama.
But Nebraska played with an intensity the Boilermakers couldn't match from the open whistle. And different Huskers took turns making big shot after big shot. How's 61 percent from 3-point land do you?
When Keisei Tominaga hit a 3 with a Purdue defender draped all over him to make it 80-70 with four minutes to go, it just seemed to be that kind of night of magic.
Tominaga would finish with 19. Rienk Mast would have 18, C.J. Wilcher went off in the second half for 16, Juwan Gary had 12, Brice Williams had nine and multiple swatted shots at the rim in the closing minutes. Sam Hoiberg had nine and was a defensive pest all night, including two steals for layups.
After Purdue cut an 11-point halftime lead to 51-50 early in the second half, NU answered with a run to build up a 65-52 lead. Purdue got it with 68-62 with 9:09 left but never any closer.
Nebraska ended up shooting 51 percent from the field and an incredible 14-of-23 from behind the arc.
Purdue was held to 41 percent. The Boilermakers hit 13 threes themselves but NU did a stout job on Edey, holding him to 15 points and seven rebounds.
The Huskers played a brilliant 20 minutes of the season to get things going, with Mast jumping Nebraska's vehicle with 14 first-half points.
Nebraska ramped up its defensive intensity significantly from Saturday's 88-72 loss to Wisconsin and crashed hard with doubles on Edey, giving him nothing easy as he finished the first half with two points, two rebounds and two fouls that forced him to the bench with 3:44 left.
It was about the same time Tominaga was catching fire, with the senior guard hitting high degree of difficulty 3s to put Nebraska in front, sparking a 13-0 run over the last 3:17 that turned a 2-point deficit into a 41-30 halftime lead.
Tominaga was 4-of-5 on three-pointers for 12 points in the half, helping Nebraska go 7-of-10 from deep. Sam Hoiberg was a face of the inspired effort, with a steal and layup during that run. He then followed it with a take and difficult finish that had the crowd going crazy.
At half's end the Huskers had shot 53.6 percent to Purdue's 32.1 and the rebounds were tied at 17.
What happened? Nebraska's second 20 minutes was just as good as its first producing a night not soon forgotten in Lincoln.
247sports.com/college/nebraska/article/huskers-beat-top-ranked-purdue-boilermakers--225010257/
Nebraska caught fire and played with great intensity to knock off No. 1.
Brian Christopherson75 mins
(Photo: Getty)
There are Quad 1 wins and then there are Quad 1A wins. Not technically, one supposes, but Husker fans understand.
There are Ws that come and go from the memory and then there are ones like this when you take down a giant. The Huskers did just that on Tuesday night, defeating No. 1 Purdue 88-72 at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
A court storming ensued as Fred Hoiberg notched the biggest win of his Nebraska coaching tenure, with the Big Red claiming a win over a top-ranked basketball team in men's basketball for the first time since beating Missouri in 1982.
That's a Purdue team with last season's national player of the year, 7-4 Zach Edey, that has wins over the likes of Arizona, Xavier, Gonzaga, Tennessee, Marquette and Alabama.
But Nebraska played with an intensity the Boilermakers couldn't match from the open whistle. And different Huskers took turns making big shot after big shot. How's 61 percent from 3-point land do you?
When Keisei Tominaga hit a 3 with a Purdue defender draped all over him to make it 80-70 with four minutes to go, it just seemed to be that kind of night of magic.
Tominaga would finish with 19. Rienk Mast would have 18, C.J. Wilcher went off in the second half for 16, Juwan Gary had 12, Brice Williams had nine and multiple swatted shots at the rim in the closing minutes. Sam Hoiberg had nine and was a defensive pest all night, including two steals for layups.
After Purdue cut an 11-point halftime lead to 51-50 early in the second half, NU answered with a run to build up a 65-52 lead. Purdue got it with 68-62 with 9:09 left but never any closer.
Nebraska ended up shooting 51 percent from the field and an incredible 14-of-23 from behind the arc.
Purdue was held to 41 percent. The Boilermakers hit 13 threes themselves but NU did a stout job on Edey, holding him to 15 points and seven rebounds.
The Huskers played a brilliant 20 minutes of the season to get things going, with Mast jumping Nebraska's vehicle with 14 first-half points.
Nebraska ramped up its defensive intensity significantly from Saturday's 88-72 loss to Wisconsin and crashed hard with doubles on Edey, giving him nothing easy as he finished the first half with two points, two rebounds and two fouls that forced him to the bench with 3:44 left.
It was about the same time Tominaga was catching fire, with the senior guard hitting high degree of difficulty 3s to put Nebraska in front, sparking a 13-0 run over the last 3:17 that turned a 2-point deficit into a 41-30 halftime lead.
Tominaga was 4-of-5 on three-pointers for 12 points in the half, helping Nebraska go 7-of-10 from deep. Sam Hoiberg was a face of the inspired effort, with a steal and layup during that run. He then followed it with a take and difficult finish that had the crowd going crazy.
At half's end the Huskers had shot 53.6 percent to Purdue's 32.1 and the rebounds were tied at 17.
What happened? Nebraska's second 20 minutes was just as good as its first producing a night not soon forgotten in Lincoln.
247sports.com/college/nebraska/article/huskers-beat-top-ranked-purdue-boilermakers--225010257/
