No. 20 Purdue Overwhelms Huskers on the Road
Nebraska couldn’t overcome a 21-point deficit in the first half, as the Huskers fell 104-68 at No. 20 Purdue on Sunday afternoon.
The Huskers dropped to 12-4 (2-3 Big Ten) on the season, while the Boilermakers improved to 13-4 (5-1 Big Ten).
Connor Essegian totaled 17 points, five boards and three assists to lead the Huskers. Juwan Gary scored 10 points, while Brice Williams chipped in nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Berke Buyuktuncel added eight points, followed by Sam Hoiberg and Ahron Uhlis with seven and six points, respectively.
Buyuktuncel drilled a three from the right wing to give Nebraska a 3-2 lead in the early minutes, while a jumper from Williams brought the Huskers within 10-7 in the first five minutes.
A 16-3 run from Purdue grew the lead to 26-10 at the 10-minute mark. The Huskers and Boilermakers exchanged buckets over the final 10 minutes, capped by a fast-break layup by Sam Hoiberg with six seconds left to make it a 45-28 game at the break.
Trailing 69-41 with 13 minutes remaining, a combined 7-0 spurt from Williams and Essegian made it a 21-point deficit. The Huskers never got closer, as Purdue cruised to the 104-68 win on Sunday afternoon.
The Huskers return home on Thursday night, as Nebraska welcomes Rutgers to Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tipoff between the Huskers and Scarlet Knights is set for 8 p.m. on FS1.
Nebraska Postgame Notes at Purdue
*-Nebraska falls to 2-1 against ranked opponents with today’s loss.
*-Nebraska falls to 0-9 in West Lafayette since joining the Big Ten, the only place among the 13 Big Ten schools (heading into this season) where NU has not won on the road.
*-Purdue shot .622 from the field was the second Husker opponent in 33 games to over 50 percent against Nebraska (Michigan State, .518 on Dec. 7). Purdue’s .622 is an opponent high against Nebraska this season.
*-Connor Essegian’s 17-point effort was the 16th double-figure effort by a Husker reserve this season.
*-Purdue set an opponent record for 3-poitners in a game with 19, breaking the previous NU opponent mark of 18, set twice (at Minnesota, 3/8/20; vs. Wisconsin 1/21/20).
*-Berke Büyüktuncel had a career-high four steals, topping his previous best of three on two other occasions, most recently at Hawai’i on Dec. 23.
*-Sam Hoiberg finished with two steals, his six multi-steal game this season.
*-Brice Williams was held to nine points, matching his lowest output of the season. It is only the second time in 16 games he was held out of double figures.
*-Today marked just the second time this season that Nebraska was out-rebounded, as Purdue had a 33-20 advantage on the glass.