Huskers Rally from 20 Down to Nip 'Cats

Nebraska matched its largest comeback in nearly 30 seasons, as the Huskers overcame a 20-point second-half deficit to stun Northwestern, 68-64, Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Trailing 41-21, the Huskers out-scored the Wildcats 47-23 over the final 19:15, taking the lead for good on a pair of Brice Williams' free throws with 1:33 remaining. On the next possession, Juwan Gary got a steal before Braxton Meah's basket with 51 seconds left put Nebraska ahead 63-60. Williams sealed the win by going 5-of-6 from the line in the final 20 seconds, as Nebraska went 14-of-16 from the line in the second half.

Williams finished with a game-high 21 points, including 15 in the second half, while Juwan Gary scored 13 of his 17 points in the final 19 minutes of the contest. The Huskers also got a major performance from Meah off the bench, as the senior had 10 points along with season highs in both rebounds (seven) and blocked shots (two).

As a team, the Huskers (17-8, 7-8 Big Ten) shot 61 percent in the final 20 minutes after shooting just 27 percent in the first half while holding Northwestern (13-13, 4-11) to just 36 percent shooting and turning 16 Wildcats turnovers into 17 points. 

The win was NU’s fifth road win of the season, the most since 1998-99, and fifth win in the last six contests for Nebraska. The 20-point comeback was NU’s largest since a 20-point comeback against USC in 2010 and matched NU’s largest comeback since the 1997-97 season. Today’s win was also NU’s second straight double-figure comeback on the road.

Northwestern opened the second half by scoring the first five points to extend its lead to 21, at 41-21 with 19:15 left, before the Huskers rallied. A Gary 3-pointer started a 9-2 Husker run run to trim the deficit to 13 with 17:28 left after Williams’ four-point play.

Two straight Wildcat baskets pushed the lead to 18 before the Huskers started getting stops. The Huskers forced five straight Northwestern misses and Gary and Connor Essegian combined for 11 straight points, pulling the Huskers within 50-43 with just under 12 minutes left.  A basket from Angelo Ciaravino stopped the run, but an Essegian 3-pointer helped NU start another 11-2 spurt as the Huskers pulled even on a Gary jumper with 6:06 left.

Trailing 58-56, Meah dunk and free throw capped a three-point play to give the Huskers a 59-58 lead – its first lead of the afternoon. Northwestern would regain the lead on a Martinelli jumper with 3:02 left before Williams’ two foul shots with 1:31 left gave Nebraska the lead for good.

In the first half, the Huskers got off to poor start and allowed Northwestern to take control early. The Wildcats scored the first seven points and never trailed in building a 36-21 halftime lead.  Nebraska held Northwestern to 37 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes but allowed 14 offensive rebounds which led to 12 second-chance points for the hosts.

Nebraska pulled to within 14-7 after a Williams jumper, but Ty Berry’s four-point play 26 seconds later pushed the Wildcat lead to double figures, as Barry had 13 first-half points.  The Huskers pulled to within 20-11 after a pair of Gary free throws at the 10:27 mark, but the Wildcats ran off seven straight points, capped by Martinelli’s basket to push the lead to 17 and force a Husker timeout. Nebraska, which shot just 27.3 percent in the first half, eventually got the deficit to 15 at the break.

Berry and Martinelli had 23 points apiece for the Wildcats in the loss, including six 3-pointers from Berry

The Huskers will continue their two-game road trip on Wednesday, as Nebraska travels to Penn State. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. (central) and the game will be televised on BTN and carried on the Huskers Radio Network.

Nebraska Postgame Notes
*-Nebraska overcame a 20-point deficit, its largest comeback since joining the Big Ten (19 on two occasions, most recently against Wisconsin last season). Nebraska trailed 41-21 with 19:15 left.
*- It matches the largest comeback by Nebraska since the 1996-97 season (20, 2x, most recently against USC in 2010-11). 
*- It is Nebraska’s second straight double-digit road comeback (also at Washington).
*-Prior to today, Nebraska’s largest road comeback was 13 points on two occasions (at Washington on Feb. 5 and at Maryland on Jan. 1, 2017).
*-Sunday’s win was NU’s first win in Evanston since 2014, as NU had lost its last six at Welsh-Ryan Arena. NU won a road game at Northwestern in 2018, but it was in Rosemont. 
*-Nebraska improved to 5-5 in road games this year and is 7-6 away from home this season.  NU has now won three straight conference road games for the first time since the 2021-22 season.   NU is now 7-6 in its last 13 road games dating back to last season. 
*- Nebraska's five road wins is the most since winning six road games in 1998-99.
*-Nebraska picks up its sixth Quad 1 of the season and is now 6-7 in Quad 1 games this season.
*-Brice Williams reached double figures for the 24th time in 26 games with a team-high 21 points. He now has six straight 20-point games, the longest streak by a Husker since Tyronn Lue in 1997-98.
*-Juwan Gary finished with 17 points, his sixth straight double-figure effort.
*-Nebraska shot 61 percent in the second half after shooting just 27 percent in the opening 20 minutes. 
*-Nebraska held Northwestern to 36 percent shooting, as Nebraska improves to 11-1 when holding an opponent under 40 percent shooting.
*-Braxton Meah came off the bench with 10 points and had season bests in both rebounds (seven) and blocks (two). Meah’s 10-point effort was his first double-figure effort since Nov. 27 and just the second of the season. It marked NU’s 24th double-figure effort from a Husker reserve. His miss in the second half was his first since Dec. 30, as he had made his last 12 field goal attempts.
*-Nebraska’s 11-0- second half run was its 18th double-figure run of the season.