Huskers Fall to Purdue in Big Ten Tournament

CHICAGO - The No. 2 seed Nebraska men's basketball team fell to No. 7 seed Purdue, 74-58, in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Friday night at the United Center.

Nebraska (26-6) never led in the game after Purdue (25-8) jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the opening minutes. The Huskers cut an 18-point second half deficit down to eight with 8:24 remaining, but Purdue pulled away down the stretch to advance to the semifinals. 

Pryce Sandfort led the Huskers with 15 points, while Rienk Mast added 11 points and Braden Frager scored eight. 

The Huskers shot 22-of-56 (39.3 percent) from the floor, while Purdue finished 26-of-58 (44.8 percent). Both teams were 10-of-31 (32.3 percent) from 3-point range.

Purdue had a 37-29 advantage in rebounds and 19-8 in second chance points. Although Nebraska committed just one more turnover than Purdue (10-9), the Boilermakers had a 17-5 advantage in points off turnovers. 

Fletcher Loyer had a game-high 19 points for Purdue. Oscar Cluff had 12 points and nine rebounds, and C.J. Cox added 12 points.

Nebraska will await the NCAA Tournament Selection Show at 5 p.m. (CT) on Sunday on CBS.

Purdue bolted to a 13-3 lead in the first four minutes, hitting 5-of-6 from the floor and 3-of-4 from 3-point range. After a timeout, Mast hit a three and Sandfort hit a mid-range jumper to get NU within 13-8. 

The Boilermakers went back up 17-8, but Mast and Sandfort hit threes around a tip-in by Berke Buyuktuncel to cut the deficit to five, 21-16. Jared Garcia drilled a triple to get the Big Red within two, 21-19, at the 10:39 mark. 

Purdue answered with a 7-0 run to rebuild a 28-19 lead before Garcia hit from deep again. But the Boilermakers increased their lead to double digits, 33-22, at the 5:52 mark and led 41-28 at halftime after two threes by Loyer in the final 1:02. 

Jamarques Lawrence opened the second half with a jumper, but Purdue scored another 7-0 run to go up 48-30. The Boilermakers led 50-33 at the 14:00 mark, but a layup by Frager and back-to-back threes by Sandfort and Mast cut the deficit to 51-41 with 12:29 to play. 

A 3-pointer by Sam Hoiberg pulled the Huskers within eight, 56-48, with 8:24 remaining, but a putback dunk by Cluff put Purdue back up by 10. Cale Jacobsen scored a driving layup with 6:53 left to make it 58-50, but the Huskers would get no closer as the Boilermakers ripped off a 14-2 run to go up 72-52.

Garcia and Lawrence each chipped in six points, while Hoiberg had five points with team highs of eight rebounds and four assists. 

Nebraska Postgame Notes
*-Nebraska falls to 1-2 in the Big Ten Tournament against Purdue. Tonight marked the first meeting between the schools in the conference tournament since 2013.
*-Nebraska falls to 2-4 in games against ranked opponents this season
*-Pryce Sandfort finished with 15 points against Purdue and now has 571 points for the season. His 571 points moved him into 10^th on NU’s single-season top-10 list. He moved past James Palmer Jr., who had 568 points in 2017-18.
*-Sandfort hit a trio of 3-pointers to extend his single-season 3-point record to 113.  He is now 10th on the Big Ten’s single-season list and one shy of eighth place on the list.
*-Jared Garcia finished with six points the bench, his highest offensive output since scoring a season-high 10 points at Illinois on Dec. 13. His two 3-pointers was also a season high
*-Rienk Mast tallied 11 points and now been in double figures 22 times this season.
*-Nebraska finished with 10 3-pointers tonight and extended its single-season record to 337 entering the NCAA Tournament. It marked the 21^st time NU had at least 10 3-pointers in a game this season.