Northwestern makes a statement with 80-68 home win over Nebraska

EVANSTON-The Wildcats stayed unbeaten in the Big Ten at home with a wire-to-wire 80-68 win over Nebraska.

Armed with four days of rest after a grueling overtime loss at Minnesota, Northwestern looked refreshed and jumped on the Huskers, who were coming off their own overtime loss at Illinois three days ago, from the get-go.

Boo Buie led all scorers with 22 points, 17 in the first half, making it a point to go at Keisei Tominaga, the other highly billed Big Ten backcourt star of the game. There was little question going in who was the better player, and no question leaving it.

The Wildcats took Tominaga out of the game completely, holding Nebraska's sharpshooter to just 11 points and no made threes.

Buie was joined by Ryan Langborg with 18 points, and 15 off the bench from Nick Martinelli. Unfortunately, Ty Berry was injured in the first half and did not return after tweaking his knee on a drive to the basket.

Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's dominant win over Nebraska that raised their record to 16-7 overall and 7-5 in the Big Ten:

Ty Berry's injury will continue to be evaluated: Berry went to the locker room and didn't return with a knee injury, a scary sight for a team that has relied greatly on his superb shooting, defense and auxiliary scoring.

As Ty Berry goes, so often does this team as his 44.3% three-point shooting touch creates clear lanes for Buie and Brooks Barnhizer to attack.

"I really don't [have an update]," Collins said. "We know he had a little twist of his knee and we'll just get more information. The doctors are on it and we have to see how he responds.

"You pray for the best, Ty is playing the best basketball of his career. We hope it isn't anything long term and I know he's going to fight like crazy to get back out on the floor as soon as he can."

The Wildcats survived smoothly enough after his exit with an 12-point win, but they showed vulnerability without Berry's ballhandling late in the game against Nebraska's press. Any extended time missed by Berry would be grave loss to a team that is already playing a very tight rotation down the stretch.

All gas, no brakes: After some much-needed days off, Northwestern's gas tanks were back to full and they put the pedal to the metal, yet again. Buie, who fouled out late in the game, played 35 minutes, Longborg logged 39 fand Barnhizer 37.

The double-digit win may have been an opportunity for head coach Chris Collins to give those guys, who all rank in the Top 7 in the Big Ten in minutes per game, a rest. But Berry's injury prevented him for doing that.

"They're playing," Collins said. "I've said it, I know I played a long time ago, good players don't want to come out, they want to play."

When the games are in regulation, the veteran trio has no qualms about going the distance and delivering. Langborg, who short-armed a pair of free throws late to seal a loss at Minnesota, was stellar in 39 minutes, with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

"It's always tough, but I think we're used to it," he said about his playing time. "All the work we put in over the summer prepares us for it. Rest is always nice and you take advantage."

Freshman guard Jordan Clayton played 10 minutes, a season-high in conference play, but Collins made it clear that was due to Berry's injury and not a preordained shift away from the high-intensity rotations.

"You have to come every day, use practice as your games and prepare like you'll be called upon," Collins said. "He didn't know coming into tonight that Ty was going to get hurt and that he would have to be ready.

"It's on him to be ready, and he was. I thought the shot he took was a great look, it was in and out but he took it with confidence. That's what we want, just play with confidence."

Collins said that last bit in the same tone as a parent that just wants a child to do his best. He picked up on that and added that any additional pressure beyond that on Clayton comes from a place of support.

"If you don't play with confidence, you'll get swallowed up. So come out, there might be some mistakes made, we might yell at you because you're a freshman," he added with a smile. "That's part of the deal and just stay confident, believe in yourself and learn from the older guys. Good minutes from him tonight, we really needed him."

Buie flashed killer instinct: Collins and Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg ended up imitating each other when talking about Buie -- though the coaches differed on how they felt about the result of their analysis.

"That floater is deadly," Collins said of Buie. "He gets to that elbow area, you feel really good that something good is going to happen."

"He's as talented as any guard in the country," Hoiberg said. "That floater is lethal. We call it his kill spot when he gets to his right hand inside the right elbow."

Buie had his worst game of Big Ten play at Nebraska on Jan. 20, finishing with nine points on 2-for-15 shooting.

He set straight to work on rectifying that tonight. He dropped 17 points in the first half alone, hitting 4-of-5 from three-point range, setting the tone as the Cats built a 16-point lead at the break. Northwestern led by 10 or more from 9:55 in the first half through 1:11 remaining in the second.

Even after Berry's injury, Buie remained in complete control of the game and orchestarted Northwestern's win, start to finish.

Martinelli made the offense work: With Berry out, sophomore forward Nick Martinelli poured in 15 second-half points to bolster Northwestern's reeling offensive attack. He used his usual dazzling and befuddling array of moves, starting and stopping, bumping and bruising his way to a career-high in scoring in conference play.

"We all know he he has that herky-jerky, funky, whatever, I don't even know what to call it," Collins said of Martinelli's offensive arsenal. "But it works, we have to find a name for it.

"He's really shooting it well, he made two huge threes when they were trying to make a run."

This marked the first time Martinelli has made two threes in the same game. He's shooting 6-for-8 beyond the arc in Northwestern's last six games.

"I don't take three pointers very much, it's about confidence," he said. "My teammates always tell me to shoot them, and when Boo and Ryan are drawing two [defenders], it's easy and I'm wide open."

Wildcats made a statement: This was a must-win game for the Wildcats after two grueling back-to-back losses in overtime. In terms of the Big Ten Tournament seeding, in terms of building their NCAA Tournament resume, this was critical.

It also exorcised a loss at Nebraska, bolstered Northwestern back into a double-bye slot for the conference tourney and prevented the season's first true losing streak.

"Needless to say, this was a big game for us," Collins said. "Last week was very difficult for us emotionally... We knew the importance of this game."

The Wildcats now stand at 16-7 (7-5 Big Ten), still on the pace of last year's 2022-23 team that earned the same double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament and a berth in the NCAA Tournament as a seventh seed.

Northwestern has its goals set on those same heights this season. After dispatching Nebraska at home, they're back on track to reach them.