Takeaways: Northwestern 87, Nebraska 63
Don’t look now, but Northwestern is on a winning streak.
The Wildcats won their second straight Big Ten game by going into Lincoln and destroying Nebraska, 87-63. It was Northwestern’s largest margin of victory in a Big Ten road game since a 25-point win over Minnesota in 2010.
But really, it could have been much worse. The Wildcats’ lead reached 35 with 4:53 left before benches were emptied for garbage time.
Northwestern used red-hot three-point shooting to build a dominant 22-point halftime lead. Then, unlike the last time out, when they blew a 24-point, second-half lead and needed overtime to beat Rutgers, the Wildcats closed the deal in the second half and coasted to an easy win.
This one was never really in jeopardy after the midway point of the first half. Northwestern went on a 12-0 run to take a 26-13 lead and never looked back.
Northwestern hit 10 three-pointers in the first half on their way to a season-high 13 in the game.
Boo Buie was sensational, draining 6-of-11 threes on his way to a season-high 27 points. Chase Audige added 16 points and Ryan Young 12 to round out the double-figure scorers.
Nebraska was led by CJ Wilcher with 15 points and Bryce McGowens with 10. It was the 12th straight Big Ten loss without a win for the Huskers.
Here are our takeaways from the win that raised Northwestern’s record to 11-10 (4-8 Big Ten):
It was raining threes in Lincoln: Northwestern must like the rims at Pinnacle Bank Arena because their long-distance shooting was on the mark all afternoon.
The Wildcats came into the game with a season-high of 12 three-pointers in a single game. They had 10 at the half on 23 attempts (43.5%). Buie had four triples to lead the Wildcats, while Ty Berry, who came into the contest making just four of his last 24 shots from beyond the arc, drained three.
Northwestern didn’t shoot as many in the second half, but the Wildcats still finished 13-of-31 (41.9%) from long distance. Buie had six threes, Berry three, Audige two and Pete Nance and Ryan Greer one apiece.
The bench shined: Northwestern got a big boost from its bench against the Huskers, especially in the first half.
The Wildcats had 24 points from their bench mob over the first 20 minutes, almost matching Nebraska’s total output of 27. NU finished with 32 points from its non-starters for the game.
Young led the way with 12 points, while Berry scored all of his nine points in the first half. Ryan Greer came off the bench with seven points and a team-high four assists, while Elyjah Williams scored four.
The defense was stifling: Nebraska isn’t going to be confused with the Golden State Warriors, but Northwestern’s defense really did a number on them, forcing turnovers and generating some easy baskets on the other end.
Audige shut down Nebraska’s leading scorer, McGowens, a key to the Wildcats’ game plan. McGowens came into the game scoring 17.0 points per game but had just one point at the half as Audige blanketed him. McGowens finished with 10, but got most of those after the game had been decided.
The Wildcats forced Nebraska into 15 turnovers and outscored the Huskers in points off of those miscues, 39-30. Northwestern came up with 11 steals, led by Robbie Beran with four, and also outrebounded the Huskers 39-30, including 9-4 on the offensive end.
The Cats flexed a little muscle: Both teams came into this game among the bottom four in the conference, but Northwestern showed just how much better than Nebraska they are with a dominant performance.
Coming off of a shaky-as-they-come one-point overtime win over Rutgers, it was nice for NU to get an easy one for a change. The Wildcats have now won two in a row for the first time in Big Ten play this season.
The schedule, however, shows no mercy. The Wildcats have a home matchup with Indiana on Tuesday in a game they have to have if they want to play in some sort of post-season tournament. Then, the Wildcats get No. 19 Illinois on the road and No. 4 Purdue at home in their next two.
After that, however, the schedule eases. The Wildcats’ last five are games they can potentially win, with two against Minnesota, as well as Nebraska again, Iowa and Penn State.