Nebraska men’s basketball won its first Big Ten road game of the season Sunday at No. 16 Oregon.
The Huskers now have four wins against top-25 opponents, tying a program record. It is the first time Nebraska has won four games against ranked opponents in a season since the 1998-99 season (1998-99, 1993-94, 1990-91).
“I give all our guys a lot of credit,” Coach Fred Hoiberg said in his postgame radio comments. “To win this game on the road.”
Nebraska has gotten its identity back on the defensive end in the last two games (Illinois, Oregon).
“Overall, I thought a really complete performance on the defensive end in the last two games,” Hoiberg said.
The Huskers are playing that tough, gritty, grimy defense and in the last two have been more consistent on the defensive end. Oregon shot just 40% from the field in the game, the 11th Husker opponent held to 40% or lower this season.
“We’ve done a much better job on the 3-point line,” Hoiberg said. “Five-for-20 tonight for this Oregon team, and we beat a very talented Illinois team as well.”
The two senior leaders, Brice Williams and Juwan Gary, have taken this team over and delivered in the last two games.
Williams finished with a game-high 28 points and Juwan Gary had 23 points in Eugene. When Oregon cut the Nebraska lead to five, 58-53 with 6:04 left in the second half, the Huskers didn’t fold. Gary rose up and hit just the fourth 3-pointer of the game for Nebraska to stymie the Ducks’ momentum.
It was the 10th 20-point game of the season for Williams and the 26th of his career. Williams also grabbed seven rebounds and matched his season high with six assists (North Florida on Dec. 1).
In the two-game win streak, Williams has 55 points and 15 rebounds while Gary has 36 points and 13 rebounds.
Gary’s notched his fourth 20-point game of the season. He now has had four of his seven career 20-point games this year.
Nebraska didn’t play that full 40 minutes that Hoiberg is searching for. The Huskers missed an opportunity to put the game away in the first half. There was a four-minute stretch late in the period that could’ve seen a 15-point lead turn into 20 or more.
Oregon’s pressure defense and Nebraska’s stagnant offense to go with four turnovers in three minutes and 51 seconds turned that 15-point lead (32-17) into an 11-0 Oregon run and just a six-point (34-28) Nebraska lead at the half.
“I told them in the locker room, ‘Guys we’ve got a lead at halftime on the road against a ranked team.’ We got a chance to catch our breath, get our composure back, and then I thought we came out and threw the first punch in the second half again.”
Offensively the Huskers have played with more urgency, especially attacking the Oregon full-court pressure. When the Huskers do that to start games and in the second half, they can not just be in games but win almost any game.
It wasn’t perfect, but Nebraska finished the job and guys like Rollie Worster and Berke Büyüktuncel stepped up and made big plays.
Büyüktuncel led Nebraska with nine rebounds, matching his career-high set four other times. Worster’s 11 points off the bench was the 22nd double-figure effort by a Husker bench player this season.
The Huskers now continue their road trip at Washington Wednesday night with tip-off set for 9:30 p.m. CT.
