Huskers Rally to Force Overtime at Illinois But Come Up Short, 87-84
Nebraska basketball put together its best road performance of the year Sunday night against the Illinois Fighting Ilini in Champaign, but the team’s last-minute comeback fell short in overtime against the nation's No. 14 team.
After a Terrence Shannon Jr. three, the Huskers trailed the Illini 82-72 with 3:25 to play. Shannon’s shot capped an 11-4 run and seemed like the game's dagger.
Then the unexpected happened. The Big Red caught fire and put together an 11-1 run, sending the game into overtime. After an incredibly competitive overtime period, and a series of questionable calls, the Illini escaped their home court with an 87-84 victory.
Nebraska’s player of the game was Keisei Tominaga. Heading into Sunday night’s contest, the senior shooting guard had just totaled 14 points over his last three games. He scored 31 in Champaign on 9-of-14 shooting. Tominaga also had moments of brilliance when handling the ball, notching a team-high three assists. Tominaga silenced the critics and nearly led Nebraska to its most improbable win of the Fred Hoiberg era.
Tominaga was great for the Big Red, but the Huskers' rebounding wasn’t. The Illini outrebounded Nebraska 50 to 33. Illinois captured 11 offensive rebounds in the second half, contributing to the team’s 20 points in the paint. Illinois’ ability to crash the glass killed Nebraska’s momentum, allowing the Illini to separate themselves from NU in an incredibly close game.
The free throw disparity between Illinois swung the game. The Ilini took 30 free throws to Nebraska’s 14. The Big Red impressively knocked down all of their attempts, but Illinois’ ability to get to the line was a massive factor down the stretch. Eight of Illinois’ final 14 points came from the charity stripe.
Multiple close calls down the stretch went against NU on both sides of the ball. Regardless of the officiating, Nebraska could not close out a valiant effort on the road against a team that’s one of the best at defending home court.
Despite the loss, NU proved that it is an NCAA tournament-caliber team and has a smooth road ahead to seal its bid. The Huskers play no ranked teams in their final eight games of the year. They play their next game at 8 p.m. CST Wednesday at Northwestern.
