Massive Second-Half Effort Sees Nebraska Men's Basketball Complete Comeback at Northwestern

The Huskers trailed by as many as 20 points before notching the road victory in Evanston.

Nebraska's Ahron Ulis (2) and Juwan Gary (4) defend against Northwestern center Matthew Nicholson (34) during the first half. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Another comeback win for the Big Red.

Nebraska men's basketball topped Northwestern 68-64 Sunday afternoon in Evanston. The Huskers improve to 17-9 on the year and 7-8 in the Big Ten Conference while the Wildcats fall to 13-13 overall and 4-11 in the league.

Northwestern dominated the first 21 minutes of the game. The Wildcats hit five first-half 3s and held Nebraska to 27.3% shooting to take a 36-21 lead into the break. The first minute of the second half saw the home team get a wile-open 3 and an offensive rebound tip in to extend that lead to 20 points.

Nebraska's Juwan Gary and Northwestern's Matthew Nicholson vie for a rebound during the first half. | David Banks-Imagn Images

After some back-and-forth scoring to get the difference to 18 points, Nebraska mounted the comeback.

A 22-4 run tied the game at 54-54 with six minutes to play. From there, the game stayed within one possession the rest of the way until the final Brice Williams free throw with a second left in the game.

The Huskers shot 44.4% for the game, including 60.9% in the second half. The Big Red made 6-of-18 3s. The Wildcats shot 36.1% for the game, making 7-of-20 from deep.

Nebraska guard Connor Essegian defends against Northwestern forward Nick Martinelli during the first half. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Nebraska dominated at the line, making 22-of-28 free throws. Northwestern attempted just eight, making five.

The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 46-27, turning 23 offensive rebounds into 18 second chance points.

Williams finished with a team-high 21 points. Juwan Gary was next with 17 points.

Nebraska center Braxton Meah defends against Northwestern guard K.J. Windham during the first half. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Nebraska stays on the road Wednesday to face Penn State. Tip in State College is set for 5:30 p.m. CST on Big Ten Network.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Notes

• Nebraska overcame a 20-point deficit, its largest comeback since joining the Big Ten (19 on two occasions, most recently against Wisconsin last season). Nebraska trailed 41-21 with 19:15 left.
  
• It matches the largest comeback by Nebraska since the 1996-97 season (20, 2x, most recently against USC in 2010-11).
  
• It is Nebraska’s second straight double-digit road comeback (also at Washington).
  
• Prior to today, Nebraska’s largest road comeback was 13 points on two occasions (at Washington on Feb. 5 and at Maryland on Jan. 1, 2017).
  
• Sunday’s win was NU’s first win in Evanston since 2014, as NU had lost its last six at Welsh-Ryan Arena. NU won a road game at Northwestern in 2018, but it was in Rosemont.
  
• Nebraska improved to 5-5 in road games this year and is 7-6 away from home this season. NU has now won three straight conference road games for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
  
• Nebraska picks up its sixth Quad 1 of the season and is now 6-7 in Quad 1 games this season
  
• Brice Williams reached double figures for the 24th time in 26 games with a team-high 21 points. He now has six straight 20-point games, the longest streak by a Husker since Tyronn Lue in 1997-98.
  
• Juwan Gary finished with 17 points, his sixth straight double-figure effort
  
• Nebraska shot 61 percent in the second half after shooting just 27 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
  
• Nebraska held Northwestern to 36 percent shooting, as Nebraska improves to 11-1 when holding an opponent under 40 percent shooting.
  
• Braxton Meah came off the bench with 10 points and had season bests in both rebounds (seven) and blocks (two). Meah’s 10-point effort was his first double-figure effort since Nov. 27 and just the second of the season. It marked NU’s 24th double-figure effort from a Husker reserve. His miss in the second half was his first since Dec. 30, as he had made his last 12 field goal attempts.
  
• Nebraska’s 11-0- second half run was its 18th double-figure run of the season.

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