Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports
Nebraska Upsets No. 6 Wisconsin in Overtime
Nebraska men's basketball erased a 19-point deficit Thursday night to upset No. 6 Wisconsin in overtime at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
The Huskers improved to 16-6 on the year and 6-5 in the Big Ten Conference. NU is also undefeated at home in league play.
Wisconsin drops to 16-5 overall and 8-2 in the Big Ten.
The Badgers built a double-digit lead quickly, stretching that lead to 27-8 midway through the first half. The Huskers grabbed a little momentum on a 14-4 run, but those efforts were erased as Nebraska native and Badger point guard Chucky Hepburn put together a personal 9-4 run to close the half.
Out of the break, Nebraska made its first shot attempt but then couldn't connect on the next six. That allowed Wisconsin to stretch the lead back to 18 points.
Then, CJ Wilcher took off.
The junior guard drilled a 3 to ignite a 9-0 run. After a Badger triple, Wilcher notched nine of the 12 points in a run that got NU to within a single point.
Wisconsin retook control until the closing minutes saw Nebraska put together an 8-0 run to take the lead. The Badgers got a layup and Nebraska missed a shot at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Wisconsin struck first with a made free throw before Rienk Mast and Juwan Gary combined for a 5-0 run that would give NU the lead for good.
Cue the second court storm of the season.
Feb 1, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers fans celebrate after the Huskers defeated the Wisconsin Badgers at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Dylan Widger-USA TODAY Sports
Nebraska shot 44.8% for the game, including 9-of-27 from 3. Wisconsin shot 42.2% from the field and 10-of-31 from deep.
While the shooting numbers were similar and the turnovers also close (Wisconsin 16, Nebraska 12), the big difference came at the free throw line. Nebraska made 19 on 26 attempts while Wisconsin was 8-of-12.
Wilcher led the Husker attack with 22 points, including five 3s. Mast finished with 20 points and eight rebounds. Brice Williams added 17 points and nine rebounds.
Nebraska heads on the road Sunday to face Illinois.
Box score
Highlights
Game notes
Courtesy of Nebraska Athletics
- Tonight’s 80-72 overtime win over Wisconsin marks the first time that Nebraska has knocked off two top-10 teams since the 2013-14 season. It is the sixth time in program history that NU posted two top-10 wins in the same season (2023-24, 2013-14, 1993-94, 1991-92, 1990-91 and 1957-58. Nebraska has defeated a pair of opponents ranked in the top six for the first time since 1957-58, when Fred Hoiberg’s grandfather, Jerry Bush, was the Husker head coach.
- Nebraska erased a 19-point deficit in the game to tie for its largest comeback of the Big Ten era. The Huskers also won after by trailing by 19 against Iowa on Feb. 23, 2013. Before tonight, the largest deficit NU overcame this season was 14 against North Dakota on Dec. 20.
- Nebraska’s last three wins over Wisconsin all featured double-digit comebacks (10, 2021-22; 17, 2022-23; 19, 2023-24).
- The win was Nebraska’s first overtime victory since a 70-66 home win against Maryland on Feb. 19, 2023. The last two Wisconsin-Nebraska games in Lincoln have gone to overtime.
- According to CBB Sports Reference, Wisconsin had been 120-0 since 2000 when leading by 15 or more points at halftime. The Badgers led the Huskers by 16 at the half tonight (43-27).
- C.J. Wilcher fueled the bench effort by tying his career high with 22 points off the bench, the third 20-point game of his career. Wilcher scored 16 points in the second half on 5-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from the 3-point line. It was his third career 20-point game and first since his 22-point effort at Indiana on Dec. 4, 2022.
- Wilcher’s 22-point night was the most by a Husker bench player this season and marked the fifth time he has led NU in scoring this season. Wilcher now leads the Big Ten as the player with the most double-figure games off the bench, with 11.
- Nebraska’s defense forced Wisconsin into committing a season-high 16 turnovers. The Huskers scored 18 points off those turnovers.
- Nebraska posted a 34-10 advantage in bench points. The 34 bench points tied for Nebraska’s most in a Big Ten game this season (also at Iowa). The Huskers’ three bench players (C.J. Wilcher, Sam Hoiberg and Juwan Gary) combined to post a plus-minus of +51.
- Rienk Mast joined Wilcher with a 20-point game, as Mast had 20 points for the third time this season and for the 11th time in his career.
- Nebraska had two players score at least 20 points for the first time since earlier this season against Duquesne (Nov. 22, 2023).
- Nebraska improved to 1-1 in overtime games this season.
- Brice Williams added 17 points and nearly had a double-double with nine rebounds. Williams was 7-of-8 from the free throw line, including 6-of-6 over the final 30 seconds of regulation and the five-minute overtime period.
- Nebraska is now 12-1 when scoring 80 or more points this season and 20-2 over the past two years.
- Juwan Gary made his return to the court for the first time since Jan. 17 against Rutgers. In his return, Gary had nine points and six rebounds.
- Nebraska’s 12-0 was the Huskers’ 16th double-figure run this season.
Postgame quotes
Courtesy of Nebraska Athletics
Wisconsin Coach Greg Gard
Opening statement:
“Obviously congrats to Nebraska in the second half obviously even in the percentage of jumpshots, it’s hard to sustain that for 40 minutes. Then obviously turning the ball over just fed into the momentum that they were creating. So we’ll break this down and learn a lot from it and go onto the next one.”
On losing poise and second half turnovers:
“I thought we got completely away from what makes us good. There were shots that we settled for at times. And then obviously turning the ball over, gambling defensively when we didn’t need to gamble. Just doing some very uncharacteristic things.”
On defending Tominaga and switching defense:
“I thought we did a good job with Keisei (Tominaga), but C.J. Wilcher was the one… and he has been shooting well so I wasn’t surprised that he was shooting well. We didn’t pick them up, we got the heat check when in transition, the second half, I thought we switched when we didn’t need to switch… other than that you can see how tough they were.”
On false security going into the second half:
“Well, I think you always, even in the first half, we talked about shot quality needing to be better. We had a couple runs, and Chucky (Hepburn) got some separation there to finish out the half, but the shots collection still was… it’s okay when it’s one or two, but when it continues to be a questionable decision after questionable decision, we have to catch ourselves and say we can’t continue to rely on that shot.”
Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg
On being down and coming back: “In the first half, I really did think we had some good looks that we didn’t knock down. Keisei (Tominaga) had three of them and he doesn’t miss those very often. Wisconsin’s a really, really good team. That had a lot to do with it. The role and rhythm they’re in offensively, they’re just an absolute machine and you know what they do defensively. That’s always been their calling card and it’s a hard thing to come back on. When you’re down as much as we were, 19, the one thing I did talk about at halftime is we got down 17 in the second half last year and we found a way to come back and win that one, I think also in overtime. But great to have Juwan (Gary) back on the floor. We played a big lineup. I thought that’d be a defensive pop with Juwan in three and Reink (Mast) five or four and C.J. (Wilcher), I just can’t say enough about him and what he did and coming off the confidence that he’s playing with and the jobs that our guys did and executed with plays that were ran to try to get C.J. open which is really hard to do especially against (Max) Klesmit and against Chucky (Hepburn) because they’re so good and it’s really hard to free up and once C.J. got gassed, we went to Reink and Reink stepped up. I thought his shot looked good in the first half, I think it hit every part of the rim and bounced out and to Reink’s credit, he kept shooting. Just our bench, with Juwan, with I thought Sam (Hoiberg) gave us really good defensive minutes and had really good energy out there as well and obviously C.J. scored 22 so just a huge win for us with all we have coming up on the road with really, really good teams. We knew the importance of this and I’m proud of the guys for finding a way to dig in and find a way to come back when things were not looking good.”
On making shots and hustle plays: “Well they do. The basketball gods, it’s weird how they reward you for making those types of plays, and our guys diving out of bounds, getting on the floor, winning the 50/50 battle against a team that’s really hard to do that against. I thought that they did it in the first half, and we got them some in the second. And then, when you have to expend as much energy coming back from 19, and then (Max) Klesmit gets hot. He hits two threes and hits the runner to go up eight with under four, and to find a way to get it back. The human nature is to ‘well we got back in it, just wasn’t our night’, and then, overtime. Went out and just found a way against a great team, so just a huge win. It’s too bad. We’ve had two great wins over top-10 teams, and you don’t get to celebrate or you get two days before we get to go to Illinois and play another really good team, so we’ve got to bounce back, get back in the gym tomorrow, put a game plan together and hopefully execute on the road.”
On mental toughness and coming back: “We jumped them at halftime. That’s about as animated as I’ve been at a halftime, and to their credit, they came out and responded, and that’s what it’s all about. You’ve got to find a way to bounce back when things aren’t going your way. We had not done that on the road at all. We’re not gonna have 15,000 behind us when we go to Champaign in a couple days, so we got to find a way on the road to generate that same type of energy when things aren’t going well. As I’ve said, we’ve gone the other way when things have gotten tough, and we’re gonna have to find a way, and hopefully this gives us some confidence to know that we can do it and knock off one of the top teams in the country after digging a big hole. These are huge games hopefully for confidence to know that you can make this type of comeback.”
Nebraska Players
On the response to adversity
C.J. Wilcher: “I think just staying even. Coach kind of got on us for having our heads down at halftime. I think that just gave us a little spark to play with a little edge. He was kind of pushing us out of our spot both offensively and defensively, just a little more aggressive especially on the boards too, we handled that.”
On the response to Hoiberg’s halftime talk
C.J. Wilcher: “We clapped and we were like ‘let’s go’ and we were ready to go after that. He doesn’t do that too often so obviously it has to take something for him to get there and it did.”
Rienk Mast: “We needed it. We needed that little wake up. If you have a coach that’s pretty chill and then he’s super loud, it’s like ‘alright, let’s go guys.’”
On Rienk Mast being less careful with his knee
Rienk Mast: “I think I’ve been so careful and so much thinking about my knee that it sometimes limits me. Sometimes you just have to go for it. This week was a very good week of finishing whole practices, not really caring about loads. Like Coach said, we did two full days of practice where we did not look at loads at all. I can say that my knee is quite sore right now but we’ve done really well with getting it ready for games and recovering so keep doing that and I think I’ll be fine.”
On Wilcher getting things going in the second half
Brice Williams: “It’s very valuable, it just kind of sparked our team. CJ (Wilcher) has been doing that for the past few games, he’s been stepping up big time and coming into his own and that’s just a tribute to his work and his faith. It’s just tremendous for him to come out there and spark us and get the crowd a lot and that always give us energy, so that’s a huge reason to why we go on a run and come back.”
On the three Mast shot to tie the game
Rienk Mast: “The three that I shot to tie it, I think we drew up some play for me, which they guard it really well but then the ball just hit my hands and it was so engraved in my head like ‘I’m going to shoot this one and tie it up’ and wasn’t really thinking and I saw the ball flying through the air even before I realized I shot it but it went it so one of those out of body experiences. It was pretty cool. If you’re down six late in the game, it’s tough but we were down even more early in the game. We knew if we got stops, got multiple stops in a row, what we’ve been doing in practice all week, what we did, multiple stops in a row. We knew we could do it and we knew it really prepared us well for those types of situations.”
On CJ’s heat check three in the second half to bring the lead down to seven
CJ Wilcher: “I was just out there playing. All glory to Jesus Christ, man. Got an opportunity to show my whereabouts on a big stage in front of some great fans, it’s a great blessing.”
On Juwan Gary’s value being back
Brice Williams: “His energy and presence is always felt on the court and the games he wasn’t out there he was definitely missed. Just his nose for the basketball led those rebounds or just 50-50 balls, he always comes through, and we trust him and we need him for that. He’s such a force for the team, and tonight having him back gave us confidence. I know it did, when coach said he’d be out there on the court, it gave all of us confidence. He showed up and shined in his role tonight as he does consistently and that gave us a big push.”
