Nebrasketball Embarrassed at No. 20 Purdue

The Huskers get run out of Mackey Arena by the Boilermakers.

Purdue guard Braden Smith gets a hand on a ball controlled by Nebraska guard Rollie Worster during the first half. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Nebraska men's basketball can't get back to Pinnacle Bank Arena soon enough.

After a 97-87 overtime loss at Iowa Tuesday, the Huskers were run out of the gym Sunday at No. 20 Purdue, falling 104-68. NU has never won at Mackey Arena as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

Purdue improves to 13-4 overall and 5-1 in the league. Nebraska falls to 12-4 and 2-3.

Purdue guard Braden Smith passes the ball as Nebraska guard Brice Williams defends. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

A Berke Buyuktuncel 3-pointer gave Nebraska a lead for 17 seconds early in the game, but it was all Purdue the rest of the way. The Boilermakers used a 14-0 run get a double-digit lead and never allowed the Huskers to threaten.

Nebraska didn't shoot poorly, making 48.1% of its shots, That includes a 6-of-27 effort from 3. The Huskers also made 10-of-11 free throws.

Purdue, however, couldn't miss. The Boilermakers shot 62.2% overall, including 19-of-33 3s. Those 19 3s set the record for 3s by a Nebraska opponent in a conference game and were one away from the Big Ten record.

Nebraska center Braxton Meah tries to get around Purdue forward Trey Kaufman-Renn. | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Freshman CJ Cox led Purdue with 23 points, shooting 9-for-11 from the field and making five 3s. Braden Smith dished out 14 assists.

For Nebraska, Connor Essegian led the scoring with 17 points, all in the second half. Juwan Gary also got to double figures with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

Besides the stellar shooting for Purdue, the biggest difference came with taking care of the ball. The Boilermakers had 10 turnvoers to 17 for the Huskers. Those Nebraska turnovers turned into 22 points for Purdue.

Nebraska basketball players, including Brice Williams and Braxton Meah, huddle during Sunday's game at Purdue. | Nebraska Athletics

Nebraska returns home Thursday to host Rutgers. Tip is set for 8 p.m. CST on FS1.

Nebraska Athletics Notes

• Nebraska falls to 2-1 against ranked opponents with today’s loss.
  
• Nebraska falls to 0-9 in West Lafayette since joining the Big Ten, the only place among the 13 Big Ten schools (heading into this season) where NU has not won on the road.
  
• Purdue shot .622 from the field and was the second Husker opponent in 33 games to over 50 percent against Nebraska (Michigan State, .518 on Dec. 7). Purdue’s .622 is an opponent high against Nebraska this season.
  
• Connor Essegian’s 17-point effort was the 16th double-figure effort by a Husker reserve this season.
  
• Purdue set an opponent record for 3-pointers in a game with 19, breaking the previous NU opponent mark of 18, set twice (at Minnesota, 3/8/20; vs. Wisconsin 1/21/20).
  
• Berke Büyüktuncel had a career-high four steals, topping his previous best of three on two other occasions, most recently at Hawai’i on Dec. 23.
  
• Sam Hoiberg finished with two steals, his six multi-steal game this season.
  
• Brice Williams was held to nine points, matching his lowest output of the season. It is only the second time in 16 games he was held out of double figures.
  
• Today marked just the second time this season that Nebraska was out-rebounded, as Purdue had a 33-20 advantage on the glass.

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