Nebraska Basketball: Huskers Outlast Pesky Hawkeyes in Double OT

The men’s Nebraska basketball team seems to have been injected with a special kind of energy ever since losing to Gardner-Webb last December. Now they’re playing historically well.

Iowa was going to provide Nebraska with a unique challenge. The Huskers were coming off a high from beating Indiana and Maryland on the road. Yes, the game was taking place at Pinnacle Bank Arena, but there was still a chance for a lull as the Hawkeyes are a young, exciting team much like the Big Red.

With students absent from The Vault due to still being on break, there was some question about just how much of a factor the crowd would be. Thanks to how the game went, they had plenty to stand on their feet to cheer for and Nebraska head coach Tim Miles felt those in attendance did their job.

““I thought the crowd was awesome. They were a huge part of us and just hanging in there. They’re so supportive. It was easy for the guys to rally. We want to make this place involved again and we need our fans.”

Nebraska and Iowa opened with a back-and-forth that would eventually see the Huskers jump out to a 12-6 lead early on, but the young gun Hawkeyes came roaring back tying the game at 17 all halfway through the first stanza. Nebraska would head into the locker room at the half with a sliver of a lead at 37-34.

The second half saw Hawkeye Peter Jok explode onto the scene as he added 30 points to his paltry four-point first half total. Iowa jumped out to a 70-67 lead on a Jok three-pointer and the Hawkeyes continued to keep Nebraska at arm’s length heading down the stretch of regulation.

Iowa clutched a 74-72 lead as Glynn Watson, Jr. stepped to the free throw line and sink a pair sending the game into extra minutes. It was a tremendous game for Watson who turned in a career-high 34 points converting seven of eight three-point attempts.

The Hawkeyes would again find themselves with an early lead in overtime. However, Tai Webster would drain a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left on the clock to demand a second extra five minutes to determine the winner.

In double overtime, Nebraska had ample opportunity to put the game away with free throws, but wouldn’t ice the contest until Jeriah Horne sank a pair of free throws to put the Huskers up 93-90 with 17 seconds left. The Hawkeyes were unable to answer and the Big Red won the day.

While free throws eventually saved the Big Red’s bacon, Nebraska had difficulty at the charity stripe all evening converting only 19 of 35 opportunities. If the Huskers would’ve dropped a few more of those, they likely could’ve put the contest away without heading into extra minutes.

Nebraska is off to its best conference start since the 1975-76 season and looks to extend their winning streak against Northwestern this Sunday.