Badgers best Nebraska again in 73-65 home defeat

After a 10-day break that featured a COVID team pause and some public off-the-court drama, Nebraska returned to action against No. 11 Wisconsin for a matinee tip at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Thursday.

The final result was more of the same for the Huskers, as the Badgers dominated the day at the 3-point line and on the glass to hand NU a 73-65 defeat.

Led by a team-high 21 points from Brad Davison, UW knocked down 10 threes and owned a 47-34 rebounding advantage, including a 13-2 edge on the offensive boards.

The loss was Nebraska’s 12th in its last 13 games, dropping it to 6-14 overall and 0-9 in Big Ten play. Wisconsin improved to 16-3, 7-2.

Nebraska opened the game hitting its first five shots and jumped out to a 16-11 lead after the first seven minutes. But Wisconsin quickly took control with its 3-point shooting, hitting a whopping 9-of-14 from behind the arc in the first half to take a 39-31 lead into the break.

The Badgers were just 4-of-24 on 2-pointers, and star guard Johnny Davis - the nation’s fifth-leading scorer - was held without a point with five misses in the first half.

But UW made up for it by holding a 26-18 rebounding edge, including 9-1 on the offensive glass, and outscored the Huskers by 18 points from behind the arc. Davison had 17 of his 21 points in the first 20 minutes.

Wisconsin kept on rolling on into the second half, going on an 8-0 run out of the gate to push its lead to 47-33 after the first three minutes.

Lat Mayen had a dunk 12 seconds into the half, but then NU didn’t make its next field goal until the 11:12 mark, missing 12 straight shots in the process. In the meantime, the Badgers’ lead grew to as much as 55-37.

The Huskers finally showed some life with an 11-0 run by Bryce and Trey McGowens and trimmed the deficit to 57-50 with 6:23 left to play. But that rally would be short-lived, as two steals by Chucky Hepburn sparked a 6-0 run for Wisconsin that slammed the door.

Bryce McGowens finished with a game-high 23 points while Mayen added a season-high 11 points and five rebounds.

The Huskers will return to action on Saturday at home against Rutgers for a 5:30 p.m. CT tip on Big Ten Network.

1. Wash, rinse, repeat

It’s to the point now where you could probably copy and paste the same game stories from Nebraska’s losses to Wisconsin for the past three years, and it would match up pretty close every time.

As usual, the Badgers broke the game open with a flurry of 3-pointers and then kept NU at arm’s length in the post and on the boards the rest of the way.

Davison again led the charge, shooting 5-of-8 from behind the arc for 21 points. He’s the same guy who tied the Husker opponent single-game record for made 3-pointers (8) two years ago when UW set the opponent team record with 18 threes.

Davison is now 23-of-37 (62.1%) from downtown in his last five games vs. Nebraska.

The Huskers did an excellent job against Davis in holding him 13 points, nine under his season average. But the Badgers made up for it by scoring 22 of their 30 points in the paint in the second half.

Nebraska was able to trim an 18-point deficit down to seven, but in the end, it was the same story with a few different numbers.

2. Bryce was the highlight for NU

Not a lot went Nebraska’s way on Thursday, but Bryce McGowens stood as one of the few bright spots.

In scoring a game-high 23 points, the freshman guard was 7-of-14 from the field and hit a team-high three 3-pointers while going a perfect 6-of-6 at the free-throw line. He scored 17 of his 23 points after halftime.

After the Huskers fell behind by 18 midway through the second half, Bryce scored eight points during an 11-0 run that got NU back within 57-50.

The problem was that his next made shot didn’t come until a meaningless layup with 54 seconds remaining and the outcome already well decided.

It’s been an up-and-down season for Bryce, but his play against the 11th-ranked team in the country was a highlight in his steady development.

Thursday was his team-leading sixth 20-point game of the season, which ties Jerry Fort (1972-73) for the second-most by a freshman in school history.

3. An emotional homecoming for Chucky Hepburn

As an all-state point guard at Bellevue (Neb.) West, Wisconsin freshman Chucky Hepburn had played in Pinnacle Bank Arena many times before, including winning a Class A title in 2020.

But his latest return to Lincoln had significantly more meaning for various reasons.

One of Hepburn's close friends, whom he considered a family member, was shot and killed in Omaha early Monday morning. Three days later, he was back in PBA trying to stay focused during what was supposed to be a happy homecoming with at least 28 family and friends in the stands.

Despite all that he was going through, Hepburn helped guide the Badgers from the opening tip.

He scored nine of his 13 points in the first half, hitting the first of his three 3-pointers on Wisconsin’s opening possession as the shot clock expired. Hepburn added three steals, three rebounds, and two assists in 25 minutes of work.

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said he hadn’t seen Hepburn crack a smile all week until Wednesday night’s shootaround at PBA. For Hepburn, getting back on the basketball court in his home state was just the relief he needed.

“Once I step on the court,” Hepburn said, “I know all the distractions go away."