Breakout second half sparks NU to 70-55 win over Wildcats

For the first 32 minutes, Nebraska looked destined for another disappointing road defeat when it traveled to take on Northwestern on Tuesday night in Rosemont, Ill.

But a 180-degree turnaround midway through the second half changed the game into a 70-55 win over the Wildcats that improved NU to 11-5 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten Conference play.

Led by 19 points, six rebounds and six assists from Glynn Watson and 18 points, five rebounds and four assists by James Palmer, NU scored 45 points and shot 59.3 percent from the field in the second half after managing just 25 points on 28.6-percent shooting in the first.

The Huskers also posted 14 blocked shots from eight different players on the night, which are believed to be the most ever in school history, and held the Wildcats to shoot just 29.1 percent from the field.

“It was a Jekyll-Hyde that first half,” head coach Tim Miles told the Husker Sports Network. “I don’t blame people if they tuned us out, but they would’ve missed a heck of a second half.”

The night started out as a rock fight on both ends of the floor, as both teams combined to start 3-of-19 from the floor over the first four minutes. A five-minute scoring drought by Nebraska helped Northwestern - which was without star point guard Bryant McIntosh (knee) - go on an 11-0 run and take a 16-12 lead.

But the Huskers managed to chip away and eventually claimed the lead at 23-20 with 3:54 remaining. On a pair of free throws by Isaac Copeland.

Nebraska would go cold once again from there, however, as it managed just two more points over the final four minutes of the half to go into halftime facing a 30-25 deficit.

The Huskers shot just 28.6 percent from the field (8-of-28) with seven turnovers in the first half, but the good news was that the Wildcats weren’t much better at 30.8 percent (12-of-39).

The biggest difference was Northwestern’s domination on the offensive glass, as it out-rebounded NU 26-20 overall with a 14-7 edge in offensive boards. That led to a 12-6 differential in second-chance points.

Northwestern would push its lead to as much as seven to start the second half, but the Wildcats ended up going 2-of-12 from the field to open the half and allowed Nebraska to rally back and take the lead at 37-36 on a jump hook by Isaiah Roby.

That led to a 6-0 run that put NU up 41-36, and an And-1 and then dunk by Copeland with just over five minutes to play gave the Huskers their biggest lead yet at 56-46.

“I thought the kids just hung in there,” Miles said. “They hung around mentally. Coaching, I didn’t lose my mind too bad, expect a little bit at halftime… Stuff like that is fun to be a part of.”

Nebraska didn’t look back from there, as it ended up scoring 27 points in the final eight minutes of the game, made 10-of-11 free throws in the second half, and led by as many as 17 before closing out a crucial conference road victory.

Copeland finished with 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds, as NU ended up out-scoring Northwestern 34-33 in the paint despite being out-rebounded 42-36 and 22-10 on the offensive glass.

Northwestern’s Dererk Pardon, who has posted the best games of his career against Nebraska, had another big night with 17 points and 15 rebounds, but he only shot 6-of-18 from the floor in the process.

The Huskers will return to action on Saturday on the road at No. 13 Purdue, with tip-off set for 1:15 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.

“We found some attitude in our team,” Copeland said. “We were out there talking back and forth, talking to each other and talking to the other team. You’ve got to have some grit, some anger with you to win on the road in the Big Ten.”

1. Watson breaks through

It had been a tough past five games for Watson coming into Northwestern, as the standout junior point guard had averaged just 7.0 points on 34.8-percent shooting during that stretch.

But the Glenwood, Ill., native broke out of his brief slump with another impressive all-around performance. With 19 points and six assists, Watson accounted for 32 of Nebraska’s 70 points in the victory and registered an efficiency rating of 22.

Along with his six boards, two steals, and one block, Nebraska was +21 in Watson’s 35 minutes on the floor. The 6-foot, 174-pounder also did that while being aggressively guarded by Northwestern’s Vic Law (6-7, 205).

The Huskers desperately need Watson to play near that level from here on out, because when he’s on, the entire team is on.

2. Huskers didn't let Pardon take over

Maybe the biggest key for Nebraska defensively was finally finding a way to slow down Pardon.

In four career games vs. the Huskers, Pardon had averaged 16.5 points and 10.5 rebounds. Entering Tuesday night, he was averaging 8.8 points and 6.4 boards for his career.

While Pardon still managed to lead the Wildcats with 17 points and 15 rebounds this time around, he only shot 33 percent had had a plus/minus of -13.

Miles said Nebraska’s bigs were all eager to get another crack at Pardon and were determined not to let him dominate the game again. Pardon may have still gotten his, but it wasn’t nearly enough to change the final outcome.

3. Nebraska's best lineup is obvious

With about three minutes to go in the game and Nebraska having jumped out to a 61-49 lead, Big Ten Network color analyst Jon Crispin made sure to note that the five players on the floor - Watson, Evan Taylor, Palmer, Copeland, and Roby - were NU’s best lineup.

Even though Taylor had his worst individual game of the season with zero points and missing all five of his shots, Crispin was exactly right.

Along with Anton Gill mixed in, that group played aggressive offense, attacked the rim, and had a swagger to close the win out with one of the best ends to a conference game the Huskers have had in years.

It’s hard to figure out why Miles hasn’t made the switch to that combination for his starting lineup, because it gives NU far and away its best chance for success on both ends of the floor.