Huskers hold on for wild 93-90 2OT win over Iowa

It took all of regulation, two overtimes, and one of the wildest back-and-forth games in recent program history to do it, but Nebraska ended up pulling out a monumental victory in more ways than one on Thursday night.

Freshman guard Jeriah Horne rattled in two free throws with 8.1 seconds left in the second overtime, and while junior guard Evan Taylor had a chance to ice it but missed both shots at the line, the Huskers were able to hold on for a 93-90 win over Iowa in double overtime.

The win not only snapped a streak of five straight losses to the Hawkeyes, it improved NU to 3-0 to start conference play for the first time in 41 years (1975-76).

Sophomore guard Glynn Watson scored a game-high 34 points, while senior guard Tai Webster did almost everything with 23 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and four blocks in 49 minutes of action.

Iowa’s Peter Jok kept Iowa alive down the stretch, scoring 30 of his 34 points after halftime before fouling out late in the second OT.

Despite that, NU going a dismal 19-for-35 from the charity stripe, and the Hawkeyes holding a 27-5 advantage in second chance points, the Huskers were able to gut out yet another crucial league victory.

“What a game,” head coach Tim Miles said. “I mean, it was dramatic, it was controversial, I guess - and don’t ask me what happened, because I don’t know - but what a game. I’m proud of our guys.”

Both teams came out firing to start the game, trading big scoring runs while Watson scored 15 of his 34 points in the first half to send NU into halftime with a 37-34 advantage.

“It seems like such a blur,” Webster said. “The game was so long. I don’t even really remember what happened in the first half or anything.”

Nebraska once again wasted no time getting things going to start the second half, as back-to-back fast break layups by Webster put the Huskers up by their biggest margin yet at 45-36 with 16:52 left to play.

Iowa was able to rally back, however. The Hawkeyes finally took their first lead of the half on a layup by Jok to make it 59-58 with 8:22 left, as the Huskers went nearly three minutes without a point.

Down by two with under a minute left, Nebraska let Iowa run the clock down inside of 20 seconds, and got possession after a Jok miss. Watson was fouled and made both to tie it at 74-74 with 13.9 seconds left.

Jok had a chance for the win but lost the ball in the lane, and Taylor got it in transition and was fouled at the rim with 1.3 remaining.

Needing to just make one, Taylor missed both of his attempts to send the game into overtime.

“There’s no doubt that was an important win,” Miles said. “The air could have gone out of the building at the end of regulation, and it didn’t. We just hung in there.”

Iowa scored the first four points in OT but Watson buried a 3-pointer to get it back to 78-77 with 2:38 left.

Roughly a minute later, Jordan Bohannon came up with a huge 3-pointer to push Iowa’s lead back up to 83-79. Webster would knock down two free throws to get it back to one with 40.6 to go, and then the senior made two more from the stripe with 13.7 left to tie it up at 83-83 and force a second OT.

“I just wanted to go home, to be honest,” Webster said. “I can’t feel my legs. They were cramping the whole second half. I was done in the second half, really.”

Watson started the second extra period with another big 3-pointer from the top of the key, and sophomore forward Michael Jacobson added a layup to give NU an 88-85 lead.

Watson was then called for a charge to foul him out of the game with 2:11 still to play, but Jok quickly followed and fouled out with 54.6 to go with the game tied at 90-90.

Webster made one of two free throws to put NU up by one, and after a defensive stop Horne was quickly fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass with 17. 4 left. The freshman made both his attempts to extend the lead to 93-90.

Iowa had one last chance to tie, but a 3-point heave was off the mark and the game clock expired.

“I just knew we’d pull it off,” Watson said. “We knew it’d be tough. Coach Miles told us it would be tough, and we showed we were the toughest team tonight.”

Horne ended the night with 12 points while Jacobson hauled in a career-high 13 rebounds with three blocks.

The Huskers will have to get right back to work to prepare for their home game vs. Northwestern on Sunday afternoon at 1:15 p.m. Will they have enough left in them to do it again three days later?

“Of course,” Webster said. “No question about it. We live for this."

1. Winning in spite of free throws

Nebraska was its own worst enemy on Thursday night simply due to the fact that the Huskers seemingly couldn’t make a free throw to save their lives. Along with Taylor’s four key misses, NU ended up shooting a dismal 54.3 percent from the charity stripe on a whopping 35 attempts. “First of all, we do practice free throws on our end,” Miles made sure to clarify during his post-game press conference. Had Nebraska been able to shoot anywhere near its season average (68.9 percent), this game likely would have ended much, much sooner.

2. Miles’ trust in team pays off - twice

There were two instances at crucial points in the game - once at the end of regulation and again at the end of the first overtime - where Nebraska trailed by two and Iowa had the ball inside of one minute remaining. Miles could have influenced the game on both occasions by calling for his team to foul to save time and put the Hawkeyes at the line. Instead, he let the Huskers play defense, and they came up with two game-saving stops as a result. Miles said he felt better about his defense making a play than NU’s ability to block out on free throws, so he didn’t want to risk more second-chance points. Those moments were prime examples of the amount of trust Miles has gained in his young team, and that will grow monumentally after an effort like this one.

3. Webster, Watson once again prove their value

Nebraska doesn’t win this game without Webster and Watson. In fact, it might not have even been close as the backcourt duo stepped up with some of the best performances of their careers. Watson was Mr. Clutch time and again down the stretch, knocking down 7-of-8 3-pointers and scoring the first 30-point effort by a Husker this season. Webster was as good as ever, giving one of the guttiest efforts in recent NU memory. In scoring 23 points and leading the team in assists and steals, the senior sat out of just 1:19 out of 50 minutes of game action. After the game Webster said he couldn’t feel his legs, and there’s no denying just how special of an effort Thursday night was.

“Kenya (Hunter) reminded the team in the second overtime that in the pregame talk I said, ‘We’re going to win this thing, and we’re going to out-tough them, and I don’t care if it takes 40 minutes, 45 minutes, or 50 minutes. We’re winning.’ So all of a sudden the second overtime comes and these guys are like, holy cow, and Kenya’s like dancing in place. He goes, ‘Coach said it! He said it! We’re going 50 minutes and we’re going to win!’ So that’s my fault. I should’ve done it in 40.”

- Tim Miles on his quasi-predication of a double-overtime victory