Huskers run past Hawkeyes in 98-84 victory

As Nebraska continued its up-hill climb towards an NCAA Tournament bid, it came into Saturday night’s home game vs. Iowa facing yet another must-win situation.

Behind a game-high 28 points from James Palmer Jr. and 23 points and 11 rebounds from Isaac Copeland, the Huskers took care of business and then some with a 98-84 victory in front of a sold-out Pinnacle Bank Arena crowd.

By shooting 57.7 percent from the field, a season-best 57.9 percent from 3-point range, and making 27-of-36 free throws, NU tallied its second-highest point total of the season and its highest in Big Ten play.

It also marked the most points scored in a conference game since Feb. 9, 2002 (Kansas State, 99) and the highest point total against a Big Ten team since joining the league in 2011-12

More importantly, Nebraska improved its overall record to 16-8 and 7-4 in league play, taking another step towards the Big Dance.

“The one thing about Iowa is they can lead you down the path of a shootout,” head coach Tim Miles said. “They play quick. If they see an open shot, it’s going up, and you can have a lot of quick possessions. I just didn’t know if we could keep up that way, really…

“I thought we did a good job. We didn’t do a great job, but we did a good job.”

Nebraska came storming out of the gates, as Copeland scored 13 of the team’s first 21 points and the Huskers shot 78 percent from the field to take a 21-17 lead after the first eight minutes.

The problem was Iowa was able to keep pace by hitting four of its first five 3-pointers and getting 12 points from forward Tyler Cook on 5-of-8 shooting. But a layup by Palmer with just under seven minutes would spark an 18-8 run by NU to close out the half and push the lead to 48-34 at halftime.

“It was obviously a game of runs,” Palmer said. “They’re a good team, so you knew they were going to make runs because they have shooters and guys that can score. We just had to stay poised and make our plays.”

A jumper by Palmer to open the second half gave Nebraska its biggest lead of the night at 16 points, but Iowa quickly fired back with a 13-2 rally to cut the deficit down to 52-47 after less than four minutes of play.

That lead would shrink all the way down to 56-54 before back-to-back 3-pointers by Palmer started a 15-4 run that pushed Nebraska back up to a 71-58 advantage with 11 minutes to play.

The Huskers were able to get their lead back to 16 on a basket by Jordy Tshimanga with 4:36 remaining, and from there it would be mainly semantics the rest of the way.

Isaiah Roby posted another stat-stuffing line, finishing with a career-high 17 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and two steals. Tshimanga added arguably his best game of the season with 11 points and eight boards in 19 minutes of action.

Cook led Iowa with 24 points and 10 rebounds while Jordan Bohannon also added 24 points.

Nebraska will return to action on Monday when it hits the road again to take on Wisconsin for an 8 p.m. tip on BTN.

“I really like the demeanor of this team,” Miles said. “I like their buy-in, and they understand that if I just do this job tonight, we’re going to be in good shape.”

1. Palmer and Copeland do it again

For the second game in a row, Palmer and Copeland did the bulk of the heavy lifting to lead Nebraska to an important victory.

The junior duo combined to score 51 of NU’s 98 points on 15-of-23 shooting, including 7-of-11 from behind the arc.

After they scored 41 of the Huskers’ 60 points in Wednesday’s win over Rutgers, Palmer and Copeland have now posted a whopping 92 points over the last two outings.

Palmer’s 28 points came on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor, including 3-for-6 for three-point range, and he tied his career high with five assists.

Copeland recorded consecutive 20-point efforts for the first time in his career, and he set a personal best mark by knocking down four of his five 3-pointers on the night.

2. Tshimanga shines in best game of the season

For a player who debated leaving the team just two weeks ago, Jordy Tshimanga atoned for it with far and away his best all-around performance of the season.

With fellow centers Duby Okeke sidelined per coach’s decision and Tanner Borchardt out with an illness, Tshimanga responded by scoring a season-high 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting - including going 3-for-4 from the free throw line - and hauling in eight rebounds in 19 minutes.

His 19 minutes marked his most extensive playing time since going 24 in a win over Delaware State back on Dec. 22.

Miles made it a point to mention Tshimanga’s contributions multiple times during his postgame press conference, saying he thinks a burden was lifted off the sophomore’s shoulders since his five-day hiatus from the team earlier this month.

“I think it’s more mental,” Miles said. “He’s more relaxed and just enjoying himself more. I think he feels the pressure’s off him a little bit. He’s been really fun to coach…

“When he came back (to the team), he came back with such a great attitude. It was like he had this moment where the lid blew off, everything spilled out - all the bad stuff, hopefully - and he’s really done a pretty good job for us since then.”

3. Huskers turn tide in rebounding department

With all of the points were scored on Saturday night, one somewhat overlooked stat was how Nebraska - one of the worst rebounding teams in the country - dominated Iowa - one of the nation’s best rebounding teams - on the glass.

The Huskers ended up with a 37-28 advantage on the boards, including a 26-17 edge on the defensive end, a far cry from their Big Ten-worst -6.4 rebounding margin the carried into the game.

In fact, NU had been out-rebounded in its previous eight games coming in against the Hawkeyes, who boasted a +5.7 rebounding margin to rank third in the conference.

“So we are the worst rebounding team in the country; I know this,” Miles said. “So it is an anomaly. I’m not going to pretend that we’ve just turned the corner and we’re a great rebounding team. But I’m happy we got in there.

“I will tell you this, Jordy Tshimanga’s extended minutes probably had a lot to do with that… When he’s in the game, we’re just a better rebounding team. It’s clear.”