Huskers shock No. 16 Indiana in 87-83 upset
It wasn’t easy, but thanks to a dynamic offensive attack and a season-high scoring effort, Nebraska knocked off No. 16 Indiana 87-83 on Wednesday night to end the Hoosiers' 26-game home winning streak.
The Huskers (7-6 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) raced off to a 28-16 lead in the first 9:27 behind eight points each by freshman guard Jeriah Horne and senior guard Tai Webster.
The star of the game was sophomore guard Glynn Watson, who exploded in the second half with 19 points on 5-of–11 shooting while hitting 6-of-7 free throws.
“I felt like Glynn played his game tonight,” sophomore forward Ed Morrow said on the postgame radio show on the Husker Sports Network. “That’s what we expected from Glynn and Tai. They came out and gave us what we needed and we just rode on their back to get this win.”
In all, five Huskers scored eight points or more in the win, including four in double figures.
“I’m a proud guy,” head coach Tim Miles told the Husker Sports Network. “This is my vision for these guys, and to see it happen is a big event and to keep it going is going to be an even bigger event.
“I told the guys in the locker room, you know that feeling you have right now, that’s called accomplishment, it’s called exhaustion. There is nothing better, nobody can ever take that from you. The idea is how we recreate that over and over, and that’s the beginning of a culture and a program.”
Despite the quick start, the Huskers were held without a field goal for the last 5:43 of the first half and went to the halftime trailing 36-33. That was Indiana’s lowest first-half total at home on the season.
The drought quickly ended in the second half on a Morrow tip-in 22 seconds in, and the Huskers didn’t look back.
Nebraska put up 54 points in the second half and posted a season-high in steals with 13, led by five by Watson.
Morrow posted 12 points along with 10 rebounds and a career-high five blocks against Indiana star forward Thomas Bryant.
“I don’t know if we have arrived, but it should be a great shot in the arm and give us a great deal of confidence,” Miles said. “There is a certain way of doing things and when we do it right and if we can repeat it over and over it’ll be a good deal. It’ll be great for our team, our coaches and our fans.”
The Huskers shot 56 percent from the field in the second half, including 60 percent from three and 80 percent from the free throw line.
The Huskers start off 1-0 in conference and will travel to Maryland to take on the Terrapins on News Year's Day at 11:00 a.m. on BTN.