No. 13 Purdue holds off Huskers 74-62

Nebraska came into its road game at No. 13 Purdue as 20.5-point underdogs, and with the way the game started, it looked like Las Vegas was going to be right on the money.

The Huskers obviously weren’t happy with what ended up a 74-62 loss, but the game was anything but the lopsided affair many expected.

Behind 22 points and seven rebounds from James Palmer, Nebraska was able to stick with the Boilermakers despite trailing by as many as 18 in the second half.

But while NU kept it relatively close, it also missed several prime opportunities to make things even more interesting down the stretch.

“First of all, I commend our guys,” head coach Tim Miles said on the Husker Sports Network postgame show. “I think their mentality the whole day - they had good poise, even when the game wasn’t going well. They stuck with each other, even in the second half when we had all those chances to really gain on these guys.”

Purdue came out firing on all cylinders to start the day, hitting 11 of its first 14 shots and jumping out to a 27-12 lead midway through the first half.

But the Boilermakers would suddenly go cold from there, falling into a nearly five-minute drought without a field goal to allow Nebraska to steadily chip away at the lead.

A steal and layup by Palmer got the deficit down to 33-24 with 3:21 left in the half, and then a 3-pointer by Glynn Watson made it 38-31 with 47 seconds remaining.

Purdue would get the last word before halftime, though, as a three by Dakota Mathias - who scored all six of his first-half points in the final 1:35 - sent the Huskers into the locker room down 41-31.

Even after committing eight turnovers that led to nine PU points, Nebraska was able to stay within reach by getting to the rim and matching the Boilermakers with 18 points in the paint.

“We didn’t come out and set the tone early,” Miles said. “You’ve got to play from the front to beat these ranked teams on the road, and we didn’t do that, obviously.”

Both teams struggled to do much offensively to open the second half, as there were a total of eight points scored over the first six minutes.

Purdue eventually pushed its lead back up to 14 on a basket by Matt Haarms, but a 3-pointer by Palmer got it back to 49-39 with just over 11 minutes to play.

The Huskers would get back within single digits at 52-43 on a free throw by Watson with 9:11 left, but that would be as close as they would come the rest of the way.

The Boilermakers responded with an 11-3 run to go back up by as many as 17, and NU couldn’t counter from there.

Nebraska shot just 35.7 percent from the field in the second half with another eight turnovers, which allowed Purdue to keep the game under control over the final 20 minutes.

Copeland finished with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Watson added seven points (on just 2-of-10 shooting) with six boards. Purdue ended up scoring 19 points off NU’s 16 turnovers, as Vincent Edwards led the way with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists.

“Purdue was good today, and then we kind of mucked it up on them,” Miles said. “I thought they set the tone through the first 10 minutes of the game, but the last 30 I thought we set the tone. We just couldn’t make enough happen.”

The Huskers return home on Tuesday night when they play host to Wisconsin for a 7:30 p.m. tip on BTN.

1. Palmer shows up

Despite the clear mismatch of frontcourt size, Nebraska scored 30 of its 62 points in the paint. A big reason for that was the aggressiveness of Palmer, who had one of his best all-around games of the season and set the tone for the Huskers down the stretch.

Palmer started the day just 4-of-10 from the field, but he flipped a switch in the second half and started forcing the issue at the rim. As a result, the junior guard was able to get to make 9-of-10 free throws and finish with his highest point total so far in Big Ten play.

Palmer is Nebraska’s best player when it comes to driving to the basket and creating points through contact, and he has to keep up that same mentality the rest of the year.

2. Jordy’s second-half disappearance

Jordy Tshimanga made his 17th straight start of the season on Saturday, and he once again struggled in the six minutes he played in the first half with one turnover being his only stat.

The difference this time around was even though Nebraska needed all the help it could get defending Purdue’s massive centers, the sophomore was on the bench to start the second half, and senior Duby Okeke took his place.

Tshimanga ended up not playing at all after halftime, and with no reports of any injury after the game, it’s clear Miles finally decided that NU was better off with him off the floor. It will be interesting to see how that plays out when the team returns to action against Wisconsin and star power forward Ethan Happ.

3. Huskers were playing with house money

Yes, this was a disappointing game in the sense that Nebraska had plenty of chances to not only make the game much closer than the 12-point final margin but also possibly pull off the upset.

But the reality is that the Huskers were basically playing with house money today, and with two Big Ten wins already under their belt, a road loss against a Purdue team many are considering a potential Final Four squad isn’t going to do much to impact NU’s postseason resume.

Nebraska once again showed it wasn’t intimidated going up against one of college basketball’s best, and while the value of moral victories is probably running thin at this point, the Huskers should still be able to build off this performance.

The real key is how they respond at home against Wisconsin on Tuesday night. The path to the NCAA Tournament must include defending home court, especially in a game where NU will likely be favored to win against a struggling Badgers’ team.