MINNEAPOLIS - After an eight-day layoff, one of the big questions facing Nebraska heading into Tuesday night’s road game at Minnesota was how the Huskers would respond in yet another must-win situation.

With its best offensive road performance of the season, NU accomplished exactly what they had to do and then some to pull out a 91-85 victory over the Golden Gophers.

Isaiah Roby put together arguably his best game as a Husker, dropping a career-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting along with eight rebounds, five blocks, and two assists. James Palmer Jr. kept up his torrid pace with 19 points, nine assists, and seven boards.

As a whole, Nebraska shot 50.8 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from 3-point range en route to its highest point total in a conference road game since 1999 (96 at Oklahoma).

Most importantly, the Huskers took yet another massive step towards earning an NCAA Tournament berth by improving to 18-8 overall and 9-4 in Big Ten play. That marks the second time in head coach Tim Miles' six seasons NU has reached 18 wins and nine league victories, and the four conference road wins this year are NU’s most since 1998-99.

“It was just a team effort,” senior guard Evan Taylor said. “Every guy that was in contributed in some way… Every night can be somebody’s night. Like tonight was Roby’s night, but other guys made plays. I just think that’s the sign of good team that’s really mature.”

After Minnesota jumped out to a 7-0 lead to force Miles to call timeout after just 1:34 of play, Nebraska quickly settled down and countered with a 15-5 run to claim the lead.

The Huskers didn’t slow down after that, following up with a 14-3 spurt that gave them their biggest lead of the half at 37-22 after a 3-pointer by Anton Gill with 4:23 left in the half.

“We just didn’t get our energy up,” Miles said of his team’s start. “It was one of those things where there’s a certain amount of fire that you lose after being off for a week. I’m like, ‘You’re getting punched. They are taking this game to you, and we’re a little bit casual about it.’ Then just came out and got in a little bit of a rhythm and played better from there.”

But NU would cool down from there, allowing the Gophers to end the first half on a 13-5 run and cut the deficit to 44-37 with a buzzer-beater 3-pointer by Isaiah Washington going into halftime.

Even so, Nebraska ended up shooting a blistering 59.3 percent from the field and hit 8-of-12 from behind the arc in the first half, recording assists on 11 of its 16 made field goals. The Huskers’ 44 points also marked their second-highest first-half total in Big Ten play (48 vs. Iowa).

Minnesota pulled within three points less than a minute into the second half, but NU was able to keep the Gophers at arm’s reach and eventually push its lead back to eight on a layup by Jordy Tshimanga with 13:23 to go.

But UM continued to chip away, and after Palmer was sent to bench with three fouls with 13:06 still to play, the Huskers went nearly three minutes without a point to allow a 7-0 run by Minnesota. A 3-pointer by Nate Mason with 10 minutes left then cut Nebraska’s lead all the way down to 60-59.

Two possessions later, Matthew Hurt tied the game up at 62-62 with an And-1, but Nebraska would get a big momentum swing after Mason picked up his third foul and UM head coach Richard Pitino was hit with a technical foul.

That resulted in four straight NU points and sparked an 8-0 run that put the Huskers back up 70-62 with 8:14 remaining.

“I thought (our composure) was good,” Miles said. “It was better than mine for a while… But I thought the guys were really good and the assistant coaches were really good keeping them locked into the game plan.”

Nebraska was able to stay in front by at least five points over the next five minutes, and with 2:33 left in the game, Taylor came up with one of the plays of the night with a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to push the lead to 81-72.

“I was worried, obviously … but other guys stepped up,” Miles said. “Evan Taylor hit a huge three… For him to come off the bench and still have the killer attitude, he showed a lot of huevos tonight.”

Jamir Harris nailed a 3-pointer with 1:58 to go that got Minnesota back to within 83-77, but a tip-on by Roby and two missed free throws by Mason looked to all but put the game away.

Nothing comes easy for Nebraska, however, and Minnesota made one last rally with back-to-back threes by Mason to pull within 87-83 with 35 seconds left . Palmer finally sealed the deal at the free throw line, though, making six straight attempts in the final minute.

The win was NU’s first at Williams Arena since joining the Big Ten, and its first overall since 2003.

Eight different Huskers scored in the victory, including five finishing in double figures. Gill scored 12 points for his highest total in league play, while Isaac Copeland also had 12 and Glynn Watson added 10 points and six assists.

Mason posted a career-high 34 points and was 7-of-9 from 3-point range for Minnesota, as he and Jordan Murphy (22 points and 13 boards) accounted for 56 of the Gophers’ 85 points.

Nebraska will return home on Saturday for its first home game in two weeks, as it plays host to Rutgers for a 3 p.m. tip.

“I think this group - I hope this group has got the mentality that we just have to show up every night in this league," Miles said. "We try to give them enough evidence … Show up every dang night, stay in the moment, win every possession. That’s what the credo for the Huskers all year.”

1. Huskers show little rust after long break

Even though it took falling behind 7-0 out of the gates before finally getting going, Nebraska showed its eight-day break wasn’t going to cool off its recent hot streak.

Despite coming in as four-point underdogs, the Huskers controlled the majority of the game with one of their better all-around offensive performances of the season and certainly one of their best road efforts of the year.

Looking at the remaining six contests, Minnesota was regarded by many as one of NU’s most difficult hurdles in its path to the NCAA Tournament.

The Huskers made an impressive statement to the rest of the Big Ten on Tuesday night, and they now hold a 1.5-game lead over Michigan - which lost at Northwestern - for sole possession of fourth place in the conference standings.

2. Roby dazzles in career night

Nebraska may have found something extremely dangerous for every opponent it faces the rest of the way with Roby and Watson’s two-man game.

Watson connected with Roby on several improbable alley-oops that few players in the Big Ten could pull off, a testament to the rare physical ability the sophomore forward possesses.

Combine that with Roby’s steadily improving defense, especially matching up against a potential All-American in Murphy, and his confidence saw a major boost with his breakout performance at Minnesota.

If he can keep up that level of play, and if his chemistry with Watson keeps on building up, the Huskers could have a one-two punch unlike most any team in the league - and that’s not even counting a potential first-team All-Big Ten player in Palmer.

3. Taylor comes through in the clutch

For a guy who had started 40 consecutive games dating back to last season, Taylor could have taken a turn for the worse when he was benched in favor of Gill last month.

But the senior guard took the demotion in stride, and he ended up making some of the most important plays of the night to preserve Nebraska’s win.

Taylor finished with seven points and six rebounds off the bench, but his defense in the first half was as good as ever and his scoring started at a pivotal juncture during NU’s 8-0 run to break a 62-62 tie.

In fact, after Hurt tied it up with 9:40 remaining, Taylor recorded four of his points and four of his rebounds to close out the game, including his clutch 3-pointer in the final minutes.