Rutgers tops Huskers in a 75-72 buzzer-beater defeat

Leading by six over No. 24 Rutgers with just three minutes left to play after trailing by as many as 14 points, Nebraska found itself as close as ever to finally pulling out its first true road victory of the season and snapping a four-game losing streak.

Instead, just like so many other times before, the breaks started going against the Huskers when it mattered the most, resulting in another tough 75-72 defeat.

After a floater by Cam Mack put NU up 72-66 with 3:09 remaining, Rutgers answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game barely one minute later. Geo Baker then missed a three with 17 seconds left, but RU grabbed the offensive rebound to give Baker another chance to win it.

Baker drilled the game-winning 3-pointer with just 1.2 seconds on the clock to seal the win and improve the Scarlet Knights to a perfect 14-0 at home. His shot also handed Nebraska a fifth straight loss and dropped it to 0-7 in true road games.

“Obviously I’m proud of the way the guys responded to adversity,” head coach Fred Hoiberg told the Husker Sports Network. “We had two double-digit deficits that we dug ourselves into … and our guys could’ve folded in a very difficult environment. (Rutgers) is 14-0 in this building for a reason.”

Thorir Thorbjarnarson got Nebraska going right away with two early 3-pointers to spark a 9-2 lead out of the gates, which was aided by Rutgers missing seven of its first eight shots.

It didn’t take long for the Scarlet Knights to settle things down, though, as they responded with an 11-2 run of their own to take the lead. The teams traded leads eight times in the first half, with Rutgers taking the largest margin at 30-28 on an alley-oop to Ron Harper Jr. with five minutes left in the half.

Nebraska rallied once again with eight straight points to go back up 31-30, but RU went into halftime on an 8-2 rally and led 38-33 at the break.

The Huskers were able to stay within reach by hitting five 3-pointers, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, and only getting out-rebounded 21-20 in the first half. That was especially impressive considering point guard Cam Mack played just 10 minutes after picking up two early fouls.

Mack opened the second half with a 3-pointer to get it back within two, but Rutgers completely took the game over from there. A missed layup by Yvan Ouedraogo sparked a 13-2 run by the Scarlet Knights to push their lead up to 51-38.

“We knew they were going to go on runs in this game; they do it every time they play in this building,” Hoiberg said. “We just had to continue to play the right way, keep our poise, and go out there and move the ball.”

Just when it seemed as if the Huskers were dead in the water, though, they clawed their way back to cut the deficit down to 62-61 with just under nine minutes still to play. A pair of free throws by Charlie Easley put NU up 63-62 for its first lead since the 2:07 mark of the first half.

Nebraska would end up going on an 18-2 run to go up by as much as 67-62 with just over six minutes left to play. But the Huskers would only manage five more points the rest of the day and were scoreless over the final 3:09.

Baker and Akwasi Yeboah tied it up at 72-72 with consecutive threes, and Yeboah’s offensive rebound on the final possession set up Baker’s game-winner, as Rutgers closed on a 9-0 run.

Mack scored 16 of his team-high 19 points in the second half to go along with four assists, while Thorbjarnarson matched his career-high with 17 points and was 5-of-8 from behind the arc.

Overall, the Huskers were only outrebounded 42-35 and tied Rutgers with 30 points in the paint. But the Scarlet Knights still held a 17-5 advantage in second-chance points (11-2 in the second half) and blocked seven NU shots.

Yeboah led Rutgers with 20 points while Myles Johnson scored nine with 11 rebounds. Baker was the hero of the game despite being held scoreless for the first 37:15 of the game and scoring all six of his points inside the final three minutes.

Nebraska will return home on Tuesday after playing four of its past five games on the road, with Michigan coming to town for a 6 p.m. tip on ESPNU.

“I hope everybody appreciates how our guys are playing right now,” Hoiberg said. “I feel for them. They deserved this win. Again, if you keep playing like this, it’s going to happen here soon.”

1. You can’t question this team’s fight

Nebraska is a flawed team in many ways, and some of the same issues that have plagued it all season reared their ugly heads again at Rutgers.

But despite those shortcomings, the Huskers continue to make massive strides in one of the most important areas of needed growth – fighting through adversity.

After once again falling behind by double-digit deficits in the first and second halves, NU managed to rally together and reclaim the lead on both occasions. While the Scarlet Knights got the last laugh with a late victory, games like this are so critical for Hoiberg’s program.

At the beginning of the season or even a month ago, this team would have crumbled under that type of adversity, especially in a sold-out road environment against one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten.

This season is all about taking success in forms beyond just wins, and what the Huskers showed on Saturday was another very encouraging silver lining.

2. Nebraska’s bench came up big

Mack and Thorbjarnarson will get much of the credit for keeping Nebraska in this game until the end, as they should.

But the Huskers needed everyone who stepped on the floor to contribute, and that’s exactly what they got. The three bench players in their eight-man rotation – Easley, Green, and Kevin Cross – all played 17 or more minutes, with Easley getting a career-high 23 as the first sub.

That trio combined for 22 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, and two steals, with Green leading the way with 11 points. That marked Green’s highest-scoring output since the loss at Georgia Tech on Dec. 4, while Easley’s seven points were one off his career-high.

Hoiberg was very complimentary of Green’s impact in sparking some transition offense and driving through contact at the rim. He also praised the number of effort plays Easley made on the defensive end, including a few tipped passes that turned possessions.

Easley had a couple of tough misses late in the game, including a corner three with 47 seconds left and Nebraska leading 72-69. Hoiberg, however, didn’t mind that shot one bit.

“I’ll tell you this; I’ll bet a lot of money on Charlie Easley making that corner three,” Hoiberg said.

3. The lulls after halftime have to stop

Nebraska could make life much easier if it could find a way to avoid the extended lapses that allow opponents to such big leads.

The Huskers have now faced deficits of 18, 25, 19, 17, and now 14 points over their past five games, and a concerning trend is starting to develop in that regard with how poorly they’re coming back out after halftime.

After Mack hit a 3-pointer to open the second half, Rutgers immediately responded with a 17-5 run to take its largest lead of the day. In Tuesday night’s loss at Wisconsin, the Badgers started the second half on a 20-4 run.

In the home loss to Indiana two games ago, the Hoosiers hit 10 of their first 13 shots after halftime to take a 19-point advantage.

To Nebraska’s credit, it was able to chip away at those deficits and get the games back within reach. But there’s a reason all five of those games ended in losses, and if this slump is ever going to end, the Huskers have to figure out how to bring more energy after the break.