Nebraska hosted Minnesota in a huge game for its NCAA Tournament hopes on Saturday inside a sold-out and striped-out Pinnacle Bank Arena.
The Huskers, though, didn't step up to the occasion and lost 67-65 to Ben Johnson's Gophers as an Andrew Morgan desperation 3 at the buzzer didn't fall.
The win improves Minnesota's overall record to 15-14 and its Big Ten mark to 7-11. Nebraska falls to 17-12, 7-11 and has lost three straight and four of the last five.
Here are three quick thoughts on the game:
Yet another bad start gave Minnesota confidence
Slow starts have plagued Nebraska for much of its Big Ten slate this season. There was another Saturday.
Hard to believe those poor stretches early in games continue to happen, especially in an uber-important game the Huskers needed to win for its NCAA Tournament life.
The Husker fans showed up ready to rock the ears off Minnesota. But the Husker players didn't have any urgency at the opening tip and the Gophers were the more physical team, bringing the fight to the hosts. At one point in the first half, Minnesota led by 16 points, 33-17.
Thanks to a 9-2 run to end the first half, Nebraska cut its deficit to 9 points, 35-26.
Sam Hoiberg sparked the epic comeback with an effort play, but the Huskers couldn't finish
After trailing 44-26 and getting outscored 9-0 in the first three minutes of the second half, Nebraska woke up, and in a big way.
A 25-6 run from the Huskers erased the deep hole they were in and had the Huskers leading 55-54 with 6:28 left.
That massive run was sparked by an effort play from Sam Hoiberg, who saved a loose ball from going out of bounds under his own hoop. Juwan Gary was able to get a tie-up and Nebraska had possession. The Huskers used that extra possession well as Connor Essegian drilled a 3 that pumped life in the PBA crowd.
But Minnesota just had too many answers, especially from guard Brennan Rigsby. The Oregon transfer sank his fifth 3-pointer of the game with 4.1 seconds left to put the Gophers up 67-65.
Rigsby came into the game averaging 4.3 points and scored 20 off the bench Saturday, a career-high.
Nebraska's NCAA Tournament hopes took a major hit
Nebraska couldn't afford to lose to Minnesota, but it did. Now there's an ugly Quad 3 loss on the résumé with a road game at Ohio State on Tuesday. The game with the Buckeyes will be a Quad 1 opportunity.
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