Behind a career-high 27 points from Jamarques Lawrence, the 10th-ranked Nebraska basketball team erased a 16-point second-half deficit and rallied for an 83-77 win at Indiana Saturday at Assembly Hall.
Nebraska found itself down 51-35 three minutes into the second half. But fueled by a pair of double-digit scoring runs, the Huskers out-scored the Hoosiers by 22 over the final 17 minutes to remain unbeaten, improving to 16-0 overall and 5-0 in Big Ten play.
Lawrence scored 16 points in the second half to lead the comeback. He hit 8-of-13 shots from the field in the game – including tying his career high with five 3-pointers – to lead Nebraska with 27 points while adding five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Rienk Mast (13 points), Pryce Sandfort (12) and Braden Frager (11) also scored in double-figures. Cale Jacobsen was big off the bench with seven points, as he had a perfect shooting night from the field (2-of-2), from the 3-point line (1-of-1) and from the free throw line (2-of-2). Berke Buyuktuncel added eight points, four rebounds and four assists, while Sam Hoiberg scored five points and had a team-high five assists with three steals.
Lamar Wilkerson led Indiana with 32 points. The Hoosiers fell to 12-4 on the season and 3-2 in conference play. Nebraska handed Indiana its first home loss of the season, as the Hoosiers had been 10-0 at home.
In the first half, Nebraska got off to a strong start behind Mast, who had all six of his first-half points in a game-opening 14-7 spurt as his back-to-back baskets gave the Huskers their largest lead of the half at the 13:46 mark.
Indiana came right back as 3-pointers from Tucker DeVries and Nick Dorn cut the lead to 14-13 before 3-poitners from Sandfort and Lawrence put NU up 20-15 with 9:26 left in the half.
Lawrence had 11 first-half points, including a trio of 3-pointers, as Nebraska shot 40 percent from the field, including 6-of-18 from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
From that point, Indiana got going offensively, hitting 10 of its final 12 shots from the field in the half to erase Nebraska’s early lead. Indiana used a 10-3 run to take a 25-23 lead on a basket from Connor Enright with just over six minutes remaining in the half.
Nebraska fought back and led 28-27 after a Jacobsen basket with 5:03 left, but the Hoosiers closed the half on a 12-2 spurt to take a 39-30 lead into the locker room.
Indiana then opened the second half on a 10-4 run to build its 16-point lead. Nebraska began chipping away at the deficit with a quick 5-0 spurt that trimmed the lead to 11. The Huskers continued to trail by double-digits until a 13-0 run tied the game. Hoiberg, Sandfort and Lawrence each knocked down a 3-pointer during the run.
Indiana responded with a 6-0 run to lead by six with eight minutes remaining. But Nebraska scored 10 straight points during a larger 16-1 run, as the Huskers turned the six-point deficit into a 75-66 lead with 3:41 remaining. NU led by at least six for the rest of the game, helping secure the victory by hitting 11-of-14 free throws in the second half.
The Huskers return home Tuesday as the Huskers welcome Oregon to Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tipoff for the sold out matchup between the Huskers and Ducks is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be carried on BTN and the Husker Sports Radio Network.
Nebraska Postgame Notes
* – Nebraska improves to 16-0 for the first time in school history and extends its win streak to a school-record 20 games.
*-Nebraska improves to 5-0 in Big Ten play, its best start since opening Big Eight play with a 7-0 record in 1965-66.
*-The Huskers also improved to 3-0 on the road in conference play for the first time since the 1975-76 season when the Huskers won its first four conference road games.
*-Today’s win was NU’s fifth straight in the series dating back to Jan. 3, 2024. It is NU’s longest win streak in the all-time series.
*-Nebraska overcame a 16-point deficit with 17:42 remaining. It was the second 16-point deficit NU has overcome this season (also vs. Oklahoma) and third time this year NU has overcome a double-figure deficit. NU has 5 comebacks of 10+ points in the win streak dating back to last season
*-Nebraska won its second straight in Assembly Hall (also during 2023-24) and has four of the last seven meetings in Bloomington since Dec. 28, 2016.
*-Nebraska picked up its fifth Quad 1 win of the season
*-Jamarques Lawrence finished with a career-high 27 points, topping his previous best of 21 set against New Mexico on Nov. 20. It is his third career 20-point game and second of the season. Lawrence tied his career best with five 3-pointers, set four other times. In NU’s last two wins in Bloomington, Lawrence is 10-13 from 3-point range.
*-Nebraska hit 14 3-pointers on the day, the 10th time this season NU has reached double-digit 3-pointers,
*-Rienk Mast grabbed his 1,000th career rebound on Saturday. He is now one of only three active Division I players with 1,000+ rebounds (Carson Towt, Notre Dame; Grahan Ike, Gonzaga). Mast finished with 13 points and six rebounds and has 1,003 career boards.
*-Nebraska with a 13-0 second-half run, the 19th double-figures run for the Huskers this season
*-Sam Hoiberg finished with three steals, his ninth multi-steal game of the season
*-Braden Frager finished with 11 points, the 10th time he has had double figures off the bench.
