As a game seemingly neither team wanted to win wore on into the second half, Nebraska briefly led Illinois before the wheels fell off, resulting in a 72-56 road loss to the Illini on Tuesday evening in Champaign.
Senior point guard Sam Griesel led all scorers with 21 points – 15 in the first half – on 7-of-17 shooting. Junior guard Keisei Tominaga pitched in 11 points, including three made 3-pointers on four attempts. Senior forward Derrick Walker managed eight points and a team-high six rebounds in just 23 minutes before fouling out.
The first half featured some wild swings, with NU leading by seven at 12-5, then trailing Illinois by eight at 28-20, before knocking down their last six shots of the half. That run cut it to a one-point deficit, 38-37, at halftime.
Nebraska (10-13 overall, 3-9 Big Ten) had the first-half advantage in shooting, 52% to 38%, and drew even on the boards 16-16. But Illinois (16-6, 7-4) made the same number of shots due to an 8-0 edge in second-chance points, helping to provide the slim halftime lead.
The second half started rough for each team. The Illini began just 3-for-11 from the field after the break, including 0-5 from deep. Despite the solid defensive play, the Huskers couldn’t snatch control of the game on offense, starting 2-of-6 themselves and turning it over eight times in six and a half minutes.
Then, finally, a spark.
Trailing by seven, Tominaga stole the ball and buried a three-pointer, making it 48-44. Another Illini giveaway led to sophomore guard C.J. Wilcher hitting another triple. Tominaga nabbed another steal on the ensuing possession, and after a couple missed layups and offensive rebounds, freshman Denim Dawson found the Japanese sharpshooter in the left corner for a third Husker 3-pointer in 47 seconds.
NU had a 50-48 lead with 12 minutes remaining.
Those last 12 minutes were turnover-riddled, bad-shot-driven, and nightmare-fueled for the Huskers.
Even though Illinois missed their next three shots while trailing, all 3-pointers, they proceeded to hit six of their next seven, all layups or dunks. Meanwhile, Nebraska went ice cold, finishing 2-for-14 after taking that brief lead, scoring just 6 points to Illinois’ 24 over the final 12 minutes. NU also added five more turnovers – 13 total in the second half – and did not score a point in the last 4:28 of the contest.
Tuesday featured a first-time starter in redshirt freshman Sam Hoiberg. After scoring a career-high 15 points in Saturday’s loss at Maryland, Hoiberg was one of three freshmen to start, which was the first time since 2016 a Nebraska starting five featured such a lineup. Hoiberg did not score, while fellow freshmen Dawson and Jamarques Lawrence scored two and five points, respectively.
The Huskers will take on Penn State back home in Lincoln on Sunday afternoon. Tipoff inside Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 3:30pm.