MINNEAPOLIS - Behind a record-breaking 3-point shooting performance, the No. 3 seed Nebraska men's basketball team cruised past No. 6 seed Indiana, 93-66, in the Big Ten quarterfinals at the Target Center on Friday night.
The Huskers will face No. 2 seed Illinois in the Big Ten semifinals on Saturday at approximately 2:30 p.m., or 25 minutes following the conclusion of the Noon semifinal between No. 1 seed Purdue and No. 5 seed Wisconsin.
Saturday's game will air on CBS and Husker Sports Network radio affiliates. Nebraska will be appearing in its first-ever Big Ten Tournament semifinal and the first conference tournament semifinal for the program since 2006 (Big 12 vs. Kansas).
The Huskers (23-9) came out on fire, connecting on 12-of-20 (60.0 percent) 3-pointers in the first half to race to a 50-27 lead at halftime - the second game in a row Nebraska scored 50 first-half points. Entering Friday's game, Nebraska's record for most 3-pointers in a conference tournament game was 11 vs. Maryland in 2016. The Huskers beat that in the first half alone on their way to finishing the game 14-of-32 (43.8 percent) from 3. Nebraska shot 50.0 percent overall from the field and held Indiana to 35.3 percent.
Keisei Tominaga scored 23 points and registered a career-high five assists. He hit 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Brice Williams also scored 23 points and hit 4-of-6 from distance and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Jamarques Lawrence added 15 points and was 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Juwan Gary also reached double figures with 11 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Williams scored eight of the Huskers' first 10 points, including two 3-pointers. Indiana (19-14) held a 15-13 lead at the under-12 media timeout, but a triple by Lawrence and back-to-back 3s by Williams helped the Huskers go up 22-17. Tominaga then drove for a layup and hit a 3-pointer to make it 27-17 at the 6:45 mark, capping a 14-2 Husker run.
After Indiana pulled within 33-27, Tominaga fired up the Target Center crowd with back-to-back triples from the top of the arc to give Nebraska a 39-27 lead and spark a 17-0 run to end the half. After Gary drained a pair of free throws, Lawrence and Gary hit back-to-back corner 3s, and Tominaga closed out the half with a 30-footer, his fourth 3-pointer of the half that gave him a team-high 18 points at the break.
The Huskers led by 25 at 54-29 in the second half before Indiana cut it to 56-38 after a 9-2 spurt. But that was as close as the Hoosiers would get, as NU built the lead to as many as 33 points (88-55) before closing out the 93-66 victory.
Josiah Allick led the Big Red on the boards with nine rebounds to go with seven points. Rienk Mast added four points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Nebraska Notes
- Nebraska won its 23rd game of the 2023-24 season, marking the second-most wins in school history.
- Nebraska’s victory marked its first win in a Big Ten Tournament contest since 2019, and tomorrow will be Nebraska’s first-ever appearance in the Big Ten semifinals. The Huskers were last in a conference tournament semifinal in 2006 when the Huskers reached the Big 12 semifinals.
- Nebraska’s 27-point victory marked its largest margin of victory in a Big Ten Tournament game, surpassing a 17-point win over Rutgers in 2016 (89-72). It was also its largest in any conference tournament game in Nebraska history, bettering a 23-point win over Iowa State in 1983 (94-71) in a first-round Big Eight tournament game in Lincoln.
- The win completed a three-game sweep of Indiana, marking the first time Nebraska has defeated a team three times in one season since sweeping three games from Rutgers in 2015-16.
- Nebraska connected on 14-of-32 3-pointers in the game, marking its 16th game this season with at least 10 3-pointers, including all three matchups with Indiana. The Huskers connected on a total of 40 3-pointers in three games against the Hoosiers this season, with at least 12 in each game.
- Nebraska’s 14 3-pointers tied a season high (four times).
- The 14 3-pointers are the most Nebraska has made in a conference tournament game in school history. The previous high was 11 against Maryland in 2016 (31 att.). Nebraska eclipsed that total before halftime with 12 first-half 3-pointers.
- Nebraska scored 50 points in the first half to take a 50-27 halftime lead. It marked the Huskers’ second straight game with 50 first-half points after leading Michigan 50-43 at halftime last Sunday in Ann Arbor.
- Nebraska held Indiana to 35.3 percent shooting in the game, marking the 12th straight game Nebraska has limited the opposition to 43 percent or less.
- Keisei Tominaga scored 23 points, including 18 before halftime. Tonight’s game marked Tominaga’s seventh 20-point game of the season and the 17th of his Nebraska career.
- Tominaga made 4-of-7 3-pointers, including 4-of-6 before halftime. It marked his seventh game this season with at least four 3-pointers.
- Tominaga finished with a career-high five assists, bettering his previous high of four on two occasions earlier this season.
- Brice Williams’ 23 points were his most since scoring a season-high 25 points against Oregon State on Nov. 18. It was his third 20-point game of the season.
- Williams had four 3-pointers in the game, all in the first half. The four 3-pointers tied a career-high.
- Jamarques Lawrence scored 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-4 from the 3-point line. It was Lawrence’s 10th double-figure scoring game of the season with five of those since Feb. 7. Lawrence made at least three 3-pointers for the fifth time this season, including two against Indiana.