Isaac Copeland recorded a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds and Nebraska led wire-to-wire, defeating Penn State by a 76-64 margin to reach the 22-win mark to close the regular season in front of a sellout crowd of 15,991 on Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Nebraska improves to 22-9 in the regular season, and 13-5 in the Big Ten, the most conference wins in a season in school history. The Huskers also finished the Big Ten season unbeaten at home, the first time NU has accomplished that since the 1965-66 season. On the season, NU went 16-1 at Pinnacle Bank Arena, which marks the best home season by winning percentage since 1982-83. Penn State falls to 19-12 on the year and 9-9 in the league.

With the win, Nebraska clinches the fourth seed in this week’s Big Ten Tounament, which is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. With the fourth-place finish, NU earned a double-bye and will play its first game in New York in the quarterfinal round on Friday.

Copeland led four Huskers in double figures, as Isaiah Roby scored 13 points and added seven boards while batting both an illness and foul trouble. Glynn Watson Jr. and James Palmer Jr. both talled 11 points, while seniors Anton Gill and Evan Taylor added nine and seven points, respectively, on Senior Day. Nebraska honored Gill and Taylor, as well as Duby Okeke and Malcolm Laws prior to the game.

The story early on Sunday Copeland who hit his first three shots and scored Nebraska’s first seven points, including a dunk over a Penn State defender to begin the game.

The two teams were closely matched early on, before Nebraska embarked on an 11-0 run midway through the first half that put the Big Red on top 19-7. Jordy Tshimanga scored the last six points of that run, forcing a Penn State timeout.

Nebraska continued to play well on both sides of the ball, going on a 6-0 run of its own to take a 25-10 lead, as Penn State would not cut the lead to single digits for the rest of the half before NU took its largest lead of the half into the break at 34-17.

The Huskers held Penn State to just 26 percent from the floor in the first half, and just 16 percent from long range. Nebraska shot 44 percent in the half and outscored Penn State 26-8 in the painted area, while holding a 17-0 advantage in points off the bench.

Copeland led the Huskers with 10 first-half points, while Tshimanga had eight tallies.

Out of the break at halftime, Penn State scored the first five points of the second half, but NU held off that surge and went on a 6-0 run to take a 41-22 lead on a dunk from James Palmer Jr.

The Huskers went on a 6-0 run midway through the half to give Nebraska its largest lead of the game at 49-28, capped by a three-pointer from Gill.

Tony Carr kept Penn State within striking distance, scoring the next 14 Penn State points to cut the NU lead to 61-46, before baskets from Roby and Copeland put NU ahead 66-48. Watson scored five-consecutive points to give Nebraska a 71-57 lead, and the Huskers cruised to the finish line and iced the game at the charity stripe.

For the game, Nebraska hit nearly 50 percent of its shots from the floor, and outscored Penn State 46-28 in the paint. NU dominated the boards on Sunday, outrebounding Penn State by a 45-28 total, with 14 of NU’s boards of the offensive variety, leading to a 22-6 advantage in second-chance points. The Nebraska bench outscored Penn State’s, 32-8, and NU held Penn State to 40 percent shooting, well below its average of 47 percent coming into the afternoon.

Carr, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, led the Nittany Lions with 27 points, including 19 in the second half. Lamar Stevens added 13 points, while Shep Garner added 11 tallies.

The Huskers will travel to New York City Wednesday, and await their opponent in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament. Nebraska will face the winner of the matchup between Michigan and the winner of the game between the 12 and 13 seeds.

 

 

 

Nebraska rallied from a 14-point deficit with less than 15 minutes left to take a 75-74 lead with 48 seconds remaining, before falling 77-75 at No. 13 Maryland on Sunday afternoon.

With the loss, Nebraska slipped to 20-9 overall to finish 11-5 in the Big Ten to earn the No. 3 seed in next week’s Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. No. 13 Maryland claimed the No. 2 seed in the tournament by improving to 23-6 overall and 12-4 in the Big Ten.

Husker sophomore guard Hannah Whitish buried a corner three with 48 seconds left to cap Nebraska’s 14-point second-half comeback and give the Big Red a one-point lead, just their second lead of the game since opening with a Nicea Eliely three-pointer.

Whitish, who finished with a team-high 14 points, also took the shot to win it for the Huskers in the closing seconds, a three-pointer from the right wing with NU trailing 77-75. Whitish’s shot was true but hit back iron and caromed off as time expired.

In addition to 14 points and four three-pointers from Whitish, Nebraska got 13 points and a trio of threes from senior guard Janay Morton off the bench. Eliely added 11 points, five rebounds and three assists, while junior forward Maddie Simon added 10 points, six rebounds and three assists to give the Huskers four players in double figures.

Following Whitish’s three to take the lead, Maryland’s Stephanie Jones was fouled on a put-back attempt in the paint and made both free throws with 26.3 seconds left to regain a 76-75 lead for the Terps. A failed possession for Nebraska and a pair of fouls send Kaila Charles to the line for Maryland with 13.2 seconds left. Charles, who finished with game highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Terps, made the second of two free throws to give Maryland a 77-75 lead and set up the last-second drama.

Jones finished with seven points and 11 rebounds for the Terps, while Eleanna Christinaki added 13 points and five rebounds. Brianna Fraser pitched in 12 points off the bench, while Channise Lewis managed 10 points.

As a team, Nebraska hit 29-of-67 shots from the field (.433), including 11-of-29 threes (.379) while knocking down 6-of-8 free throws. The Huskers lost the rebounding battle, 47-33, as Maryland outscored the Huskers 21-11 in second-chance points. Nebraska balanced the rebounding disadvantage by winning the turnover battle 13-7, despite consistent full-court pressure from the Terps. The Huskers outscored Maryland 18-8 in points off turnovers.

Maryland hit 27-of-64 (.422) of its shots, including 8-of-17 three-pointers, and knocked down 15-of-23 free throws.

Nebraska struggled in the first half with foul trouble and injuries. The Huskers, who were playing without reserve center Darrien Washington (shoulder) and reserve point guard Bria Stallworth (ankle), were strapped with early foul trouble from starting center Kate Cain and senior guard Jasmine Cincore. Late in the first quarter, the Huskers also lost freshman guard Taylor Kissinger to an arm injury while she dove on the floor for a loose ball.

While scrapping to mix their lineup, the Huskers fell behind 37-23 with 4:37 left in the second quarter after trailing 22-17 at the end of the first quarter. But behind redshirt sophomore post Rachel Blackburn and senior guard Janay Morton, the Huskers rallied. Blackburn scored eight second-quarter points, while Morton added five in the quarter. A three-pointer by senior guard Emily Wood with one minute left slashed the Terrapin lead to 42-36 before Charles scored on a layup with five seconds left to send the Terps to the locker room with a 44-36 edge.

Charles led all scorers with 13 points in the half, while reserve post Brianna Fraser added eight first-half points for the Terps. Jones, Lewis, Christinaki and Sarah Myers each add five first-half points for Maryland, which hit 17-of-35 shots (.486) including 5-of-10 three-pointers.

The Huskers hit 14-of-32 (.438) first-half shots, including 5-of-14 threes. Blackburn scored a season-high eight points on 4-of-4 shooting in 11 minutes off the bench in the first half. Simon added six points and five rebounds, while Morton, Whitish and Eliely each added five points for the Huskers. Nebraska won the first-half turnover battle 7-5 and outscored Maryland 10-5 in points off turnovers, but Maryland outrebounded Nebraska 21-17 and outscored the Huskers 15-4 in second-chance points in the half.

Maryland rebuilt a 14-point lead with 4:48 left in the third quarter but the Big Red refused to go away. Christinaki put the Terps up 59-45, before Morton sparked the Huskers with a three-pointer and Whitish followed with another three to cut the margin back to 10 at 61-51 with 3:10 to play in the quarter. Back-to-back baskets by Simon and Eliely, followed by a pair of free throws by Morton with 48.7 seconds left trimmed the margin to five at 62-57. Eliely then gave the Huskers another lift with her athletic tip-in at the buzzer to send the Huskers to the fourth quarter trailing just 64-59.

Maryland quickly pushed the lead back to double-digits at 69-59 on Christinaki’s three with 7:32 left, before back-to-back threes by seniors Morton and Wood cut the edge to 69-65. Cain and Cincore then combined for seven points for the Huskers to set up Whitish’s lead-changing three with 48 seconds left.