Box Score

CHADRON – Western State’s Travis Shepherd scored 26 points, including nine of the Mountaineers’ final 10 points, as they outlasted Chadron State 69-66 Saturday night in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game.

The Eagles, now 0-6, fought back from an 18-point deficit in the first half but were never able to take the lead as Western State (3-3, 2-0 RMAC) led the wire-to-wire.

Chadron State trailed 28-10 midway through the first half but the Eagles went on a 17-6 scoring run over for minutes and trailed the Mountaineers 45-37 at intermission.

The Eagles opened the second half strongly and pulled within 59-57 with eight minutes to play and tied it twice during the final stretch but Shepherd’s hot hand kept the Mountaineers ahead.

CSC did have a chance to tie the game at the buzzer but a desperation 3-pointer rang off the rim.

Zac Bargen led Chadron State with 24 points and added five rebounds and four assists. Grant Stone had his first career double double with 12 points and 15 rebounds and Kyle Vinich scored nine points and added five boards off the bench.

In addition to Shepherd, Western State’s Terrence Boyd scored 13 points, all in the first half.

Both teams struggled shooting. Western State finished 26 of 61 from the floor, while Chadron State sank 22 of 61. The Eagles also made 17 of 28 free throws and Western hit 10 of 21.

Alex Helmbrecht, Sports Information Director

INDIANAPOLIS (AP and Huskers.com) – Montee Ball ran for 201 yards and three touchdowns, and Wisconsin rushed for the 539 yards to rout No. 14 Nebraska  70-31 in the Big Ten title game on Saturday night.

The Badgers (8-5, 4-4 Big Ten) are the first team to reach the Rose Bowl with five losses, are the first Big Ten team to make it in three straight years since Michigan in the late 1970s.  They also tied Texas’ record for most points in a conference championship game.

It was a fitting end to a wacky Big Ten season that pitted the Cornhuskers (10-3, 7-1), the Legends Division champ, against the third-place team from the Leaders Division…a team they’d beaten in the regular season by 3 after trailing by double digit-digits in the second half.

Nebraska never had a chance this time, with Ball and his teammates running wild as three men each gained over 100 yards against the Blackshirt defense. Melvin Gordon ran for 217 yards and one TD, while James White had 108 yards, four TDs and one TD pass.

Wisconsin took control of the game on the opening drive, as Melvin Gordon exploded for a 56-yard touchdown run to jump to a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the action.

On Nebraska’s first offensive play, the Badgers got the game’s first break as Martinez’s pass to the sideline went through wide receiver Kenny Bell’s hands. The ball fell right into the hands of Wisconsin’s Marc Cromartie, who sprinted 29 yards for a touchdown to put the Badgers up 14-0 with 12:53 left.

On NU’s next drive Martinez made up for NU’s miscue, racing 76 yards on 3rd-and-11 after retreating all the way to the NU 6 while eluding four Badgers in the backfield. Martinez made everybody miss and ended up in the end zone with 10:58 left in the first quarter, cutting Wisconsin’s lead to 14-7.

The Blackshirts forced a three-and-out on the Badgers’ next drive, and Martinez marched the Huskers 76 yards in 10 plays. The drive stalled in the Wisconsin red zone, but Brett Maher booted a 32-yard field goal to cut the Badger lead to 14-10 with 4:46 left in the first.

While it appeared the Huskers had quickly battled their way back into the game, Wisconsin outscored NU 28-0 in the next 16 minutes to take a 42-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Nebraska produced numerous second-half comebacks throughout the season, including a 17-point rally for a 30-27 win over Wisconsin in this year’s Big Ten opener for both teams. But NU’s hopes for the largest comeback in school history ended quickly in the second half, after the Huskers turned the ball over on their opening drive of the second half and Wisconsin capitalized immediately with a nine-yard touchdown run from Montee Ball to go up 49-10 less than a minute into the third quarter.

Ball finished the game with 202 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries, including a 57-yard touchdown run. Gordon’s day was even more explosive for the Badgers, as he covered 216 yards with one score on just nine carries. Gordon covered 198 yards on his first five rushes of the game.

James White gave the Badgers a third 100-yard rusher with 109 yards and four touchdowns on just nine carries. White also threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Sam Arneson to end a spectacular first half for the Badgers that included trick play after trick play.

Wisconsin rushed for 539 yards among its 640 yards of total offense against a Nebraska defense that had been playing its best football of the season during November. The 539 rushing yards by the Badgers were the most ever allowed by a Husker defense, bettering the 506 yards by Oklahoma on Nov. 24, 1956. The 70 points allowed by the Huskers tied for the second most allowed by Nebraska in school history.

Badger quarterback Curt Phillips completed 6-of-8 passes for 71 yards. Jared Abbrederis added a 27-yard completion to Phillips in the first half, while White’s touchdown pass to Arneson put Wisconsin’s passing total for the game at 101 yards.

Nebraska amassed 477 yards of total offense against a stout Wisconsin defense, including 282 rushing yards and 195 passing yards. But big plays by the Badgers all night were too much for the Huskers to overcome.

Martinez finished with 140 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, while completing 18-of-33 passes for 184 yards. But he did throw two interceptions and lost one fumble on the night. It was Martinez’s 13th 100-yard rushing game of his career.

Rex Burkhead added 61 yards on the ground on 11 carries, while also completing an 11-yard pass for the Huskers.

Box Score

CHADRON—Both teams had four players score in double figures on Saturday night, but the Chadron State leaders got more help from their teammates as the Eagles defeated Western State of Colorado 78-70 in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game in Chadron.

The Chadron State double digit quartet was led by Kattie Ranta, who scored 19 points, Dallas Shaw 15, Jazmin Lopez 14 and Kate Simonton 13, for a total of 61.

For Western State, Desiree Smith tallied 22, Jade McIntosh 16, Raven Taylor 14 and Natalie Markovich 13, for a total of 65.

However, four more Eagles contributed 17 points while just two more Mountaineers reached the scorebook and added just five points.

The win was the first of the season for the Eagles after four losses. Coach Tim Connealy said he was happy with his team’s ball movement. He said it contributed to fewer turnovers and more accurate shooting.

The Eagles sank 26 of their 51 field goal attempts compared to only 13 of 52 during an 87-43 loss to Colorado Mesa on Friday night.

Chadron State still had 19 turnovers against Western State, nine more than the Mountaineers. But the Eagles out-rebounded the visitors 37 to 29, helping CSC get 14 more field goal attempts.

Shaw led all rebounders with eight while Sadie Waugh grabbed seven and Ranta six for CSC. Markovich paced Western with seven, and Taylor collected six.

The Eagles led 39-33 at halftime and never trailed in the second half, although the score was tied at 44-45.

Con Marshall, Information Services

Thramer and Haggerty both had four kills in the first set, while Cook tabbed 15 assists. Nebraska hit .289 in the set, while Northern Iowa hit .128. Both teams totaled two team blocks in the set.

The Huskers used the momentum from the end of the first set to take an 8-5 lead in the second set following another ace from Haggerty. Thramer came on strong for the Huskers, notching two kills and a double-stuff block with Mancuso to make it 11-6, Huskers. Northern Iowa started to make a run, notching three consecutive points as Nebraska was forced to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Broekhuis tallied two kills, helping Nebraska to the 25-16 second-set win.

Broekhuis had four kills in the set, while Mancuso, Thramer and Werth all had three. Cook notched 13 assists as Nebraska hit .607 in the set and had one team block.

Nebraska came out in the third set and took a 4-1 lead over the Panthers, but UNI came fighting back to take a 9-7 lead. The Huskers would string together a 6-0 run to take a 13-9 advantage, punctuated by a kill from Thramer as Northern Iowa used its final timeout. A kill by Werth made it 19-15, Nebraska, while the Huskers used a kill from Mancuso to take the third set 25-21 and sweep Northern Iowa.

Mancuso and Werth both had four kills in the final set, while Cook notched 14 assists. Nebraska hit. 282 in the set and had two team blocks.

With the win, the Huskers advance to the Omaha Regional and will face the winner of the first and second rounds in Seattle, Wash. Fans can purchase tickets for next weekend’s matches through Ticketmaster.