The Huskers trailed at the half, but used runs of 12-2 and 15-0 after the break to run away from the Trojans.
No. 12 Nebraska outscored USC 51-31 over the final 20 minutes to win, 82-67. The Huskers improved to 25-4 on the year and 14-4 in the Big Ten Conference, while the Trojans fell to 18-11 overall and 7-11 in the league.
Nebraska didn't need five minutes to score this time, but neither did USC. After an 8-0 run, the Huskers led by five points and more than 13 minutes to go in the half. But just over a minute later, Sam Hoiberg committed his second foul. That sent him to the bench with 11:40 left.After Hoiberg's foul, USC closed the half by outscoring Nebraska 26-16. Still, the lead never reached double figures, with Pryce Sandfort getting a layup in the final minute to send the teams to the break with a 36-31 score.A Sandfort steal on the opening possession turned into a Hoiberg layup. That sparked a 12-2 run for Nebraska. After the difference grew to nine points in favor of Nebraska, USC showed some signs of life with back-to-back baskets in a span of 12 seconds. But then came the kill shot*.The Huskers ripped off a 15-0 run to push the lead to 66-46. The Trojans turned up the full-court pressure, but never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.Nebraska shot 44.1% for the game, including 8-of-23 on three-pointers. USC made 45.1% of its shots, making 4-of-21 from deep.A giant difference came in the number of shots taken, with Nebraska getting 17 more shots up, thanks to an 18-5 advantage on offensive rebounds. The Huskers grabbed 41 total rebounds to just 25 for the Trojans. Sandfort scored a game-high 32 points, making five three-pointers. He is now six made triples away from setting a new Big Ten single-season record.The Bruins are 19-10 on the year and 11-7 in the Big Ten. They're coming off a 78-73 loss at Minnesota from earlier on Saturday.The win moves Nebraska into sole possession of second place in the Big Ten Conference. The Huskers are a half-game ahead of Michigan State, which is at Indiana tomorrow. Michigan clinched the regular-season title and top seed in the Big Ten Conference Tournament earlier this week. The Wolverines are 17-1. Besides NU, UM, and MSU, others fighting for a top-four seed in the league tournament are Illinois , Purdue , and Wisconsin . The top four seeds receive a triple-bye to the conference tournament quarterfinals.Nebraska entered the day squarely on the 3-line, though some bracketologists started to put NU as a 4-seed. When the NCAA selection committeeBy the metrics, the Huskers opened Saturday at 12th in the NET, 18th in KPI, 5th in SOR, 11th in WAB, 17th in BPI, 12th in the KenPom, and 16th in the Torvik. While Nebraska is fighting for as high a seed as possible, the order of the teams with the Huskers is just as important. The two closest first weekend sites are St. Louis and Oklahoma City. NU is fighting with, and likely behind at the moment, Kansas, Iowa State, Houston, Illinois, and Purdue.Nov. 11 Nebarska 69, Maryland-Eastern Shore 50Nov. 20 Nebraska 84, New Mexico 72 Dec. 30 Nebraska 86, New Hampshire 55Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.Nebraska's NCAA Tournament Fear Frontier
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