Boo Buie scored 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 6-of-11 shooting from 3-point range, and Northwestern cruised to an 87-63 win over Nebraska in a Big Ten Conference matchup Saturday afternoon at Lincoln, Neb.
Chase Audige added 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting for Northwestern (11-10, 4-8), which won back-to-back games for the first time since December. Ryan Young added 12 points off the bench while making 5 of 9 shots from the field.
C.J. Wilcher scored 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting to lead Nebraska (6-17, 0-12), which remained winless in the conference and lost its 10th game in a row. Bryce McGowens finished with 10 points but shot only 2 of 8 overall and 1 of 3 from beyond the arc.
Northwestern shot 48.5 percent (32 of 66) overall and 41.9 percent (13 of 31) from long distance. By comparison, Nebraska shot 45.1 percent (23 of 51) overall and 38.9 percent (7 of 18) from beyond the arc.
The Wildcats built their largest lead at 35 points with 4:53 remaining in the game. Julian Roper II made a layup to give Northwestern an 87-52 advantage.
Nebraska closed the game on an 11-0 run but by then the score was far out of reach.
Northwestern built a 49-27 lead at the half.
Nebraska led 10-8 in the first 5 1/2 minutes before the Wildcats seized control. Northwestern went on a 35-12 run to go ahead 43-22 with 4:48 remaining in the first half.
Ryan Greer scored seven straight points for Northwestern during the run with a 3-pointer, a jump shot and a pair of free throws. He then assisted on the Wildcats’ next basket, a layup by Young.
Pete Nance made a free throw to increase Northwestern’s lead to 22 points in the final minute of the first half. Nebraska’s Derrick Walker capped the scoring with a layup to cut the deficit to 20 at the half.
Buie had 16 points and a pair of steals at the break to lead Northwestern.
Wilcher paced the Cornhuskers with 13 of his team’s 27 first-half points.
–Field Level Media
