Nebraska rallies from 16 down to top Indiana 60-55
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) Terran Petteway scored 13 of his 18 points in the second half, and Nebraska came back from a 16-point deficit to defeat Indiana 60-55 on Thursday night.
The Cornhuskers (11-9, 3-5 Big Ten) won for the third time in four games and back-to-back conference games for the first time in their three years in the Big Ten. They also improved to 10-1 at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
The Hoosiers (13-8, 3-5) have lost three of their last four.
Shavon Shields and Walter Pitchford scored 11 points apiece and Ray Gallegos added 10 for Nebraska.
Yogi Ferrell, who made 4 of 7 3-pointers, led the Hoosiers with 14 points. Will Sheehey and Stanford Robinson had 12 apiece. Noah Vonleh, the Hoosiers' freshman sensation and the Big Ten's top rebounder, was held to seven points and three boards.
Petteway, coming off a 35-point game against Minnesota, drained a huge 3-pointer with the shot clock running down to put the Huskers up 56-50 with 2:04 to play. The Hoosiers got within 58-55 on Ferrell's 3-pointer with 47 seconds to play but could get no closer.
The Hoosiers had their chances to come back as Nebraska went just 4 of 8 from the free-throw line in the last 1:09. But they committed four turnovers and missed four of five shots in the last 7 minutes.
Nathan Hawkins' 3-pointer - his first basket since Dec. 14 - tied it at 46 for Nebraska, and Shields made two free throws to give the Huskers their first lead since early in the game. Pitchford followed an Indiana turnover with a 3-pointer to put Nebraska up by five.
The Huskers, down 32-19 at half, outscored the Hoosiers 20-8 to start the second half and close to 40-39.
Petteway hit a 3 and Shields took a charge from Vonleh before Gallegos converted a four-point play to make it a four-point game. Petteway sat out less than 2 minutes after committing his third foul, and when he came back he made a jumper in the lane to pull the Huskers to 40-39.
Indiana went scoreless for more than 6 minutes and almost 7 minutes without a field goal before Vonleh's hook shot in the lane put the Hoosiers up 43-39. But Petteway's baseline jumper and a couple of free throws by Tai Webster tied it 43-all with 8:54 left.
The teams combined for 23 turnovers in a grinding first half, and Vonleh finished with five on the night. Indiana outscored the Huskers 30-12 after the first 3 minutes of the half to lead 32-19.
It was the lowest-scoring half for the Huskers this season and matched the fewest points allowed in a half by Indiana, since Evansville scored 19 on Nov. 26.
The Huskers struggled against Indiana's zone defense and went scoreless over two spans of more than 5 minutes. The Hoosiers used runs of 12-0 and 17-2 to take control, and their good work on the defensive end allowed them to survive a field-goal drought that stretched 7 1/2 minutes.