Big Ten MBB Scores and Standings (11/9)

[Alum-Ni]

#3 Kansas 87, Michigan State 74
#7 Purdue 96, Bellarmine 67
#11 Illinois 71, Jackson State 47
#17 Ohio State 67, Akron 66
#21 Maryland 83, Quinnipiac 69
Indiana 68, Eastern Michigan 62
Wisconsin 81, St. Francis (NY) 58
Northwestern 80, Eastern Illinois 56
Western Illinois 75, Nebraska 74
Minnesota 71, Missouri-Kansas City 56
Cockeye 106, Longwood 73

Standings
Illinois (1-0)
Indiana (1-0)
Cockeye (1-0)
Maryland (1-0)
Minnesota (1-0)
Northwestern (1-0)
Ohio State (1-0)
Purdue (1-0)
Wisconsin (1-0)
Michigan (0-0)
Penn State (0-0)
Rutgers (0-0)
Michigan State (0-1)
Nebraska (0-1)

Games for Wednesday, November 10
Buffalo at #6 Michigan (5:30 PM - BTN)
Lehigh at Rutgers (6:00 PM - BTN+)
Youngstown State at Penn State (7:30 PM - BTN)

Next Nebraska Game - Friday, November 12
Sam Houston State at Nebraska (7:30 PM - BTN+)

 

[Alum-Ni]

Huskers Fall in Final Seconds of Season Opener
Huskers.com

Lincoln – Nebraska rallied to erase two seven-point leads in the second half and led by four with less than a minute remaining, but Luka Barisic's three-pointer with 6.7 seconds remaining lifted Western Illinois to 75-74 win over the Huskers on Tuesday evening's season-opener at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Nebraska had chance to win in regulation, but Alonzo Verge Jr. missed a shot at the buzzer, allowing the Leathernecks to escape with a one-point win. Verge posted his first career double-double in defeat with 26 points, a career-high 13 rebounds and five assists.

Freshman Bryce McGowens followed closely behind with 25 points, the most ever by a Husker freshman in his debut, and six boards, but Nebraska shot just 39 percent and was out-rebounded 57-37.

Western Illinois' Trenton Massner finished with 21 points, including four 3-pointers and eight rebounds, to pace three Leathernecks in double figures. Barisic tallied 12 points and a team-leading nine rebounds, while Will Carius added 11 points for the winners.

Nebraska struggled offensively in the opening half, shooting just 33 percent from the field as Western Illinois took a 33-32 halftime lead after Barisic's putback to beat the first half buzzer. The Leathernecks shot just 34 percent, but grabbed 12 offensive rebounds that led to a 16-3 advantage in second chance points.

Western Illinois used an early 8-0 run, taking a 13-6 lead after a 3-pointer from Carius with 13:57 left in the half before the Huskers responded. Verge scored seven of his 13 first-half points as the Huskers used a 12-0 spurt over the next 2:12 to build a 18-13 lead.

NU stretched the margin to 24-17 with 6:54 left in the first half after Bryce McGowens recorded five-straight points. The Huskers held the lead until Western Illinois used a 9-5 run, including two second-chance layups, to grab the advantage at the half, 33-32. WIU had 22 second chance points on its 23 offensive boards.

WIU stretched the lead to 39-32 in the first two minutes of the second half before Nebraska scored five straight to get within two, and the game remained within seven the rest of the way. Western Illinois led 59-52 with 10:41 left, but Trey and Bryce McGowens combined for seven straight points, tying the score at 59 after a Trey McGowen free throw with 8:52 left.

Nebraska kept it close and tied it up multiple times before grabbing the lead at 70-69 on a Verge layup with 2:50 left. Nebraska eventually pushed the lead to 73-69 on a free throw from C.J. Wilcher with 35.6 seconds left, but WIU got a long 3-pointer from Massner, who went 4-of-6 from the arc, to pull within one.

Verge was then fouled with 16.6 seconds left, and split the pair to put NU up by two before Barisic's 3-pointer gave WIU the lead.

The Huskers return to action on Friday evening when they host Sam Houston. Tip-off against the Bearkats is set for 7:30 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed on B1G+.

 

[Alum-Ni]

Postgame Notes

- Bryce McGowens scored 25 points in his Husker debut, the most ever by a Husker freshman in his debut. The previous high for a Husker in his debut was Joe McCray, who had 23 in the 2004-05 season opener. McGowens' 25-point effort was the 10th highest scoring effort by a Husker freshman in school history

- Alonzo Verge Jr. posted his first career double-double with 26 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. His previous career high in rebounds was eight against Oregon when he was at Arizona State last season

- It marked the third and fourth 20-point effort by a Husker in their debut, while Verge's 26 points is the most by a Husker in his debut in the last 50 years

- Bryce McGowens became the 11th Husker true freshman to start a season opener since 1995 and the first since Yvan Ouedraogo in 2019

- Nebraska falls to 6-1 all time against Western Illinois

 

[Alum-Ni]

	1st	2nd	TOTAL
Western Illinois	33	42	75
Nebraska	32	42	74

Western Illinois	Statistics	Nebraska
30-77 (39.0%)	FG	23-59 (39.0%)
9-33 (27.3%)	3FG	5-20 (25.0%)
6-14 (42.9%)	Free Throws	23-31 (74.2%)
23	Off Rebounds	7
34	Def Rebounds	30
57	Total Rebounds	37
25	Fouls	18
11	Assists	6
18	Turnovers	12
1	Blocks	3
7	Steals	8
42	Pts in Paint	30
16	Pts off Turnovers	21
22	Second Chance Pts	8
2	Fast Break Pts	13
18	Bench Pts	3

SCORING

Western Illinois
Trenton Massner - 21
Luka Barisic - 12
Will Carius - 11
George Dixon - 8
Colton Sandage - 7
Cameron Burrell - 7
Tamell Pearson - 6
Jadrian Flores - 2
KJ Lee - 1
TOTAL - 75

Nebraska
Alonzo Verge Jr. - 26
Bryce McGowens - 25
Trey McGowens - 9
C.J. Wilcher - 7
Derrick Walker - 4
Keisei Tominaga - 3
TOTAL - 74

 

[Black Dean]

That rebounding number is brutal.

 

[The Bearded One]

23 offensive rebounds.....holy shit! That's unheard of and will get you beat every time! Pathetic

 

[MtnHusker]

Anyone else kinda shocked our Bench only scored 3 points? Wondering if Verge & Bryce are too much of a focal point of the offense thus others not getting involved. Verge & Bryce accounted for 51 points while the other 3 starters totaled only 20 points. I know we had 2-3 players out hurt but this is a deep team that should get more diversified scoring.

 

[Jim14510]

I'd prefer they win the rest of their games.