Northwestern tops Nebraska, stays unbeaten at home in Big Ten

Boo Buie scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half and Northwestern tallied 26 points off turnovers to beat Nebraska 80-68 in their Big Ten Conference matchup on Wednesday night in Evanston, Ill.

The Wildcats (16-7, 7-5 Big Ten) improved to 6-0 at home in league play and avenged a loss at Nebraska last month. The Cornhuskers (16-8, 6-7) fell to 0-7 on the road in conference games.

Buie, a fifth-year senior guard who 2 of 15 from the field in the previous matchup with Nebraska, was 6 of 9 from the field in the first half, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range. The team made 8 of 16 treys and scored 14 points off seven Nebraska giveaways.

Ryan Langborg added 18 points, Nick Martinelli 15 and Brooks Barnhizer 14 with 10 rebounds and two steals for Northwestern, which moved into sole possession of fourth place in the Big Ten.

Nebraska got 15 points from Juwan Gary and 13 points and 10 boards from Brice Williams, but top scorers Rienk Mast and Keisei Tominaga combined for 19 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

It wasn't all good for Northwestern, as starting guard Ty Berry left the game with 8:52 left in the first half with an apparent leg injury and did not return.

Northwestern led 47-31 at the half. Nebraska cut the deficit to 54-43 on a 3-pointer by Williams with 12:59 left, only to see the Wildcats go on a 10-0 run.

The Cornhuskers went more than five minutes without scoring but managed to get within 67-55 with 4:41 remaining. A layup by Williams cut the deficit to 10 with 1:38 left, but Nebraska wasn't able to complete the comeback.

Northwestern used a 14-2 run to build a 30-15 lead midway through the first half. A Buie 3-pointer upped the edge to 42-25 with four minutes left before halftime.

Nebraska returns home to host Michigan on Saturday, while Northwestern hosts Penn State on Sunday.