No. 8 Nebraska continues dominant play with win over Northwestern
Braden Frager and Pryce Sandfort each scored in the 20s for the second consecutive game and No. 8 Nebraska extended the nation's longest active win streak with a 77-58 victory at Northwestern on Saturday afternoon in a Big Ten Conference game in Evanston, Ill.
The Cornhuskers (18-0, 7-0 Big Ten) matched their best start in conference play since 1965-66 with a dominant second half, one in which they shot 56 percent and went 6 of 11 from 3.
Sandfort had 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting including 5 of 10 from 3-point range, while Frager had 20 on 8-of-14 shooting. They combined for 51 points in Tuesday's blowout win over Oregon.
Nebraska won a fourth straight conference road game for the first time since 1975-76.
Northwestern (8-10, 0-7) dropped its fifth straight and continued its worst start to Big Ten play since 2007-08. The Wildcats got 22 points from conference scoring leader Nick Martinelli, including 15 in the first half, and 14 from Tre Singleton.
Nebraska led 34-29 at the half and nearly doubled the margin within the first three minutes of the second half, going up 41-32 on a Sam Hoiberg 3-pointer. Pryce Sandfort then gave the Cornhuskers their first double-digit lead on a 3-pointer with 15:44 left.
A 3-point play by Max Green got Northwestern within 46-41 with 13:41 to go only to see Nebraska scored six straight and get the lead up to 11. The Cornhuskers then put the game away with an 11-0 run and a 63-44 lead with 7:42 left.
Nebraska had an early 12-7 lead, but Northwestern countered with six in a row. It stayed a 1-possession game until Sandfort drained a 3-pointer and was fouled, making the free throw to put the Cornhuskers up 25-20 with 7:55 left in the first half.
A 3-pointer by Jamarques Lawrence put Nebraska up 34-27 late in the first half.