LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Keisei Tominaga pumped in 17 points and Nebraska extended its home unbeaten streak by pulling away from Penn State in the second half to post a 68-49 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Cornhuskers (18-8) are 8-7 in the Big Ten, with all eight victories coming at home. They have yet to win a conference road game.
Juwan Gary turned a three-point play in the final minute of the first half to give Nebraska a 28-22 advantage at the break, and the Cornhuskers opened the second half with a 10-2 run to push the lead to 14 points. Penn State never got within single digits the rest of the way. Nebraska led by as many as 22 points with just under nine minutes left.
The Nittany Lions started to rally with seven minutes left, Ace Baldwin Jr. hit two 3-pointers and Jameel Brown added a third to cut the deficit to 12 points, but Tominaga drilled a 3 and Rienk Mast found open space in the paint and knocked down a soft jump hook to quickly push the lead back to 17 points while Penn State went scoreless for more than 2½ minutes. Baldwin ended the drought with a jumper but was immediately whistled for a technical foul for a comment aimed in the direction of a game official.
Nebraska forced 14 Penn State turnovers, turning them into 15 points, and scored more than half of its points in the paint (36).
The Cornhuskers shot 27 of 61 from the floor (44.3%) but were just 4 of 21 from behind the arc. Tominaga was 3 of 8 from distance. Gary finished with 13 points and six rebounds, and Mast contributed 12 points and nine rebounds.
Zach Hicks scored 13 points to lead Penn State (12-14, 6-9). Baldwin finished with 10 points and five steals.
Nebraska plays three of its final five regular-season games on the road, beginning Wednesday at Indiana. Penn State returns home to play host to No. 14 Illinois on Wednesday.
First Published: February 17, 2024, 8:05 p.m.
