Nebraska beat Iowa by nine but the final score was in no way indicative of how the game went this afternoon.
The Huskers led 68-62 with 1:02 left in regulation and it felt like Nebraska should be able to walk away with a win. However, Iowa’s Kael Combs drove almost the whole length of the floor for layups on consecutive possessions to bring the Husker lead to two.
Between those two Combs makes was Jamarques Lawrence missing two front ends of 1-and-1s. Then Combs was fouled on the third possession and he hit
one free throw to get it to one point deficit.
So of course Nebraska found somebody else in Pryce Sandfort to shoot pressure free throws and he hit both to put the lead at three with 15 seconds left.
You would think that Nebraska would foul on purpose to put Iowa at the free throw line instead of letting them get off a three. That did not happen.
Luckily for the Huskers, Iowa’s best player Bennett Stirtz missed his three point attempt. Unluckily for them, Iowa got the rebound and, yes you guessed it, Kael Combs hit a three to tie it up with 2.7 seconds left.
After a subsequent timeout, Nebraska’s Sam Hoiberg got a shot off that was on line but just a bit short. And they were on their way to overtime.
Then the Cale Jacobsen show happened. Jacobsen didn’t miss a field goal attempt in the entire game and his two three pointers in overtime were enough for the Huskers to get away with a win over rival Iowa and secured the two seed in the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.
Pryce Sandfort, future First Team All-Big Ten player, led the team with 15 points followed closely by Reink Mast with 14.
My favorite coaching moment in overtime was when Sam Hoiberg made two free throws to put Nebraska up seven points (three possessions) and knowing that Iowa was going to have to go fast. The Huskers for one single possession in the entire game went full court 1-3-1 and Jamarques Lawrence picked off the pass like a safety in football just sitting and waiting.
Ball game.
This was a big win for Nebraska coaches, Nebraska players and Nebraska fans. How many times does a Nebraska team go to overtime (including football) and we crap the bed. Especially in this case in which the Huskers crapped the bed to let Iowa tie it up at the end of regulation.
The momentum completely swung in the opposite direction and you couldn’t help but say “I’ve seen this before.”
But then Sam Hoiberg and Cale Jacobsen happened and led Nebraska to this redemptive win after they lost to Iowa a little more than two weeks ago. That game had it’s own extra curriculars that didn’t shine too great a light on Iowa. So to get this win for Coach Hoiberg, Sam Hoiberg, Reink Mast, Jared Garcia, Jamarques Lawrence and Kendall Blue seemed a little extra sweet on a Sunday evening.
Also in the post game press conference, Fred Hoiberg went out of his way to mention how good Kendall Blue’s attitude has been throughout his time at Nebraska. We all know he would have wanted to play more but Hoiberg said that he’s a real good player and he has a long career ahead of him.
That would be real cool to see.
Going forward it looks like Nebraska will likely see Purdue in the Big Ten Conference Tournament. Purdue has slipped to the seven seed (which seems like bad luck for Nebraska but the alternatives weren’t much better). Purdue will play the winner of Indiana and (the winner of NW and PSU).
