Purdue 72 at Nebraska 88 - Quick Wrap | #1 Purdue Goes Down

Bad weather, worse outcome, as the Cornhuskers storm the court after knocking off #1 Purdue, 88-72.

A 13-0 run by Nebraska to finish the first half had #1 Purdue in unfamiliar waters, trailing 41-30 going into the half.

But Nebraska playing Purdue tough at home is a script Purdue is all too familiar with after having to go into overtime to beat the Cornhuskers last year. So Painter changed things up in the second half, going away from his starting lineup to a lineup that included Mason Gillis (13 first half points) and redshirt freshman Camden Heide to start the second half.

It appeared to work, as Purdue cut into the lead quick despite getting called for an early flagrant foul on a rebound when Mason Gillis knocked down Juwan Gary. (It's the third straight game where Purdue was called for a flagrant.)

Purdue's guards got hot with Lance Jones hitting two threes and Braden Smith knocking down a pull up three to cut the lead to 46-43.

But with Edey still struggling to make his usual impact, Purdue's offense wasn't running on all cylinders and Nebraska's offense was about to get going.

Josiah Allick hit a corner three then C. J. Wilcher was fouled on a three before hitting another to extend Nebraska's lead back to 8, 60-53 with just over 12 minutes left in the game.

A Fletcher Loyer turnover gave Nebraska another easy lay up, and Sam Hoibergs lay up gave Nebraska a ten point lead against the nation's best team.

Reigning National Player of the Year Edey started to finally get things going for Purdue, finishing a dunk and knocking down four straight free throws, but Purdue had no answer for Wilcher.

Wilcher knocked down another three, falling away this time in the corner off an in bounds play and with less than 8 minutes to play, Nebraska still held a big lead, 71-62 against Purdue.

Every time Purdue looked to get back in it, it made a crucial mistake, and Nebraska capitalized. Smith and Heide both missed open threes and the Huskers got two free throws at the other end. Gillis got a three to cut it to 8 then Heide fouled away from the ball and Keisei Tominaga knocked down two free throws.

But the thundershot came with around four minutes to play and Tominaga hit a step back three with Heide all over him, giving Nebraska a 80-70 lead.

Purdue couldn't recover and would lose its second game of the season, second game on the road, and second game in the Big Ten.

Mason Gillis had 16 points, knocking down 5 three-pointers, and was Purdue's only offense for portions of the first half.

Braden Smith had 10 points and 7 assists.

Lance Jones got hot to start the second half, but had just 10 points on 12 shots, including 2 of 8 from the three-point line.

Camden Heide had his best game as a Boiler, stepping in to start the second half, scoring 5 points and grabbing 6 boards in 22 minutes of acction.

Fletcher Loyer had 13 points.

For the second time in two years, the Cornhuskers limited Edey's effectiveness on the court. After forcing five turnovers last year, it forced Edey into 3 turnovers this season and kept him from having the kind of impact on the glass and scoring the player of the year is used to. Edey had 15 points and 7 rebounds for the game, but a lot of those points came late, and Purdue struggled to get the ball into him all night.

Once again Purdue's upset can be painted with Purdue turning the ball over too much. Its main culprits, the Purdue starting lineup.

Lance Jones had 4 turnovers. Fletcher Loyer had 3 turnovers. Zach Edey had 3 turnovers. Braden Smith had 2 turnovers. Trey Kaufman-Renn had 1 turnover.

Purdue had 14 turnovers as a team.

Nebraska had a career-night as a team, with multiple Cornhuskers going off from beyond the perimeter against Purdue.

Keisei Tominaga had 18 points and made 5 of 9 three point attempts.

C.J. Wilcher had 16 points and made 3 of 4 attempts.

As a team, Nebraska was 14 of 23 from three.

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