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Badgers shoot past Huskers, 72-61

Nebraska simply couldn't keep up with Wisconsin's 11 made 3-pointers and dropped its fourth loss in its past five games
Nebraska simply couldn't keep up with Wisconsin's 11 made 3-pointers and dropped its fourth loss in its past five games

Nebraska knew going into Wednesday night’s road game at Wisconsin was going to be an up-hill battle, as star senior Shavon Shields stayed home as he continues to recover from a concussion.

It certainly didn’t help matters much that the Badgers put on one of their best 3-point shooting performances of the season, either.

Behind 11 makes from beyond the arc - seven of which coming after halftime- Wisconsin broke open a close game early in the second half and never looked back, cruising to a 72-61 win over the Huskers.

Nigel Hayes scored a game-high 20 points and Vitto Brown added 18 to lead the way for Wisconsin, which shot 51.2 percent from the field and 61.1 percent from 3-point range. Nebraska, on the other hand, shot 40.7 percent overall and was just 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) from downtown.

The win bumped UW’s winning streak to six in a row and improved its record to 15-9 overall and 7-4 in the Big Ten, while Nebraska dropped to 13-12 and 5-6, now having lost four of its past five games.

"It was a tough night, and you don't like losing," head coach Tim Miles said during his postgame radio show on the Husker Sports Network. "I think that our kids were closer to being a good team and having a way to win that game than maybe anybody realizes... But we were 5-for-16 at the rim, and I know at one point I looked up and (the Badgers) were 10-for-14 on 3s."

An early 9-0 run capped off by a 3-pointer by freshman Jack McVeigh - who made his first career start in place of Shields - gave Nebraska a 13-7 lead with just under 12 minutes to go in the first half, as the Huskers took advantage of a nearly six-minute Wisconsin scoring drought.

The Badgers would eventually turn the tide with a big run of their own a few minutes later, though. Behind three straight 3-pointers, UW went on a 15-3 spurt to go up by as many 24-18 with 4:42 to go, as the Huskers made just one field goal and scored three points in a span of five minutes.

A jumper and two free throws by freshman Glynn Watson in the final minute cut the deficit to 30-26 going into halftime, which wasn’t so bad considering Wisconsin shot 52.4 percent from the field and connected on 4-of-6 3-pointers.

Brown, whose previous career high was 16 points, reeled off 12 of his 18 points in the first half alone, as he and Hayes combined for 22 of UW’s 30 points. Nebraska’s defense was able to keep it close, though, as it forced seven turnovers (the Badgers were only averaging 11 per game coming in), held a 15-11 rebounding margin and only allowed one offensive board.

It didn’t take long for Wisconsin to take the first big lead of the night when play resumed in the second half, though. The Badgers opened the second half with four straight 3-pointers to take a 42-32 advantage after the first four minutes.

That lead would extend to its largest margin yet at 51-38 after yet another 3-pointer by Brown, who came into the game shooting just 28 percent from beyond the arc and double his 3-point total in Big Ten play coming in with three on Wednesday night.

"The guys that were hitting them were unlikely candidates," Miles said. "It's just like you're going, 'OK, if (Brown) is going to make them, that's fine. I can live with that. That's the guy at want taking that shot."

The Badgers continued to knock down big shots and the Huskers continued to struggle for every point from there on. Wisconsin would go on to hit seven 3-pointers in the second half en route to finishing 11-of-18 for the game - two off its season high - and it would go up by as many as 17 before settling on the 11-point victory.

Watson finished with a team-high 16 points and junior Andrew White had 10 points and seven rebounds, while freshman Michael Jacobson chipped in six points and game-high nine boards.

Nebraska returns home on Saturday to play host to Penn State for a 5 p.m. tip on the Big Ten Network.

Around the rim

***Nebraska started three true freshmen against Wisconsin in Watson, Jacobson and McVeigh. It marked the first time NU has started three freshmen since Dec. 23, 2006, when Sek Henry, Ryan Anderson, and Jay-R Strowbridge got the nod against Houston.

***Freshman Edward Morrow didn't play at all in the game because Miles said he suffered another foot injury earlier in the week. Miles said it was an upper-foot injury, “right under his toes in that third metatarsal." Miles said Morrow only practice "about 20 minutes" over the past two days.

***Nebraska used its fifth different starting lineup of the season, but this was the first change since Dec. 22. NU had started the same lineup for the last 12 contests.

***Jacobson's nine rebounds were a career-high, topping his previous best of eight on two occasions.

***Nebraska committed 10 or fewer turnovers for the sixth consecutive game.

***Nebraska’s 61 points were its second-lowest total of the season.

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