No. 9 Nebraska earned the second seed in the Big Ten tournament after defeating Iowa 84-75 in overtime in both teams’ regular-season finale Sunday in Lincoln, Neb.
The Cornhuskers (26-5, 15-5 Big Ten) tied the program record for wins in a season while extending their record for conference wins in a season.
Tied at 75-all in overtime, Nebraska ended the game on a 9-0 run to seal the victory against Iowa (20-11, 10-10).
Cale Jacobsen made a 3-pointer for a 78-75 Nebraska lead with 1:30 left in overtime. Jacobsen had just 12 made 3-pointers before the finale, but he made two in the overtime. His first 3-pointer gave Nebraska a 73-70 lead.
Nebraska senior Sam Hoiberg added a driving layup for an 80-75 Cornhuskers lead with 52.8 seconds to go. Hoiberg, son of Nebraska had coach Fred Hoiberg, followed the basket 25 seconds later with two free throws for a seven-point lead. Jamarques Lawrence finished it off for Nebraska with a steal and a layup.
Jacobsen, Sam Hoiberg and Pryce Sandfort each finished with 15 points and Rienk Mast added 14 for the Cornhuskers.
Trailing 70-62 in regulation, Iowa’s Kael Combs personally led the Hawkeyes’ comeback in regulation by scoring all eight points in the final 1:08 of regulation. He knocked down a game-tying 3-pointer with nine seconds to go.
Combs and Cooper Koch scored 18 points apiece to pace Iowa. Tavion Banks had 12 and Bennett Stirtz added 11.
Nebraska held a 30-26 halftime lead, with the teams combining for 19 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. Nebraska’s defense came up with eight of its 11 steals in the half.
Tied at 10-all, the Cornhuskers got a dunk from Berke Buyuktuncel, a 3-pointer from Jared Garcia and free throws from Braden Frager to take a 17-12 lead with 8:51 remaining.
The Hawkeyes cut the deficit to 25-24 and 27-26, but a timely pass by Lawrence to Buyuktuncel with 1:09 left led to a layup and free throw for the 30-26 lead.
