The Badgers travelled to Omaha on Saturday, falling to the Cornhuskers 73-63 in overtime. With the season winding down, the loss was truly a major disappointment.
After taking a 35-24 lead into halftime, Wisconsin was able to expand the lead to 17 points with a Steven Crowl layup, going up 45-28 with 16:12 remaining in the contest. From there though, Nebraska took over.
Led by Keisei Tominaga, the Cornhuskers got hot down the stretch and forced OT. Tominaga was limited to just five points in the first half before finding his rhythm in the second half, producing 13 points while going 4-7 from the three-point line.
In addition to Tominaga, Sam Griesel was also able to reach double-digits in the second half, scoring 12 of his 15 overall points in the second period.
For the Badgers, only Chucky Hepburn had any success in the second half, adding 10 of 19 total points during the last 20 minutes of regulation. In total, Connor Essegian (13) and Max Klesmit (12) joined him with double-digit points in the game, but those two only compiled seven points combined in the second half and OT.
Speaking of overtime, only Tyler Wahl scored for Wisconsin in the extra period, making a mid-range jumper to give his team a 63-61 lead. After that, the Badgers would not score again as the Cornhuskers went on a 12-0 run to end the contest.
Greg Gard and his team are now in deep water when it comes to their chances to make March Madness and they’ll likely need a dominant run to end the season to crack the tournament.
With the loss, the Badgers fall to 14-10 overall on the season and 6-8 within the Big Ten. They’ll return home to play Michigan (14-11) on Tuesday for Valentine’s Day matchup where there will be no love lost.
Nebraska (12-14) will travel to face Rutgers (16-9) on Tuesday.
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