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March 1, 2014
Huskers Top Wildcats in Front of Record Crowd
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Pitchford
 
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Shields
 
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Petteway
 

Lincoln, Neb. — Shavon Shields had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Nebraska, which took a 10-point lead with seven minutes left and held on to defeat Northwestern 54-47 Saturday.

With the win, Nebraska (17-11, 9-7 Big Ten) is guaranteed a .500 conference record, a Big Ten first for the Huskers, now in their third season in the conference. Nebraska won nine conference games for the first time since 1998-99 and only the 10th time since World War II.

Northwestern (12-17, 5-11) has now lost six straight games, a streak that began with a 53-49 loss to Nebraska on Feb. 8.

Nebraska took the lead 3½ minutes into the game and never trailed thereafter. Northwestern cut the lead to 31-30 on Drew Crawford's 3-pointer with 11:46 remaining.

UP NEXT
The Huskers head to Indiana Wednesday night in search of their 10th Big Ten win of the season.
 
Tipoff is at 6 p.m. (CT) and the game will be televised on BTN and on the Husker Sports Radio Network.

A three-point play by Shields triggered a 13-4 Nebraska run that he capped with a pair of free throws to make the score 44-34 with 7 minutes left.

Nebraska's largest lead came on another Shields three-point play that put the Huskers up 49-38 with 3:49 left.

Northwestern's Alex Olah, who finished with 20 points, then scored six straight to pull the Wildcats to within five. After a Nebraska basket, Crawford's 3-pointer cut the Nebraska lead to four at 51-47.

Nebraska's Benny Parker took a charge from Northwestern's Sanjay Lumpkin to get the ball back for the Huskers with 30 seconds remaining. Shields made 1 of 2 free throws, then closed the scoring with a breakaway dunk with 5 seconds left.

Neither team shot the ball well. Nebraska finished at 37 percent from the floor, Northwestern at 33 percent.

Joining Shields in double figures for Nebraska were Terran Petteway and Walter Pitchford with 10 points each.

Crawford finished with 11 for Northwestern and Tre Demps added 10.

Nebraska Notes

Nebraska improves to a Big Ten best 14-1 at home, including 7-1 in conference play.
The seven game home conference win streak is NU's longest since an eight-game streak spanning the 1981-82 and 1982-83 season. It is also the 11th time in school history Nebraska has had a seven-game conference home win streak.
Nebraska now has seven conference home wins, the most since the 1965-66 team went 7-0 in Big Eight action. It is only the fourth time in school history that Nebraska has won seven or more conference home games in a season (also 1923-24 and 1915-16).
Nebraska is now 9-7 in the Big Ten, marking the first time since the 1999-2000 that Nebraska has won at least nine conference games in a season. Nebraska will finish .500 or better in conference play for the first time since 2008-09.
Nebraska's crowd of 15,978 is the largest crowd in school history, breaking the 15,949 against Arkansas State on Dec. 14.
Shavon Shields had his second double-double of the season and third of his career with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Nebraska held Northwestern to 33.3 percent shooting, the seventh straight opponent under 40 percent. It is the first time NU has seven straight conference foes under 40 percent since at least the 1990-91 season.
Nebraska sweeps the regular-season series with Northwestern for the first time since joining the Big Ten.
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                       1st   2nd   Total
Northwestern            22    25      47
Nebraska                26    28      54
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Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.