Penn St. 76

Nebraska 74

Tony Carr’s jumper with 2.7 seconds remaining in overtime thwarted Nebraska’s comeback bid and gave Penn State a 76-74 win over the Huskers Friday night.

Nebraska took a 68-65 lead on Isaiah Roby’s 3-pointer with 3:36 left in the extra session, but Carr, who was 2-of-17 in regulation, tied it up on the subsequent possession with a 3-pointer of his own.  Roby, who finished with 12 and six rebounds, hit a pair of free throws with 2:50 left, but the Nittany Lions tied the score at 70-all on a putback from Nazeer Bostick with 1:43 left.

Nebraska led 71-70 on a Glynn Watson Jr. free throw, but Carr’s jumper put PSU up 72-71 with 1:08 remaining. After a Husker miss, Carr hit a pair of three throws to extend the lead to 74-71 with 23.6 seconds left, only to see Anton Gill tie it up with a 3-pointer from the wing with 13.3 seconds left, setting up the final score for the Nittany Lions.

Nebraska (12-7, 3-3 Big Ten) had one last attempt, but Roby was unable to get off a half court attempt for the game winner.

Carr finished with 17 points, as one of three Penn State players in double figures, joining Lamar Stevens (26 points) and Mike Watkins (20 points).

Isaac Copeland and Watson tied for team-high honors for Nebraska with 21 points apiece, as Copeland scored 19 of his 21 points after halftime when Nebraska rallied from 16 points down and had a chance to win in regulation.

Nebraska held Penn State to 38 percent shooting in the first half, but a combination of Lamar Stevens and cold shooting put Penn State up 33-24 at the half. NU was just 9-of-32 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, despite getting 12 first-half points from Watson.

Watson got the Husker attack going early, scoring nine of Nebraska’s first 11 points, including the first seven. NU eventually built a 13-10 lead after a pair of Palmer free throws

Nebraska led 15-12, but the Nittany Lions went on an 8-1 spurt, keyed by five points from Lamar Stevens, to build a 20-16 lead with 8:15 left in the first half.

Nebraska whittled a five-point deficit to two on two occasions, the last coming on Thomas Allen’s baseline floater with 2:46 left in the half. Penn State closed the half on a 7-0 run, including five straight points by Stevens as the Nittany Lions built their largest lead of the half.

Penn State opened the half with six straight points in the first 90 seconds of the half, building a 15-point lead at 39-24 and forcing an early Husker timeout.

Isaac Copeland kept NU within striking distance was seven quick points in the second half, but PSU hit four of its first five shots in the half and stretched the lead to 16 after a Tony Carr 3-pointer with 16:28 left.

Anton Gill’s basket started an 8-0 Husker run that pulled Nebraska to within 47-39 with 14:24 after four straight Copeland points. Nebraska eventually pulled to within 48-41 on a Palmer basket with 13 minutes left and was within 52-44 after an Anton Gill 3-pointer.

Trailing 59-46, Nebraska ran off seven straight points to pull with 59-53 after a Roby free throw with 4:56 left and continued a 14-2 run, pulling within 61-60 with 3:01 left in regulation. Nebraska eventually tied the score at 63 on a Copeland free throw with 2:04 left. PSU took a 65-63 lead, but Watson’s basket with 1:24 knotted the score at 65.

Evan Taylor gave NU one last chance with a steal with just over 20 seconds remaining. The Huskers called timeout, but were unable to get a tying basket, as Watson’s jumper was off the mark and gave the hosts the ball with 1.4 seconds left. Penn State got the ball to Carr, but his 3-point attempt was off the mark

The Huskers return home Monday night, as they take on the Illinois Fighting Illini. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. and a limited number of tickets are available on Huskers.com/Tickets or at the Pinnacle Bank Arena Ticket Office beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Notes
*-Five of the last six meetings in State College have been by four points or less. Tonight was NU’s first overtime game since falling to Penn State in the 2017 Big Ten Tournament.

*-Duby Okeke made his first start of the season, replacing Jordy Tshimanga, who did not travel to Penn State. It marked the first time in 19 games that Nebraska featured a different starting lineup.

*-With 21 points tonight, Glynn Watson moved from 38th to 36th on NU’s career scoring list, passing Jake Muhleisen (911) and Jason Dourisseau (912). Watson now has 926 career points.

*-Tonight marked the third time this year NU had multiple 20-point scorers in Glynn Watson Jr. (21) and Isaac Copeland (21).

*-James Palmer Jr. finished with five points, the first time since Nov. 19 he was held out of double figures.