Keisei Tominaga had 22 points and Nebraska tied a season-high with 12 3-pointers in an 82-72 win at Rutgers on Tuesday night in a Big Ten Conference game in Piscataway, N.J.
The Cornhuskers (13-14, 6-10 Big Ten) won their second straight and third in the last four games by shooting 58.2 percent against the conference leader in field-goal defense.
Tominaga posted his fourth consecutive 20-point game, going 8-of-15 from the field and 4-of-9 from 3, while C.J. Wilcher made the most of his first start since Jan. 13 by hitting five 3s and scoring 17 points.
Rutgers (16-10, 8-7) dropped its third straight, falling to 0-9 when allowing 66 or more points this season. The Scarlet Knights got a career-high 24 from Aundre Hyatt and a double-double from Clifford Omoruyi (13 points, 12 rebounds) but their defense, which was allowing only 42.3 percent shooting in Big Ten games, yielded their most points at home since December 2020.
Down 40-35 at the half, Rutgers cut the deficit to one twice in the first five minutes only to see Nebraska respond each time.
Tominaga drained a triple to make it 61-52 with 10:17 to go, then walk-on Sam Hoiberg hit a 3 for a 66-54 Nebraska advantage with 7:55 to go. The Scarlet Knights never got closer than eight after that.
Hyatt had eight of Rutgers’ first 10 points as it built a five-point lead midway through the first half, but the Cornhuskers went on an 11-4 run to take its first lead at 27-25 with 6:29 before the break. Back-to-back layups by Derrick Walker and a runner just before the buzzer by Sam Griesel gave Nebraska a five-point edge at the half.
Nebraska heads home for its next three games, starting with a Sunday visit from Maryland, while Rutgers visits Wisconsin on Saturday.
–Field Level Media