LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Sam Dekker matched his career high with 21 points, and No. 5 Wisconsin built a big lead early and then held off Nebraska’s late comeback bid for a 65-55 victory on Tuesday night.
The Badgers (22-2, 10-1 Big Ten) won their seventh straight game and extended their lead in the Big Ten to three games over the four teams tied for second place. The Cornhuskers (13-11, 5-7) lost for the fourth time in five games.
Wisconsin has its best 24-game record in program history and best 11-game record in Big Ten play since the 1913-14 squad went unbeaten.
Frank Kaminsky added 13 points and 12 rebounds and Bronson Koenig had 13 points for the Badgers.
Terran Petteway had 16 of his 21 points in the second half for Nebraska, and Shavon Shields finished with 12 points.
The Badgers were up 15 points in the last four minutes before Nebraska made one last run. Tai Webster’s three-point play and his layup after a turnover made it 52-42, and it was 58-53 with a minute left after Petteway converted a three-point play and made a 3-pointer.
Wisconsin went the last 4:53 without a field goal and was just 6 of 17 from the field in the second half. But the Badgers, who shot 39 percent for the game, made 24 of 31 free throws and 15 of their last 18 to improve their road record to 10-1.
The Badgers, who beat the Huskers 70-55 in Madison last month, swept the season series and avenged a 77-68 loss in Lincoln in last season’s final regular-season game. Last year’s upset of the then-No. 9 Badgers in Lincoln, played before an amped sellout crowd, clinched the Huskers’ first NCAA tournament berth since 1998.
Nebraska has looked like anything but an NCAA team this season and struggled again early Tuesday. Wisconsin had its first double-digit lead less than seven minutes into the game and led 27-13 at half. It was the second straight game Nebraska managed only 13 first-half points.
The Badgers had things going their way from the start. Leslee Smith blocked Kaminsky’s 3-point try from the top of the key after the tipoff. The ball came right back to Kaminsky, who fed Dekker for an easy basket.
Wisconsin shot just 42 percent and was 1 of 6 on 3-pointers in the first half, but that was enough to take control against a Nebraska team that shot 21.4 percent (6 of 28) in the first half and went scoreless for more than seven minutes.
Petteway, who scored 20 of his 27 points in the first half of the January loss at Wisconsin, had just five points on 2-of-11 shooting in the first 20 minutes.
TIP-INS
Wisconsin: The Badgers clinched a winning Big Ten record for the 15th straight year. … Wisconsin is 6-1 against Nebraska since the Huskers joined the Big Ten in 2010.
Nebraska: World lightweight boxing champion Terence “Bud” Crawford of Omaha gave a motivational speech to the Huskers this week and was introduced in the first half to big applause. Ex-Husker stars Will Shields (Pro Football Hall of Fame) and Alex Gordon (Kansas City Royals Gold Glove left fielder) also were in the crowd. … Shields made his 75th consecutive start. … The first 2,500 fans received the new state quarter, the Homestead Quarter, as part of a bank promotion.
UP NEXT
Wisconsin: hosts Illinois on Sunday.
Nebraska: visits Purdue on Sunday.
— Associated Press —