Nebraska grounds BC Eagles in resounding 88-67 victory

Dec 1, 2022 - 5:00 AM

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The Nebraska Cornhuskers notched a blowout win in the final ACC/Big Ten Challenge over the Boston College Eagles. In a decisive 88-67 victory, the Huskers downed the Eagles in just the second-straight non-conference win over a Power-Six team and the first time UNL has won two-straight since the 2018-2019 season.

Five Huskers scored in double figures tonight led by Keise Tominaga. Tying his career high, Tominaga scored 23 points to pace Nebraska, going 4-of-5 from three-point range and a perfect 5-of-5 at the free throw line. He also added two assists and a steal over 25 minutes.

After Tominaga, C.J. Wilcher was second in scoring with 14 points, Emmanuel Bandoumel added 12, and Juwan Gary and Derrick Walker both scored 10 each for double figure scorers. Blaise Keita led the team on the boards with eight rebounds, while Sam Griesel fell just shy of double figures in scoring with eight points but led the team in assists (6) and steals (3).

The Huskers had a strong presence in the paint, outscoring Boston College 40-28. The team was particularly strong from deep, though, scoring a season high 12 three-pointers.

Boston College’s Devin McGlockton led the Eagles with 20 points, while CJ Penha added 13, and Chas Kelley III scored 10.

Nebraska struggled to take control of the game early on, never managing to lead by more than five for the first 13 minutes. Keita provided a spark off the bench early on, though, scoring five points coming in off the bench and giving UNL an early 10-5 advantage with 13:46 remaining.

Boston College rallied and managed to tie it up twice before finally taking the lead for the first time at the halfway mark of the first half on a Demarr Langford jumper, leading 17-15. Tominaga responded quickly with a three, but BC traded the lead back and forth for the next several minutes.

The Eagles finally took a five point lead, what would mark its largest of the game, with 3:11 left on a layup by McGlockton. Nebraska rallied in the final minutes to go on a 7-0 run and head into the locker room leading 37-34.

The second half was all Nebraska. The Huskers finally hit double digits on a second-chance layup by Juwan Gary with 14:23 left, leading 46-36. Boston College never cut the lead back to single digits after that as the Huskers mounted a 16-2 run.

The Eagles were finally able to end a field goal drought that started back in the first half at the 3:11 mark in the prior half when McGlockton managed a dunk with 11:07 remaining. Nebraska was again all offense after that, though, as the Huskers built a lead all the way out to a game high 25, leading 68-43 thanks to a pair of free throws by Bandoumel.

Nebraska closed out the game in strong fashion, winning 88-67. The Huskers finish the ACC/Big Ten Challenge with a .500 record, closing out the premier interconference basketball event 6-6 all-time.

The Big Ten lost the challenge for the first time since 2017, marking a final record of 8-13-3 in the event. ESPN announced at the start of the week that 2022 will be the final year of the 24-year challenge.

Nebraska will head up I-80 this weekend for its next matchup. The annual intrastate clash between Nebraska and No. 7 Creighton is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 7. The game will tipoff at 3:30 p.m. Central Time and will be broadcast on FS1.