LINCOLN, Neb. — Keisei Tominaga scored a career-high 30 points, Jamarques Lawrence scored five key points down the stretch, and Nebraska defeated Penn State 72-63 on Sunday, giving Cornhuskers coach Fred Hoiberg his 150th career victory.
The win moves Nebraska (11-13, 4-9 Big Ten) past last season’s win total and matches last season’s number of conference victories. The Cornhuskers had lost four in a row while chasing that elusive win.
Five players scored for Nebraska in an 11-0 run that gave the Cornhuskers a 26-13 lead near the 10-minute mark of the first half. Tominaga scored 15 points in the half and the Cornhuskers led 37-28 at the break.
Nebraska held the lead throughout the second half. A 3-pointer by Seth Lundy got the Nittany Lions within 57-53 with 6:20 remaining and a free throw by Kebba Njie got Penn State within three. But Tominaga made a layup and a 3-pointer to push Nebraska’s lead back to eight inside the five-minute mark.
The Cornhuskers scored four straight points to go up 66-58 with 1:26 remaining, then Lawrence hit a big 3-pointer on their next possession for a 69-60 lead with 45 seconds left. He later added two free throws to cap the scoring.
Tominaga made 12 of 18 shots overall and was 5-for-10 on 3-pointers. Lawrence finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Lundy led Penn State (14-9, 5-7) with 24 points, all on a career-best eight 3-pointers in 13 attempts. Jalen Pickett had 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Andrew Funk scored 14 points with 4-of-8 3-point shooting.
Penn State hosts Wisconsin on Wednesday and Nebraska plays at Michigan, also on Wednesday.
