Nebraska Basketball: James Palmer takes over in win against Rutgers

Nebraska basketball was in big trouble in the second half against Rutgers Wednesday in the Big Ten tournament when James Palmer took over in a 68-61 win for the Huskers.

Late in the second half against Rutgers in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament, Nebraska basketball was down five and I can’t lie, the Huskers looked like they were in trouble.

Yet, just when it seemed like the season might be coming to an end, Nebraska basketball did the same thing to Rutgers that it did to Iowa — it went on a run.

Down 51-46, Nebraska went on a 15-0 run that was started with six straight points from Isaiah Roby. That gave the Huskers a 52-51 lead, but the real dagger came from James Palmer, who knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:25 left to put Nebraska up four.

It was the second trey of the half for Palmer, who hit another earlier when the Huskers were trying to stay in it and it was part of an effort that featured 34 points, including 27 in the second half.

In the midst of the run, Nebraska picked up its defensive intensity and held Rutgers scoreless for nearly eight minutes during the spurt. Roby followed up Palmer’s three with another hoop. Then, Palmer swiped the ball away and got a breakaway dunk, as well as a flagrant foul.

That put Nebraska basketball up eight points but more importantly, it seemed to break the back of the Scarlet Knights, who led for most of the second half.

From there, Palmer iced the game at the free throw line. He also added one more dunk as Nebraska kept its season alive with a seven-point win over 12th-seeded Rutgers.

Palmer was key in the victory for the Huskers, but so was their defense. Even though Rutgers shot 49 percent for the game, Nebraska basketball forced 22 turnovers, while giving the ball away to the Scarlet Knights only nine times.

In addiiton to the 34 points from Palmer, Nebraska also got 11 points, five assists and two steals from Glynn Watson, as well as 10 points, five rebounds and four blocks from Roby.

Nebraska is now 17-15 overall following the victory and they keep their season alive by advancing into the second round of the Big Ten tournament Thursday. The Huskers will face Maryland at 2 p.m. CST.

The Terps swept the Huskers during the regular season twice, however, both games were close and after winning back-to-back games against Iowa and Rutgers, you can’t count out Nebraska, not as long as Palmer, Watson and Roby are on the floor.