No. 13 Purdue escapes with an 80-77 OT win against No. 7 Nebraska after blowing a 22-point lead

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Oscar Cluff’s layup put Purdue ahead with 3.9 seconds left in overtime after Nebraska had taken its first lead and Gicarri Harris’ two free throws sealed the No. 13 Boilermakers’ 80-77 victory over the No. 7 Cornhuskers on Tuesday night.

Purdue (20-4, 10-3 Big Ten) escaped after blowing a 22-point lead early in the second half. The Boilermakers recorded their second top-10 win of the season to start a difficult closing stretch that has them playing three top-10 teams over 16 days.

Nebraska (21-3, 10-3) lost for the third time in four games following a 20-0 start. All three losses were to ranked opponents.

Fletcher Loyer led Purdue with 18 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn had a career-high 19 rebounds and Braden Smith had 13 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.

Rienk Mast led the Huskers with 18 points, Jamarques Lawrence added 16 and Pryce Sandfort had all 15 of his points in the second half.

Sandfort’s layup with 1:31 left in overtime gave Nebraska its first lead, 77-75. Cluff had a chance to tie it when he got fouled pulling down an offensive rebound, but he made only one of two free throws. Cluff’s putback on the next possession put the Boilermakers up by a point in the final seconds. Lawrence fumbled Sam Hoiberg’s inbound pass, and Harris picked up the ball and got fouled. After Harris made his free throws, Cluff intercepted the Huskers’ length-of-the-court pass just ahead of the buzzer.

The Huskers, who overcame 16-point deficits in two of their wins, forced overtime on Mast’s putback with 12.8 seconds left. Mast missed what would have been a go-ahead free throw, and Smith’s fallaway jumper in the lane bounced off the rim as time ran out in regulation.

Up next

Purdue: Visits Iowa on Saturday.

Nebraska: Hosts Northwestern on Saturday.

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