Nebraska’s starting point guard sat on the bench in a sweatsuit. His backup went 0-for-10 with three fouls.
And there the Huskers were with 93 seconds left, leading Rutgers and staring their first Big Ten win right in the face.
But with 92 seconds left, an offensive rebound and putback from 6-foot-4 Paul Mulcahy gave the Scarlet Knights their first lead of the game, and Nebraska endured yet another kick to the gut in a 63-61 loss Saturday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
"We just didn't make the big plays in big moments," said NU freshman guard Bryce McGowens, who tied his career high with 29 points.
Nebraska was looking for its first Big Ten win since beating Rutgers on March 1, 2021 — a span of 334 days.
And while that win last season was a thing of beauty, with Nebraska hammering the Scarlet Knights by 21 points, Saturday called for the Huskers to answer the physicality of perhaps the most physical team in the league.
For large swaths they did it, though Rutgers isn’t exactly a juggernaut on the road. Saturday’s win improved the Scarlet Knights to 2-6 away from home this season.
And the loss dropped Nebraska to 6-15, and 0-10 in the Big Ten as a golden opportunity went by the wayside.
"Our guys did enough to win with their effort, with their energy," NU coach Fred Hoiberg said. "We did enough energy things to deserve that win. Unfortunately, it just didn't go our way at the end."
Any kind of win against any kind of team would have been better than what Nebraska has put itself through for the past month.
And leading by eight with 6:36 left, it looked like the Huskers might get it done.
But NU managed just one field goal the rest of the way, missing nine of its final 10 shots. Nebraska's losing streak against Big Ten schools is now 13 games. Its losing streak against power conference programs is 17 games.
Ron Harper Jr.’s three-pointer with 3:54 left — his first field goal on a foul-ridden night — got Rutgers within 55-54.
Nebraska's Trey McGowens answered out of a timeout with a corner three-pointer, before Rutgers’ Mawot Mag fired right back with his first three of the game.
A game that was going nowhere was suddenly an up-and-down affair. It was Mulcahy’s offensive rebound and putback with 1:32 left that gave Rutgers (12-8, 6-4) a 61-60 lead, its first of the game.
Nebraska played without starting point guard Alonzo Verge, who did not suit up because of a coach’s decision, according to the Big Ten Network broadcast.
Verge wasn’t on the court during warmups, but joined the team just before the national anthem. He was on the sideline, sitting in the middle of Nebraska’s bench while staying active and engaged with his teammates.
"It was just a personal matter, and the decision in talking to him was made, and I'm just going to leave it at that," Hoiberg said.Â
Verge's backup, Kobe Webster, had a nightmare game, going without a made shot.
But it was Webster at the free-throw line with 0.9 seconds left and Nebraska down three after being fouled on a desperation three-pointer.
For a lot of teams, that perhaps meant redemption.
For Nebraska, it meant another new way to lose. Webster missed the first free throw, made the second, and his attempt to bounce the ball off the rim on the third failed. Rutgers was able to inbound to run out the clock.
"This isn't on Kobe. This is on me, it's on every player that's part of this program. Kobe did a lot of really good things out there for us," Hoiberg said. "Generally in games like this it's not all about the last play. It's obviously magnified, but there's plenty of mistakes throughout the course of the game."
After starting the game 5-for-8 from the floor, Nebraska missed 19 of its final 23 shot attempts in the first half. There were just two made field goals over the final 12 minutes of the half. None after Bryce McGowens’ three-pointer with 6:44 left in the opening period.
But Nebraska took a lead into the break thanks to a 9-3 advantage at the free-throw line, and most surprisingly, a 21-19 rebounding advantage.
An 11-1 run that included six points at the free-throw line gave the Huskers a 31-20 lead with 3:25 left in the first half.
That marked the latest point in any conference game this season NU led by double digits, and just the third league game out of 10 that the Huskers led by at least 10 points at any juncture.
Photos: Husker men try to even season series against Rutgers