Nebrasketball Blasts Penn State 76-64, Locks Up 4th Seed In Big Ten Tournament

Nebrasketball used a huge first half to defeat Penn State and lock up the fourth seed for the Big Ten Tournament on Sunday afternoon. The Huskers looked locked in with a roaring crowd for the second ever “No Sit Sunday”. Isaac Copeland led the Huskers with 17, while Tony Carr had 27 for the Nittany Lions.

Copeland was in a grove early, scoring the Huskers first seven points of the game on a thunder dunk, a three, and a mid range jumper.

Carr would pull the Lions within one at 8-7 before the Huskers went on an 11-0 run to move the lead out to 12. Jordy Tshimanga had six of those points, including a pair of nice left handed hook shots.

The 11-0 run was stopped by a three from Lamar Stevens. Six more points, including two courtesy of an acrobatic catch from Isiah Roby gave the Huskers a 25-10 lead.

Penn State continued to show very little life in the first half, making numerous mistakes. Head Coach Pat Chambers took two of his timeouts including one after Tshimanga missed a wide open dunk, only to have Copeland rebound and feed him for another hook shot.

The second half featured Penn State coming out more aggressive in a ³⁄₄ court trap. Nebraska had four turnovers in the first three minutes of the half, while the Lions went on a 5-0 run.

Nebraska had a response as they seemed to all night, with a three from Anton Gill and then a thunder dunk from James Palmer Jr. Palmer would pick up a technical foul for the look from behind after his reverse dunk.

The rest of the contest was pretty much the Huskers running out the clock, while Penn State tried to make a run. Nebraska was up by as many as 19 in the second half, while the Lions had just one run of 5-0. It turned into a free throw shooting contest as the Huskers finished with shooting 23 free throws against 19 for Penn State.

The bench mob was still having fun as well. They celebrated the Palmer dunk and the Copeland dunk well. They also pulled out a new celebration.

Tonight’s win all but eliminates Penn State from the bubble. Nebraska remains firmly on the bubble, as this counts as a tier three win. The Huskers who have a combined three tier one and two wins could pick up another if they get to play Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Nebrasketball finishes the regular season 22-9 (13-5). Not bad for a team that was picked 13th in the coaches preseason poll. Penn State finishes the season 19-12 (9-9).

Nebraska clinched the fourth overall seed in the Big Ten Tournament via winning the head to head tiebreaker against Michigan. Nebraska awaits the winner of Michigan vs (Illinois/Iowa). Nebrasketball will be in action next on Friday at 1:30 CT due to Jim Devaney being stupid.