The Nebraska men's basketball team fell 83-55 at No. 18 Wisconsin in front of 16,838 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., on Sunday afternoon.
The Huskers (12-8, 2-7 Big Ten) fell behind 19-2 before climbing back to cut the deficit to three points at 24-21. But the Badgers turned the Huskers away with a 16-2 run and never looked back in improving to 16-4 overall and 6-3 in the Big Ten.
Brice Williams scored 11 points to lead the Huskers. Connor Essegian scored eight points against his former team. John Tonje scored 27 points to pace the Badgers. John Blackwell added 14.
Wisconsin hit 17-of-37 (45.9 percent) from 3-point range and 30-of-63 (47.6 percent) overall. The Huskers made 10-of-30 (33.3 percent) from long distance and 21-of-62 (33.9 percent) from the field.
Wisconsin had a 43-35 edge in rebounds and committed four fewer turnovers (12-8). The Badgers had a 17-3 advantage in points off turnovers.
Wisconsin got off to a blistering start, hitting seven of its first eight shots from the field, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range to race to a 19-2 lead. Tonje and Blackwell had eight points each in the early Badger run as Nebraska started the game 1-of-9 from the field.
But Nebraska responded with a 19-5 run to pull within 24-21. Essegian and Berke Buyuktuncel hit 3-pointers to get the Huskers going, and Juwan Gary had a layup and a 3-pointer around a basket by Andrew Morgan to cut it to 21-15. Rollie Worster scored in the paint before Sam Hoiberg connected on a 3-pointer to make it 24-21 with 5:48 left in the half.
However, Wisconsin answered with a 16-2 run to rebuild its lead to 40-23. The Huskers closed the gap to 40-28 with a 3-pointer by Essegian and a driving layup by Williams in the final seconds of the first half.
After halftime, a 3-pointer by Williams cut it to 44-33, but Wisconsin scored the next eight points and the Huskers would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way.
The Huskers will host Illinois on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The game will be televised on FS1 with audio coverage from the Huskers Radio Network.
Nebraska Postgame Notes
*-With today’s loss, Wisconsin now leads the series, 23-17.
*-With the loss, Nebraska falls to 2-2 against ranked teams this season.
*- Nebraska used its fifth different lineup of the season, as Sam Hoiberg and Andrew Morgan made their first starts of the season. It was Hoiberg’s second career start for the Huskers and first since the 2022-23 season. Morgan had made 59 starts during his three seasons at North Dakota State.
*-With a team-high nine rebounds today, Juwan Gary has grabbed seven or more rebounds in three of the last four games.
*-Brice Williams finished with 11 points, as Brice and his father, Henry, became the seventh father-son combo to reach the 4,000-point mark at the Division I level. The pair now has 4,002 career points.
*-Williams has now been in double figures in 18 of Nebraska’s 20 games this season and 22 of NU’s last 24 games dating back to last season.
*-Nebraska’s 11-0 first-half run was its 15th double-figure run of the season.