Northwestern puts trust in 'best player' at Nebraska

Field Level Media|published: Fri 19th January, 16:45 2024

Jan 17, 2024; Evanston, Illinois, USA; Northwestern Wildcats guard Boo Buie (0) gestures after a three point basket against the Maryland Terrapins during the first half at Welsh-Ryan Arena. credits: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Northwestern travels to Nebraska on Saturday in a faceoff between two teams jockeying to find the passing lane in the Big Ten standings.

The Wildcats visit Lincoln, Neb., hoping a rare road victory becomes a springboard for the rest of the season.

Road victories have been hard to come by, per tradition in the Big Ten.

Northwestern (13-4, 4-2 Big Ten) has dropped two of three away from home in the conference. It's even worse for Nebraska (13-5, 3-4), who are 0-4 on the road.

But the Cornhuskers are 3-0 at home and have something else in common with the Wildcats.

Both teams scored home wins over then-No. 1 Purdue.

Northwestern is only a game off the lead in the Big Ten behind five-win Wisconsin and Purdue.

The Wildcats come to town off a 72-69 home win over Maryland on Wednesday, led by Boo Buie's 20 points and seven assists. The senior guard, who is fifth in the Big Ten in scoring (18.4 points per game) and tied for fourth in assists (5.1), had the go-ahead basket with 20 seconds left.

Buie also moved into second in school history with 533 assists.

"The only agenda in that locker room is winning, (and) it starts with your best player," Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. "A guy like Boo, he comes back for his fifth year, he wants to win. It's not about records, it's not about numbers."

Buie is shooting for his 10th 20-point game this season. He scored 17 for Northwestern at Nebraska last season, a 15-point win by the Wildcats.

Nebraska has a few stories to tell about heartbreak on the road.

An 87-82 overtime loss at Rutgers on Wednesday, a game the Cornhuskers led by 12 with just over eight minutes left, won't be easily erased.

Despite 22 points from Brice Williams, the Cornhuskers were dominated on the boards and gave up 25 offensive rebounds which led to 20 second-chance points.

"You find a way to get a couple of those rebounds at the end and we're walking out of here with a pretty damn good win," Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. "We've got to find a way to learn from it, like every game, whatever the result."

Northwestern has won the last seven matchups with Nebraska, with the Cornhuskers' last victory coming in 2019.

—Field Level Media