Iowa Hawkeyes hold off Nebraska, 88-78, get 20th win

LINCOLN, Neb. — After a flat first 30 minutes, the Iowa men’s basketball team left Nebraska behind Friday night.

The No. 25 Hawkeyes beat Nebraska 88-78 in Pinnacle Bank Arena, their sixth win in the last seven games. That improved their Big Ten record to 10-7 and overall mark to 20-8. Nebraska, which played its home-finale Friday, is 1-16 and 7-21.

It was Iowa’s first win in their last five trips to Lincoln.

Iowa led by just 58-56 with 10:51 left, but Kris Murray scored seven points in an 11-0 run to stretch it out to 69-56. The closest the Huskers got after that was seven points.

Sophomore guard Tony Perkins had a game-high and career-high 20 points, his first double-digit point total since he had 16 against Illinois on Dec. 6.

Six Hawkeyes scored in double-figures. Keegan Murray had 15 points and 11 rebounds. For the third-straight game, Kris Murray had a scoreless first-half and at least 11 points afterward. He had 12 Friday.

The Hawkeyes went into halftime with a 36-35 lead despite making seven turnovers and getting no steals. They came in averaging 8.8 turnovers and a league-best 7.6 steals.

Connor McCaffery made all three of his first-half 3-point tries to lead Iowa in the half with nine points. His brother, Patrick McCaffery had eight points. Keegan Murray, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 23.5 points per game, was held to four in the half.

Nebraska led 28-21 at one point. Filip Rebraca scored on a lay-in with under two seconds left in the half for Iowa to lead at the break.

Iowa’s next game is Monday at 7 p.m. against Northwestern (6-12, 13-14) in Iowa City.