Nebraska holds off Purdue 57-55 in Big Ten - 14 News, WFIE, Evansville, Henderson, Owensboro

Nebraska holds off Purdue 57-55 in Big Ten

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Shavon Shields scored 19 points, Brandon Ubel added 16 points and eight rebounds and Nebraska beat Purdue 57-55 Thursday in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. 

The Cornhuskers (15-17) hung on after Purdue's Terone Johnson missed two shots in the closing seconds and will meet No. 10 Ohio State in the quarterfinals. 

They started the second half on a 9-0 run to turn a two-point lead into a 39-28 advantage and withstood a late push by the Boilermakers (15-17) to come away with a surprising victory. 

It was 54-53 after Purdue's D.J. Byrd made a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left. Nebraska's Ray Gallegos then made the first free throw and missed the second, but the Cornhuskers recovered the ball. 

Ubel then hit the second foul shot after missing the first to make it 56-53 with 28.6 seconds left. Byrd put back a missed 3 by Ronnie Johnson to pull Purdue within one with 13 seconds left. 

Gallegos then made 1 of 2 free throws to make it a two-point game. Purdue had one last chance but Johnson missed two shots in the lane and Gallegos grabbed the rebound to secure the win.

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