LINCOLN, Neb. -- After spending a good portion of the first half Sunday vomiting in the locker room, forward Michael Jacobson found the strength to give Nebraska a late boost for an important Big Ten Conference basketball victory.
The sophomore from Waukee, Iowa grabbed his fifth offensive rebound of the game and converted the carom into a basket that gave the Huskers a 79-78 lead that led them to an 83-80 upset of No. 20 Purdue.
Securing the win before a Pinnacle Bank Arena crowd of 14,194 allowed the Huskers (10-11, 4-5 Big Ten) to snap a five-game losing streak that featured a pair of one-point losses by outscoring Purdue (17-5, 6-3 Big Ten) 13-5 in the final 2:24 of the game.
Nebraska coach Tim Miles said he went to bring Jacobson into the game a couple of different times as starting center Jordy Tshimanga struggled with foul trouble. At halftime Miles said Jacobson was "taking an IV" with doctors and trainers supervising.
"I just went in and said 'Hey, don't kill yourself for a basketball game for crying out loud,'" Miles said. "He goes 'No, no, I'll be ready.' He came back out, and he had some struggles."
Miles said those struggles disappeared at the end of the game when Jacobson made some key plays in the final minutes, including the go-ahead basket following his fifth offensive rebound with 46 seconds to play.
Purdue coach Matt Painter said the Boilermakers defense didn't do enough keep the Huskers from securing the upset. One example was Jacobson getting his average number of offensive rebounds when keeping him below that number would be better.
"They had to have somebody be pretty special and normally you think that's going to be (Glynn) Watson or (Tai) Webster," Painter said. "Jacobson gets his average tonight. He's not a very good defensive rebounder, but he's a good offensive rebounder, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
"We have to hit him and Jordy (Tshimanga) and not let them get a head of steam. We've got to do a better job there."
Painter also said another pair of under-the-radar Huskers -- Jack McVeigh and Jeriah Horne -- foiled Purdue's plans. That pair combined to finish with 37 points and 10 rebounds.
McVeigh has been seeing more game time the past three games, but Horne, a freshman from Overland Park, Kansas, didn't even play in Nebraska's loss Thursday at Northwestern.
Horne finished with 16 points while McVeigh led all scorers with 21. Nebraska's two most prominent players -- Tai Webster and Glynn Watson -- also finished in double figures with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
"They had to have somebody be pretty special," Painter said. "Normally you think it's Webster and Watson. If you say they (Nebraska) scored 83 points, you would say 'Okay, Glenn Watson had 28 and Tai Webster had 24, and you got beat, that's that.'"
When Webster made just 5 of 18 shots and Watson only had seven field goal attempts, having McVeigh and Horne step up is precisely what Miles said needs to happen.
"It was critical for those guys to do that," Miles said. "We don't win without them. I think it shows their competitive nature."
The offensive rebound Jacobson got came off a missed 3-pointer by McVeigh, who made four late in the first half to help Nebraska build a 39-33 halftime lead.
McVeigh and Watson combined to make four free throws in the final minute but Purdue still had a chance to tie with six seconds left. The game ended when Dakota Mathias missed a long 3-pointer from the right side and Horne grabbed the rebound as time expired.
Mathias hit five 3-pointers and led Purdue (17-5, 6-3) with 19 points. Purdue made 14 of 24 3-pointers while Nebraska was 9 of 17.
Nebraska went up 42-35 in the opening minute of the second half. Purdue quickly tied it at 42-42 and held a 61-54 lead on a basket by Isaac Haas with 9:47 to play.
The Huskers then scored six straight points to get back within one and took a 65-63 lead on a 3-point play by Jacobson with six minutes left. Purdue answered with two 3s by Mathias for a 72-67 lead with 2:51 remaining.
NOTES: Purdue and F Basil Smotherman mutually agreed to part ways, the school announced Sunday. In a statement by head coach Matt Painter, Smotherman did not conform to the requirements for players in the program. ... Nebraska ended a three-game losing streak to Purdue and are 5-13 against the Boilermakers. ... At halftime of Thursday's game against Michigan State, Nebraska will retire former guard Tyronn Lue's jersey. Lue is the fourth former Husker to have his jersey retired. Lue guided the Cleveland Cavaliers to an NBA title in 2016, becoming the 14th person to win a league championship both as a player and head coach. Lue, who played 11 seasons in the NBA for seven franchises, will be in Lincoln for the ceremony. He won two rings as a player with the Los Angeles Lakers.
