Feb. 17, 2024 14:41 PM EST

Tominaga Helps Nebraska Stay Unbeaten At Home, Beat Penn State 68-49

Penn State's Favour Aire, center, shoots as Nebraska's Rienk Mast and Josiah Allick, right, defend during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Lincoln, Neb. Nebraska defeated Penn State 68-49. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz) Rebecca S. Gratz, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Penn State's Favour Aire, center, shoots as Nebraska's Rienk Mast and Josiah Allick, right, defend during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Lincoln, Neb. Nebraska defeated Penn State 68-49. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
Penn State's Ace Baldwin Jr. (1) drives against Nebraska's Rienk Mast (51) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Lincoln, Neb. Nebraska won 68-49. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
Nebraska's Jamarques Lawrence, left, tries to dribble past Penn State's Nick Kern Jr. during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Lincoln, Neb. Nebraska won 68-49. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
Penn State's Qudus Wahab, left, reaches for the ball against Nebraska's Rienk Mast during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Lincoln, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
Penn State's Qudus Wahab, second right, reaches for a rebound against Nebraska's Juwan Gary, from left, Brice Williams and Rienk Mast during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Lincoln, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)
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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Keisei Tominaga pumped in 17 points and Nebraska extended its home court unbeaten streak by pulling away from Penn State in the second half to post a 68-49 victory on Saturday afternoon.

The Cornhuskers (18-8) are 8-7 in the Big Ten, with all eight victories coming at home. They have yet to win a conference road game.

Juwan Gary turned a three-point play in the final minute of the first half to give Nebraska a 28-22 advantage at the break and opened the second half with a 10-2 run to push the lead to 14 points. Penn State never got within single digits the rest of the way. Nebraska led by as many as 22 points with just under nine minutes left.

The Nittany Lions started to rally with seven minutes left, Ace Baldwin Jr. hit two 3-pointers and Jameel Brown added a third to cut the deficit to 12 points, but Tominaga drilled a 3 and Mast found open space in the paint and knocked down a soft jump hook to quickly push the lead back to 17 points while Penn State went scoreless for more than 2 1/2 minutes. Baldwin ended the drought with a jumper but was immediately whistled for a technical foul for a comment aimed in the direction of a game official.

Nebraska forced 14 Penn State turnovers, turning them into 15 points, and scored more than half of its points in the paint (36).

The Cornhuskers shot 27 of 61 from the floor (44.3%), but was just 4 of 21 from behind the arc. Tominaga was 3 of 8 from distance. Gary finished with 13 points and six rebounds and Rienk Mast contributed 12 points and nine rebounds.

Zach Hicks scored 13 points to lead Penn State (12-14, 6-9). Baldwin finished with 10 points and five steals.

Nebraska plays three of its final five regular season games on the road, beginning Wednesday at Indiana. Penn State returns home to play host to No. 14 Illinois Wednesday.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

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