With the loss, Iowa State falls to 14-16 overall and 3-12 in Big 12 play. Nebraska improves to 17-11 overall and 7-8 in conference action.In the opening half, ISU took a 5-0 lead out of the gates behind a Brackins’ jumper and the first of three 3-pointers by Staiger. Nebraska responded with a 5-0 run of its own and the eventually went up 10-7 on a 3-pointer from Ryan Anderson.
ISU fought back going on a 9-2 run that included two threes from Staiger to go on top 16-12. The teams struggled back-and-forth from that point with the Cyclones holding a 29-26 lead with 1:59 remaining in the half after four straight from Brackins.
Nebraska’s Steve Harley tied the game at 29-29 with a long ball and Dominique Buckley hit a short jumper to put ISU on top 31-29. The Huskers went on to score the final five points of the half in the last 13.7 seconds to take a 34-31 lead into the intermission.
Both teams blistered the net in the first half with ISU shooting 55.6 percent while Nebraska shot 51.9 percent. Brackins led the Cyclones with 14 points and eight rebounds while Staiger chipped in nine first-half points. Ade Dagunduro had 11 points to lead the Huskers.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Staiger out of the break put ISU in front 37-34 but the lead was short lived as the Huskers rallied to go on top 45-41 with 15:45 remaining. After a Brackins’ bucket cut the lead to two, ISU went cold going scoreless for nearly three minutes as Nebraska pushed its lead to eight (51-43).
Staiger hit two of three free throws, cutting the deficit to 51-45, with 11:05 remaining before the Huskers went on a 17-4 run to go up by 19 points (68-49).
The Cyclones were able to cut the lead to 12 at 69-57 following three straight points from Bryan Petersen but it was to late as Nebraska ran clock the rest of the way to snap its three-game losing streak.
The Cyclones were led by Brackins’ 25 points-13 rebounds. Brackins now has 17 20-point games and 13 double-doubles this year.
Staiger finished with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from behind the arc. Staiger, who has 13 games with three or more treys this season, has now connected on 71 3-pointers this season, the seventh-most in school history.
Nebraska had five players in double-digits led by 24 points from Dagunduro.
Iowa State will play its final home game Saturday afternoon against Texas Tech. Tip is set for 12:45 p.m.