Big Ten Wednesday night recap: What in the Word is going on?

Game of the night: Incarnate Word at Nebraska

Nebraska led by five with 30 seconds left in this one, but it wasn't enough to put away the Cardinals of Incarnate Word. After Traylin Farris hit a layup to cut the deficit to three, the Huskers turned the ball over in the backcourt and fouled Shawn Johnson as he attempted to equalize. Johnson hit just two of three free throws, but his team later would get a chance to win when Terran Petteway threw away an inbounds pass with five seconds remaining. Down by just a point with time running out, Word's Kyle Hittle hit an off-balance baseline jumper over Shavon Shields to complete the upset.

It's hard to find one big reason for Nebraska's 74-73 defeat. The Huskers didn't allow an extraordinary amount of three-pointers or commit a boatload of turnovers. Incarnate Word just kept coming at them with a balanced attack that saw five Cardinals score in double figures. Although Petteway and Shields combined to score 37 points on 50-percent field goal shooting, it wasn't enough to counter the Incarnate Word onslaught.

Duquesne at Penn State

The Lions have made sure that nothing comes too easy for them, but they've somehow survived another scare to move their record to 9-1 for the season. This time around, Penn State hung on to win 64-62 against a relentless Duquesne team that had a chance to win with time expiring. Micah Mason saw his three-pointer fall short at the buzzer, and Penn State did a good job limiting the triple-loving Dukes to just 4-for-19 shooting from beyond the arc. It would have been nice if the Lions could keep Jordan Stevens from getting to the basket, though, as the junior college transfer scored 18 points off the bench.

D.J. Newbill wasn't his excellent self on Wednesday, but Penn State got just enough scoring from sophomore guard Geno Thorpe to pull through. Thorpe's 19 points were a career high, as were his 14 free throw attempts and 11 free throws made.

Wisconsin at Milwaukee

With Nebraska and Penn State providing plenty of drama last night, the rest of the Big Ten cruised to victory. The Badgers were the one team to compete on the road, but that didn't stop them from crushing Milwaukee 93-54 for their 22nd straight win over the program.

Frank Kaminsky led Wisconsin with 18 points, but Sam Dekker was close behind with 17 for a Badgers team that shot 61 percent from the field.

High Point at Ohio State

Redshirt freshman Kam Williams scored a career-high 23 points on a blissful 8-for-10 shooting night to help the Buckeyes run by High Point, 97-43. Junior forward Josh Brown poured in 19 points for the Panthers, but the Ohio State offense was too much for High Point to handle. D'Angelo Russell went 7-for-10 from the field on his way to 18 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, while the Buckeyes as a whole shot 63 percent, including 8-for-13 from beyond the arc.

North Carolina Central at Maryland

Although the Terps were outscored by 10 points in the second half, they never really sweated in this one thanks to an incredible 21-2 run in the first half. Richaud Pack needed just seven field goal attempts to lead Maryland with 17 points, and Jake Layman connected on three treys to grab 15 points for himself. North Carolina Central's Jordan Parks led all players with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but the Eagles found themselves in a halftime hole that was too deep to dig out of.

Arkansas State at Purdue

The first half that Purdue enjoyed during its 87-46 smashing of Arkansas State made Maryland's start look like small potatoes. Kendall Stephens knocked down six three-pointers in a row to give the Boilers a ridiculous 52-18 halftime advantage. The sophomore guard wouldn't score a point in the second half, and his teammates combined to shoot just 3-for-17 from beyond the arc, but neither fact mattered as Purdue coasted to victory.

Southern at Minnesota

When Andre Hollins is this hot, it's hard for anyone to stop Minnesota, let alone a team from the SWAC. The senior guard went 5-for-7 from three-point range en route to 24 points and an easy 85-57 victory for the Gophers. DeAndre Mathieu and Carlos Morris combined for 21 points and 10 assists for a Minnesota team that saw just six of its 29 baskets go unassisted. Adrian Rodgers and Trelun Banks led Southern with 18 and 15 points, respectively.