The Keisei Tominaga that Big Ten fans fell in love with last season returned on Wednesday night. Nebraska's sharp shooter scored 28 points in an 86-70 victory over Indiana — smiling every time the ball went through the net.
Over the last few weeks, Tominaga has battled inconsistency on the floor. He didn't have any trouble finding the bucket on Wednesday, knocking down nine-of-15 shots, including four-of-10 from 3-point range.
Tominaga's 28-point performance was his best of the season. It led the Huskers to their first win over Indiana since the 2017-18 season and bumped Nebraska's record up to 12-2 (2-1) on the year.
It's the best start for the program since the 2010-11 season (13-2) — a year before Nebraska joined the Big Ten.
What made Tominaga's performance even more special? His family made the journey to Lincoln for the showdown against the Hoosiers.
"It was great to see Keisei get it going. I love that his family was in the building," Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. "It's a special thing, being away from his family for as long as he has the last few years and for them to witness this event — I told them they need to find a place over here. He seems to be pretty damn good when they're in the building."
Tominaga's performance against Indiana might be the spark he needs to find more consistency. In Nebraska's previous five games, he eclipsed double-digit point totals just twice.
In the last two games against South Carolina State and North Dakota, Tominaga knocked down just two-of-nine shots from 3-point range.
Just a day in the life of a shooter, right? Some days you have it, other days you don't. In Tominaga's case, we saw just how effective he can be when the ball is going through the hoop.
If Wednesday's game against Indiana does provide that boost in Tominaga's game, it comes at a pivotal time. Nebraska travels to Madison to play No. 21 Wisconsin on Saturday before hosting No. 1 Purdue on Tuesday.
Do the Huskers need to get a 28-point performance from Tominaga to have a chance in both games? No. But it would certainly help their odds.
It might also help if Hoiberg can figure out a way to keep Tominaga's family around Lincoln for the rest of the year.
J.J. McCarthy's Sign Stealing Comments
Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy might have had a "whoopsie" moment while speaking to reporters on Wednesday. He essentially admitted that the Wolverines stole signs, but pointed the finger at Ohio State.
"They were doing it the legal way," McCarthy said of the Buckeyes' sign-stealing practices, per ESPN. "We had to get up to the level they were at and make it an even playing field. It sucks because we do work our butts off."
"We do watch so much film and look for the little tendencies and spend like 10, 15 minutes on one clip alone just looking at all the little details of the posture of the linebackers or the D-end ... little stuff like that where it's like, OK, you can say it's all sign stealing, but you know, there's a lot more that goes into play ... a lot of work that gets masked just because of the outside perception of what sign stealing is all about."
Interpret that quote however you'd like. It sounds like an admission that Michigan didn't exactly go about it's sign-stealing practices the proper way, though.
The fact that McCarthy's comments come just a few days before Michigan will compete for a national championship is cringeworthy. It's also an insult to teams who went about their business the right way.
Earlier this season, Jim Harbaugh referred to Michigan as "America's Team" because of the adversity it faced. The truth is, though, it's "American's Villain."
Michigan might as well embrace it.
Ohio State Sneaks Past Rutgers
A huge sigh of relief was released out of Columbus on Wednesday night. Ohio State nearly blew a 17-point lead, but did just enough to defeat Rutgers 76-72.
The Buckeyes built a 45-32 advantage on the Scarlet Knights at halftime and appeared to be in cruise control. But Rutgers made a furious comeback in the second half, closing the deficit to just one point with under three minutes to play.
Clutch baskets from Evan Mahaffey and Roddy Gayle Jr. gave Ohio State just enough distance from Rutgers to escape with a win.
Bruce Thornton ended the game with 24 points and seven assists and Jamison Battle added 22 points in the win. Gayle ended the night with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Ohio State improved to 12-2 (2-1) on the season — that's the good news. The bad news? The Buckeyes continue to struggle with big leads. Earlier this year, they fumbled an 18-point advantage on the road against Penn State, falling 83-80.
Chris Holtmann has a talented squad in Columbus this year. It just needs to get better at closing out games.
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