LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Matt Gatens wasn’t shooting like the hottest player in the Big Ten, Roy Devyn Marble still hadn’t scored and Iowa was clinging to a one-point lead against woeful Nebraska 6 minutes into the second half. And Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery wasn’t happy. Thanks to some sudden offense from Gatens and Marble, Iowa finally broke open the game and went on to defeat Nebraska 62-53 on Wednesday night. Iowa (16-14, 8-9 Big Ten) muddled to a 23-19 halftime lead and had trouble shaking off the Cornhuskers before winning for the fifth time in eight games. A home victory over Northwestern on Saturday would give the Hawkeyes a .500 conference record for the first time in five years. The Hawkeyes avenged a 79-73 loss to the Huskers in Iowa City last month and kept themselves alive for a No. 7 seed in next week’s Big Ten tournament. Nebraska (12-16, 4-13), which ends the regular season Saturday at Minnesota, has lost seven of eight. Nebraska came into the game off a 62-34 loss at fifth-ranked Michigan State. The 34 points were the fewest the Huskers had scored since 1948. The Hawkeyes, playing in Lincoln for the first time since 1976, split the season series with the Huskers. Nebraska, in its first year in the Big Ten, won first meeting 79-73 in Iowa City on Jan. 26.