LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — It was cold and damp, Iowa had the ball at its 26 with 32 seconds left in regulation in a tie game, and the Hawkeyes’ offense hadn’t done much since the first quarter.

Instead of being content to play for overtime against border rival Nebraska, coach Kirk Ferentz went for the win Friday.

The Hawkeyes got it when Keith Duncan kicked a 48-yard field goal with one second left, giving No. 19 Iowa a 27-24 victory over Nebraska that leaves the Cornhuskers out of the postseason for a third consecutive season.

“We thought we had a chance if we executed,” Ferentz said. “There’s some risk and reward involved there. We thought the reward outweighed the risk. At least we came out the right side this time.”

The Hawkeyes (9-3, 6-3 Big Ten) beat the Huskers (5-7, 3-6) for a fifth straight year and second year in a row on a late field goal.

Duncan, who walked on to Iowa in 2016, had more to celebrate than just helping the Hawkeyes hold onto the Heroes Game trophy for at least another year. Ferentz announced after the game that he was giving Duncan a scholarship.

“The culmination of all these four years of hard work,” said Duncan, who also kicked a 49-yarder against the Huskers and now owns the Big Ten single-season record with 29. “These 12 weeks have been really hard for us, just working 100%. There’s been some setbacks, but we finished here. Team goals will lead to individual goals, and that’s where we are today.”

Iowa, which had its 14-point lead wiped out in the third quarter, got the ball back after forcing a Nebraska punt in the final minute. Nate Stanley had a long pass to Nico Ragaini overturned to incomplete on video review, but then completed a pair of 22-yard passes to Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Sam LaPorta to bring on the reliable Duncan.

The Huskers called two timeouts before Duncan drilled the winner down the middle and with plenty of distance.

“Every field goal I’m hungry for, especially in a situation like that with tough conditions,” Duncan said. “That’s why you become a kicker. You’ve got to be hungry and not scared.”

After the ball went through, holder Colten Rastetter and Duncan ran toward the Nebraska sideline. Rastetter pointed at the Huskers while Duncan blew kisses at them.

“Nebraska fans came for some entertainment, and that’s what it was, entertainment,” Duncan said. “Just having fun with it.”

Nebraska, down 24-10 at half, tied it with back-to-back touchdowns in the third quarter. Luke McCaffrey entered the game for a play in place of quarterback Adrian Martinez, rolled to his left and hit JD Spielman with a perfect 39-yard TD pass. The Huskers ran on 12 of 13 plays while covering 60 yards on their next drive, converting a fourth-and-6 before Wyatt Mazour ran in from 9 yards.

Smith-Marsette scored on a 45-yard on a reverse run and ran back a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown and Tyler Goodson broke a 55-yard TD run as Iowa got out to its lead in the first half.

Iowa had 18 plays for 191 yards in the first quarter but just 131 yards on 38 plays for the remainder of the game. Iowa gained 11 yards in the second quarter and 7 in the third.

Stanley completed 11 of 24 passes for 99 yards, his lowest total since throwing for 86 against Maryland last year. Tyler Goodson ran 13 times for a season-high 116 yards.

The Huskers are in their longest bowl drought since 1955-61, but coach Scott Frost is encouraged by the progress the second half of the season.

“There’s a lot of things that needed to get fixed, and I think a lot of those have been addressed,” Frost said. “I think when you plant a seed, you don’t necessarily see sprouts right away. There’s a lot going on underneath the ground before you see things shooting out of it. I know a lot of things have gotten better.”

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Malachi Flynn scored all of his 28 points after halftime to lead San Diego State past Iowa 83-73 as the Aztecs rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit in Las Vegas Invitational championship game on Friday night.

Flynn, the tournament’s MVP, also had five rebounds and four assists while going 9 of 9 from the free-throw line.

Jordan Schakel and Yanni Wetzell each had 14 points for the Aztecs (8-0) — their best start since 2010-11, when they were also was 8-0.

CJ Fredrick led Iowa (5-2) with 16 points. Connor McCaffery added 15 and Joe Toussaint had 13. Luka Garza, who is averaging over 20 points per game, had nine points on 3-for-8 shooting and eight rebounds.

San Diego State took the lead for good on Wetzell layup with 14:01 left after trailing by 16 with 3:05 remaining until halftime.

After the Aztecs led for most of the early portions of the first half, Iowa took the lead on a five-point possession, 20-17, after free throws by Toussaint and Garza. That also started a 22-4 run building Iowa’s largest lead at 37-21, before leading 41-32 at halftime.

This was the first meeting between the teams.

The Hawkeyes play at Syracuse on Tuesday.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Faced with its first true test of the season, No. 12 Texas Tech fell short and lost a top player to injury.

Jordan Bohannon had 20 points and six assists, Luka Garza added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Iowa held off the Red Raiders 72-61 on Thursday at the Las Vegas Invitational.

The Hawkeyes (5-1) will play in the championship game Friday night against San Diego State.

“I’m very proud of our defensive effort,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “We recognized the quality of our opponent. Texas Tech is a talented team, and incredibly well-coached. Anything short of that, we would have been carved up.”

Chris Clarke had 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Texas Tech (5-1), which lost Big 12 leading scorer Jahmi’us Ramsey to a leg injury with 10:06 to play. He finished with seven points.

After the game, coach Chris Beard was unsure of Ramsey’s status for Friday’s consolation game against Creighton.

Joe Wieskamp had 16 points and six rebounds for the Hawkeyes, and CJ Fredrick scored 10. His 3-pointer off a broken play as the shot clock expired put Iowa ahead 64-59 with 1:29 left. He followed that up with two free throws with 1:07 remaining to just about put it away.

UP NEXT

Iowa: Plays for the Las Vegas Invitational title Friday against San Diego State. Pregame is set for 6:00pm, tip at 7:00pm. We plan on having coverage on KJAN following coverage of the football game.

Texas Tech: Also plays Friday vs. Creighton.