Huskers’ Historic Season Comes to an End in Sweet 16

HOUSTON - The Nebraska men's basketball team's historic season and NCAA Tournament run came to an end on Thursday night as No. 9 seed Iowa defeated No. 4 seed Nebraska, 77-71, in the NCAA Sweet 16 at the Toyota Center. 

The Huskers finished the season 28-7, a school record for season wins. Nebraska achieved its first-ever NCAA Tournament win and first Sweet 16 appearance in program history. 

Iowa (24-12) advanced to the Elite Eight where it will face the winner of second-seeded Houston and third-seeded Illinois on Saturday.   

Nebraska led for 32 minutes in the game. Iowa took its first lead with 2:10 remaining and Pryce Sandfort scored 25 points, connecting on 6-of-10 from 3-point range. Braden Frager had 16 points, hitting 5-of-8 from deep. Rienk Mast and Jamarques Lawrence each had nine points, while Sam Hoiberg had six points and six assists.

NU shot 41.4 percent from the field (24-of-58) and 34.2 percent from 3-point range (13-of-38). Iowa hit 51.9 percent overall (27-of-52) and 43.3 percent from beyond the arc (13-of-30). Bennett Stirtz had 20 points to lead the Hawkeyes. 

Nebraska outrebounded Iowa 35-26 but had 10 turnovers to just five for Iowa. The Hawkeyes converted that into a 20-7 advantage in points off turnovers. 

Nebraska got off to a hot start with threes by Lawrence and Sandfort, a three-point play by Mast, and another three by Sandfort to go up 12-2 at the 16:54 mark. Berke Buyuktuncel had two offensive boards that led to both Sandfort triples.

Iowa cut the lead to 16-14 with a 7-0 run before Frager stopped it with a corner three. After Tate Sage answered with a three for Iowa, Frager connected from deep on back-to-back possessions for a 25-17 lead with 11:57 left in the first half. 

Cale Jacobsen scored four points for the Big Red and Sandfort drained three free throws for a 32-23 lead with 9:31 to play.

Iowa pulled within 34-28 before Hoiberg converted consecutive driving layups to put NU back up by 10. But a dunk by Alvaro Folgueiras, a three from Bennett Stirtz and a three by Cooper Koch pulled Iowa within two, 40-38. 

Lawrence knocked down three free throws and then sank a 3-pointer to make it 46-38. But Folgueiras scored in the paint and Sage hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to trim the Huskers' lead to 46-43 at the break.

Iowa evened the game up at 50-50 by the first media timeout of the second half. Sandfort and Koch traded threes, then Frager hit one with the shot clock winding down to make it 56-53 NU. Sandfort scored in the paint for a 58-53 advantage at the 12:38 mark, but Iowa cut it to 58-57 after two straight layups. 

A three by Sandfort put NU up 62-57 with 9:02 to play, but Koch drained a three to tie the game at 62-62. Sandfort answered with a three of his own, but Folgueiras hit for Iowa to keep the score deadlocked at 65-65 with 5:03 remaining.

Stirtz hit a 3-pointer with 2:10 to go for Iowa's first lead of the game, 68-65. After the Huskers misfired, Sage hit a three from the corner to make it 71-65. Frager made a 3-pointer from the corner after an offensive rebound to cut it to 71-68 with 58.4 seconds left. But after a timeout, Iowa threw a length of the court pass and got a dunk and free throw by Folgueiras to go up 74-68 and went on to win 77-71.  

Post-Game Notes

• Nebraska ends its season with a 28-7 record, finishing with a school-record 28 wins, including the first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in program history.
• NU falls to 2-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, as the Huskers made their second appearance in the last three seasons.
• Nebraska falls to 16-29 all-time against Iowa, as tonight’s game was the first neutral site matchup between the schools.
• The Huskers hit 13 3-pointers, finishing the season with a school-record 373 3-pointers. Tonight marked the 23rd time this season Nebraska made 10 or more 3-pointers.
• Nebraska made 24 shots in the game. The Huskers finish the season with 957 field goals, the third-most in school history and the most since the 1995-96 season.
• NU totaled 19 assists tonight, increasing its season total to 631. It is the second-highest assist total in school history and the most since a school-record 696 assists in 1990-91.
• The Huskers finished the season averaging 9.71 turnovers, the lowest average in school history.
• Nebraska finished with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.86, breaking the school record of 1.81 set in 1984-85.
• Iowa shot 52 percent in the game, as the Hawkeyes were just the second opponent this season to shoot 50 percent against the Huskers (also Oklahoma on Nov. 15).
• Pryce Sandfort posted his 31 double-figure game of the season with 25 points. Sandfort’s 25-point game marked his 16^th 20-point game of the season and 17th of his career.
• Sandfort’s six 3-pointers upped his school-record total to 129 and was the 12th time this season he has had at least five 3-pointers in a game.
• Braden Frager scored 16 points. He reached double figures for the 20^th time this season, including the 18th time off the bench.
• With his 16 points tonight, Frager also moved into fourth place on NU’s all-time freshman scoring list with 391 points, passing Jerry Fort, who had 376 points in 1972-73
• With five 3-pointers, Frager finished the year with 57 3-pointers. He finished in sole possession of second place on NU’s all-time freshman list, moving past CJ Wilcher, who had 52 threes in 2021-22.
• With six assists tonight, Sam Hoiberg moved passed Tyronn Lue (152, 1997-98) for eighth place on Nebraska’s single-season list. Hoiberg finished the season with 157 assists.
• Hoiberg moved into a tie for 10th on Nebraska’s career games played list with 125, tying Brandon Ubel (2009-10 to 2012-13).