Postgame Notes
• Nebraska improves to 9-0, marking just the third time in school history Nebraska has started 9-0 (1977-78 and 1915-16).  Nebraska’s school record for consecutive wins to start a season is 10 in 1977-78.

• Nebraska has now won 13 in a row dating back to last season. It is now tied for the third-longest streak in school history and longest since the 1990-91 season. All of the other win streaks of 13 or more games took place over a century ago.

• Nebraska’s 13-game win streak dating back to last year is the longest in the nation.

•  Nebraska secured their first win in Lincoln in the series against Creighton since a 94-75 win on Dec. 8, 2018, and now has won three of the past four meetings in the series, all by double figures.

• Nebraska won back-to-back games against Creighton for the first time since winning seven straight games between 1990 and 1997.

• The 21-point margin was the Huskers’ largest in the series since an 88-67 win on Dec. 6, 1995.

• Nebraska has now won a school-record 20 straight non-conference games dating back to Nov. 22, 2024.

• Rienk Mast posted his fourth 20-point game of the season (!6th of his career) with a game-high 20 points and five rebounds.

• Berke Buyuktuncel grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds, topping his previous best of nine done seven other times in his career. His 13 rebounds is a season high by any Husker this.

• Creighton was held to a season low of 50 points (previous low was 60 vs. Iowa State) and 16 field goals (previous low was 18 vs. Gonzaga). Creighton was also held to a season-low 19 first-half points (25 vs. Gonzaga).

• Nebraska has made 10-or-more 3-pointers six times in eight games, the Huskers grabbed 10 on Sunday.

• Pryce Sandfort grabbed a career high in steals (3) and also finished with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds.

• Sam Hoiberg reached double figures for the third time this year with 15 points and dished out five assists to just one turnover.

• Nebraska had a 13-0 run in the first half, the 11th double-figure run of the season

• Nebraska tied its season low for points allowed (also vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore)

Postgame Quotes

Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg

On bringing energy
“I mean, I think the biggest thing it showed is that we had a full week to prepare for this one. And I thought our guys were really locked in, and that was the key to me for this game is, the game plan that was put together, our guys followed it flawlessly for 40 minutes. In just the first half, I think we held them to under 19% the first half, which was great. But I thought in the second half, we came out with good juice. And we talked a lot about this last week about our starts. And to get out of the gate 15-2 and get our crowd into it – our crowd was absolutely phenomenal all game, and then the second half, I thought we did a good job as well coming out. I think it was nine to three in the first part of that second half. It’s just a really, really credit to our guys. And you know, Rienk (Mast) is 100% right, we can't go out, unfortunately, and celebrate it. We’ve got to bounce back (to play Wisconsin on Wed). When you have two days like this after a big emotional one, tomorrow is going to be mostly a mental preparation day. We'll have stations, we'll get the game plan put in. We'll get up and down a little bit on Tuesday in preparation. This is a really hard week, not only with Wisconsin, but then you get two days to prepare for our first true road game at Illinois. So we need to put this one behind us quickly. Have a good film session tomorrow and hopefully go out and play a complete 40-minute game against Wisconsin.”

On containing Josh Dix
"He's had some really good games in this building. And those guys were coming off, I thought their two best games of the season with the win at Oregon and the win in their last one, where they made 17 threes. I was just, I was really pleased with how our guys went out there. The previous game we had one deflection in the first 10 minutes of the game. Our defense definitely fueled our offense, and it wasn't pretty early, but then we got it going. I still thought we left a lot of points on the board in that first half. And then the second half, we had a nice little rhythm going. Got up to 50% and then just tried to protect that lead down the stretch. Again, credit to our players for going out there and really executing the game plan. Coaching staff, Nate (Loesner), did a great job putting a defensive game plan together, and our guys followed it. When they do that, when they execute it, we're generally pretty successful on that end of the floor. And then again, offensively, it wasn't a really high assist game, but we wanted to attack. We wanted to get into the lane, and it was more of a game like that. We did attack and switch as well. In the second half, it was good to see Rienk (Mast) get it going. I thought Pryce (Sandfort) was really efficient today, and I thought he had great patience. (Josh) Dix is a really good defender, and he was glued to Pryce (Sandfort) got him downhill a little bit a few times in the first half. It's good to see him open it up and hit a couple of threes in the second half."

On team coming together
“It's been good. One of the ways they took away our paint tonight is that they sat off a couple of our guys. I promise you guys, Berke (Buyuktuncel) is going to hit some shots. He's shooting it too well in practice. He's putting a lot of extra work into it. I thought the one in front of the bench was perfect. That was a great stroke. I thought it went down, and unfortunately, just rimmed. It went in and out. When he starts making shots, that's going to open up a lot for our team. Berke (Buyuktuncel) even though he didn't shoot it great, he goes on, has 13 rebounds, and I thought he was terrific on the defensive end. It's good to see Sam (Hoiberg), when they were going under him, step up and knock down a couple of big shots after he missed the first one of the first half and missed a layup as well, and to see him continue to attack. Everybody who stepped on the floor made a contribution, and that's what it's all about.”

Senior guard Sam Hoiberg

On defensive energy throughout the game
“We always talk about holding them under seven points every media. In the first two medias, they had two and zero. We were very locked in on defense, and that gives you time, if you're not hitting shots early to get it going, and we kept that defense up the whole game. We played really well on that end.”

On Berke Buyuktuncel’s defensive value
“That's really what BK (Berke Buyuktuncel) does for us is he's so effective defensively and a great rebounder. He doesn't have a ton of confidence shooting the ball right now, which we actually do have probably more confidence in him than he has in himself. But he finds a way to make an impact, even if he's not feeling confident on the other end. He got some big offensive rebounds as well, which contributed offensively. Those rebounds and the way he plays defense, he really is one of our anchors on that end and is so important to us.”

Junior guard Pryce Sandfort

On high level of defense
"I thought our communication and our rotations were on point the whole game. It's five as one defense. I thought that our bottom guys and our top guys were really communicating, letting each other know where shooters were, and it just helped all of us move together as one.”

On game atmosphere
"It's an amazing rivalry, and I got to give a big shout out to our fans. It was an absolutely unbelievable environment. Super fun to play with. I don’t think people realize how big that is for us and to get that energy behind us. It's a great rivalry and I hope to keep this rolling.”

Senior forward Rienk Mast

On answering the defensive challenge
"I think after last weekend, with the full week of prep, that was the emphasis. We did a lot of just toughness drills, rebounding drills, so I think that translated to the game. We had a great week of prep going into this game. If you have that long off, you either come out sluggish or you come out ready to go and I thought we came out great. Those drills that we did this week were great.”

On Sam Hoiberg’s impact
“He's scrappy. We know he's going to bring that toughness every single game. Then today he also hit shots and drove it to the rim. We know he always brings the defense, he brings the hustle and then if he contributes on the offensive end and just plays a complete game like he's a stud, he's probably one of the best glue guys in the nation.”

Creighton Head Coach Greg McDermott

Opening statement
“Nebraska was the tougher team. They were the more connected team. I thought the start of the game was going to be critical, and I was right. I felt like we needed to get off to a good start with this crowd and not allow them to get off to the start they did. 10-2 or 12-2 whatever it was, and we had some decent looks at the basket, their defense had a little more teeth to it. We just didn’t respond or react to it very well.”

On the offensive struggles
“I thought in the first half, our shooters had pretty good shots. There were a couple I didn’t like. But, there’s a reason Nebraska gives up more threes than anybody in the country. That’s kind of their philosophy. They’re going to send you hard to the baseline. They’re going to trap it. If you can get it out of there successfully, you’re probably going to get a decent look. Their second efforts are really good with the late challenge, and that was probably in our head a little bit. Having said that, we’ve worked on that all week, knowing that was their technique defensively. But once they got ahead, it’s like there was blood in the water and we were in trouble.”

On what separates this Nebraska team from others
“I was telling Fred (Hoiberg), their role players are really champions in their role. That’s a little bit harder to accomplish in this day and age because guys don’t necessarily stay in one place. Sam Hoiberg was a difference in the game. I’ve known Sam a long time, Sam doesn’t care if he scores. Sam doesn’t care if he gets an assist, Sam just wants to win. Cale Jacobsen falls into that same role. They do whatever their team needs them to do, and it’s not about them. They understand where their bread and butter is with Rienk (Mast), and Pryce (Sandfort) is playing at a high level. Jamarques (Lawrence) compared to two years ago, has made really good strides. (Braden) Frager has made great strides from a senior in high school to where he is today. They have some guys that really do their job well, and it’s hard to get them flustered because of that. If you would’ve told me that Pryce was going to get 13 and Rienk got 20, but had to work for it, I would’ve thought it would’ve been a pretty competitive game. But, Sam was really the difference.”