Postgame Notes
*- Rienk Mast posted the third triple-double in school history with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in 25 minutes of work. Mast was 8-of-10 from the field, had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the first half. 

*-Mast joins Cam Mack (2019) and Dalano Banton (2020) as the three Huskers in school history with triple doubles. All three triple-doubles have come during Fred Hoiberg’s seven seasons.

*-Mast now has eight double-doubles as a Husker and 28 in his college career

*-Pryce Sandfort finished with 20 points for his second career 20-point game and first as a Husker. 

*-Sandfort’s six 3-pointers tied his college career high (vs. Southern while at Iowa last season). 

*-Nebraska’s 17 3-pointers is one shy of Nebraska’s single-game record and the most by a Husker team since hitting a school -record 18 3-pointers against Kansas on Feb. 24, 2002.

*-Nebraska finished 17-of-34 from 3-point range and has hit 27 3-pointers in its two games.

*-Braden Frager posted his second straight double-figure effort off the bench with 15 points. 

*-Nebraska’s 29 assists were the most since recording 35 assists vs. Northeastern Illinois on Dec. 21, 1994. The high for a Husker team since the 2001-02 season was 28 against North Carolina A&T on Dec. 19, 2005.

*-Nebraska put five players in double figures for the first time since Jan. 16, 2025.

Nebraska Quotes
Head Coach Fred Hoiberg
On the first half rotation 
“Yeah, I plan on getting Jared (Garcia) out there. That's why he was the first sub in the second half. They played big, big, a lot, and they more matched us, and I thought (Braden) Frager really had it going there in the first half, so it was more just flow of the game. Jared, I thought, gave us really good minutes. I gave him a lot of credit in the post game locker room, getting six defensive rebounds for us. I thought he was a key part of that run that we made in the second half. We're going to need his physicality. It's good to see him raise up and knock down that shot right away when it came to him. It's great to get those guys valuable minutes and experience and the tight turnaround having to come back and play on Tuesday against a team that took Georgia Tech to overtime. It's nice to get our guys a little bit of extended rest. I'm glad Rienk (Mast) finally got the triple double. I thought he's going to turn it over 10 times. He used to be working his way towards a quadruple double. So it's good to see Frager get the play at the rim, it was a great cut, and Rienk was obviously just phenomenal all game long. Third player in program history to get a triple double to help an accomplishment.”

On Rienk Mast’s progression through reps  
“I thought our guys did a really good job getting the ball to Rienk (Mast) in the pocket, and they were blitzing our pick and roll. We ran a little step up action. They were pre- rotating to it a few times. But, I thought our guys made good reads on the backside. We got a slash, got Cale (Jacobsen) an open three on one of them. We got Braden (Frager) in open three on another action. So I thought our guys really followed the game plan, and we were 15 assists at three turnovers at halftime. Got a little loose with it there at the end. But, 29 assists, that's a pretty darn good number. Rienk’s the catalyst. He's the guy out there making plays. It's fun to see Pryce (Sandfort) get it going the way that he did with that little stretch that he had to open up the second half that took the lead up to 30 plus. Just a really good game. That was one I've had a lot of anxiety going into just because of their size, their length, their athleticism. It's good to see our guys go and handle business.”

On Pryce Sandfort’s game 
“It was just a matter of time before he had one like this. The way they converge on the ball, the big message to our team was make simple plays, don't over penetrate. Sam (Hoiberg) did it one early where he tried to cross over. If you do that, they're going to get it, they're going to take it from you. Once we calmed down and took one dribble, made the pass, hit the single, Pryce benefited from it. Sam had a nice steal to get him the three. Pryce’s coast to coast play at the basket. So, he just did a little bit of everything. Our guys did a great job finding them.” 

Senior forward Rienk Mast
On the number of assists and his triple-double
“Yeah, I kind of knew coming into the game that it was going to be a passing game for me. I didn't expect to score this much. I kind of thought, with how much they get up to the ball, that I was going to the three guys that shoot threes. I knew I was going to have a good passing game. I didn't foresee it going well, scoring guys either, but I knew there were going to be opportunities to kick it out, and hopefully Pryce (Sandfort) gets it going for three. I know we got so many shooters, so we shot it. We shot it insanely for three today.”

On being fully back and still working on timing
“Still working on it, I'd say today was a little bit easier with them just playing so high up to find that card, a little easier. But still, I had nine assists and I started forcing a little too much, had a couple turnovers, and Coach (Hoiberg) got pretty mad. So, the timing's gotten better.”

On closing
“We talked about it at halftime. It's like, I had five and a half, go get it. Three quick ones to start the half. You've got to find the other two, which was a little bit of a challenge. But everybody was saying, Go get it.  All the coaches were also like, yeah, go get it. That's also why I forced a little bit”

On Sam Hoiberg
“An impact player right there, like he impacts the game in so many other ways other than scoring. His grit is rebounding. He gets steals, deflections. He's just annoying, like he's a guy that you hate playing against and love playing with. I know he knows it too. Like, he knows he doesn't have to score it to impact the game. And again, he did it. He did it today. Again, I proved it again. He's so good at all those little things.”

Junior forward Berke Buyuktuncel
On performing better than last season
“So defensively, (I am) more active from last year, and offensively, I'm trying to get more understanding of the offense and especially transitions, like right now, we are playing with pace a lot, and we are not being turned over that much, and we have a lot of assistance. We are playing with a fast pace. So I'm turning myself into more like the fast-paced kind of guy, going to the corner even when I'm playing five green runs and other stuff. I think I'm doing okay right now. I can do better.”

On being in better shape this season
“I'm not going to say how much I weighed at the end of the season, but I lost a lot, and with that, I just feel better, my knees were better, my ankles were better, like it affected everything. I was faster, and with that, I will have more energy and more conditioning. I could do it.

Florida International Head Coach Jeremy Ballard
On takeaways from the game
“We knew from film that Nebraska is a very good team. They're old, they're big, they're physical, they're extremely skilled, they're extremely well coached and they played well tonight. I'm disappointed. I told Coach Hoiberg this too, disappointed that we didn't give them a better game, because we're a lot better than what we showed tonight. We didn't lean into what our identity is. We didn't play our brand of basketball, except for some many stretches and that's disappointing. But, hats off to Nebraska. They space you out on offense, they move the ball. They're fully committed to their system. They make great reads, they share the ball and then they make you pay every defensive lapse. They make you play and they can make tough shots as well. So it's an excellent team. I have a ton of respect for Coach Hoiberg. I watched him play when I was younger, it was an honor to go against them. I just wish we played better.”

On the positive aspects of the game
“We played with pace and we played with force, and we played stuck in the mud a little bit there. In the first half, the ball stuck, and against a well-oiled defensive machine, like what Nebraska has, which is so good positionally defensively, so good with their rotations. If you let the ball stick in one place, you're pounding in one place, then they load up, they get to where they're supposed to be positionally, and then you're not going to get anything against them. But in those spurts where we did have some success, we really played with pace. We moved the ball and we attacked downhill, and that's when we had, you know, a tiny modicum of success that we did have for this game. But hats off to them. They obviously understand what we're trying to do. And they slowed us down. So hats off to them for that as well.”

On Eric (Dibami) and Thiago’s (Sucatzky) Game
“Yeah, you know, really proud of those guys. Those are freshmen, you know, playing in a beautiful arena full of, you know, full of fans who were loud and into the game against a big and physical, grown man team that is what Nebraska has. Those guys didn't back down one bit, you know. And you know, we believe in those guys. They played with force all game long, you know. Eric (Dibami) was battling going to the glass, and, you know, I thought he wasn't sure enough of himself, and some of the finishes in the first half, and then he settled in and finished some of those in the second half. And Thiago (Sucatzky) gave us a spark. Man, you know, Thiago (Sucatzky) is all heart, and he really understands the game, and so really proud of those guys. You know, the future is bright for all of us. We just got to make sure that we play, that we're FIU every time we step out there.”