Mast Leads No. 9 Huskers in 80-68 Win at Rutgers

Senior Rienk Mast scored 26 points and pulled in eight rebounds, as No. 9 Nebraska picked up a single-season school record sixth conference road win in the Huskers’ 80-68 victory at Rutgers on Saturday afternoon in Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J.

The Huskers improved to 21-2 on the season, which marks the program’s best 23-game record since going 21-2 in 19-20.

Behind Mast’s 26 points and eight boards, Sam Hoiberg added 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Pryce Sandfort chipped in 15 points and Jamarques Lawrence netted 12 points to go with a team-high seven assists.

In the first half, the Huskers took control over the final 10 minutes, outscoring the Scarlet Knights 21-9 to turn a two-point lead into a 41-27 halftime lead. The Huskers shot 50 percent from the field and got 13 first-half points from Mast and eight points and four assists from Lawrence.

Rutgers was within 30-24 after a Jamichael Davis basket, but a two straight baskets from Mast and a 3-pointer from Lawrence stretched the lead to 37-24 with 2:15 left in the half. In all, the Huskers closed the half on an 11-2 run over the final 4:11 as Mast’s basket with 1.9 seconds left gave NU its largest lead of the half, at 41-27.

Nebraska continued its strong shooting early in the second half, stretching the lead to 19 after Hoiberg’s second 3-pointer of the second half with 16:19 left forced a Rutgers timeout.

The Huskers eventually got the lead to 20, at 61-41 after a Braden Frager basket with 12:11 left before Rutgers went on a 9-2 run, pulling to within 63-50 after a 3-point play from Dylan Grant with 10:29 left.

A layup from Sandfort, followed by a pair of free throws by Mast had the Big Red out front 77-60 with 2:29 remaining.

The Scarlet Knights scored six straight points to pull within 10 with 33 seconds left, but two free throws from Cale Jacobsen with 27 seconds left gave the Nebraska its 80-68 win on Saturday afternoon.

Nebraska Postgame Notes

-Nebraska improves to 21-2 on the season, the program’s best 23-game record since going 21-2 in 1919-20.

-The 21 wins matches last season’s win total and ties for seventh on Nebraska’s single-season victories list.

-Nebraska picked up its sixth road win of the season and improved to 9-1 away from Pinnacle Bank Arena this season. Nebraska is now 9-3 in its last 12 Big Ten road games dating back to last season.

-Nebraska’s six road wins in Big Ten play breaks the single-season record for most conference road wins in a season. The previous mark was five, set four previous times before this season (1965-66, 1924-25, 1914-15 and 1912-13).

-With the win, Nebraska improves to 10-2 in Big Ten action, its best 12-game conference mark since 1965-66 (11-1).

-Nebraska finished with 80 points today and is now 50-10 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring 80 or more points, including 41-7 over the last four seasons.

-Rienk Mast collected his fifth 20-point game of the season and 17th of his career with a game-high 26 points and eight rebounds. It was his highest point total in Big Ten play this season. Mast also led NU with eight rebounds.

-Nebraska finished with 19 assists and just six turnovers, as the six turnovers were one off its season low.

-Jamarques Lawrence tied a career high with seven assists and added 12 points in the win. Lawrence, who hails from Plainfield, N.J. also had seven assists two other times, most recently against Wisconsin on Dec. 10.

-With nine 3-pointers today, Nebraska has 252 3-pointers to rank 10th on NU’s single-season chart.

-With four steals today, Sam Hoiberg has 139 career steals to move into the top-10 list for career steals, passing Benny Parker (2013-16) and Larry Florence (1997-2000) who both had 137.

-Hoiberg with six straight games in double figures while his 3 3-pointers tied a career high set at Maryland on Jan. 28, 2023.

-Pryce Sandfort hit a trio of 3-pointers on Saturday and now has 80 on the season to move into a tie for fifth place on NU’s single-season list with Joe McCray (2004-05). Sandfort’s 80 3-pointers is the most by a Husker since Glynn Watson Jr. had 82 in 2018-19.