History Made: Huskers Earn First NCAA Tournament Win

The Nebraska men’s basketball team made history on Thursday afternoon, delivering the first NCAA Tournament victory in resounding fashion with a 76-47 victory over Troy in Oklahoma City.

The fourth-seeded Huskers dominated the final 10 minutes of the first half to take control of the NCAA South Regional first-round matchup in front of a Paycom Center crowd filled with red-clad Husker fans.

With the victory, the Huskers improved to 27-6 on the season, setting a school record for for single-season victories. Nebraska advances to a second-round matchup on Saturday against the winner of the Vanderbilt-McNeese contest. The game time and TV information for the contest will be announced late Thursday night.

First-team All-Big Ten selection Pryce Sandfort led the historic Husker victory, scoring 17 of his 23 points before halftime, including five 3-pointers before intermission. He finished the game 7-of-12 from 3-point range. Jamarques Lawrence added 13 points for Nebraska with three 3-pointers made, while Rienk Mast had 11 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Braden Frager scored 13 points off the bench. Berke Buyuktuncel chipped in nine points and seven boards, and Sam Hoiberg had a team-high nine rebounds with four points and four assists.  

Nebraska connected on 14-of-39 3-pointers (35.9 percent) in the game, and shot 43.1 percent overall for the contest. Defensively, the Huskers made life difficult for the Trojans throughout the game. Nebraska held Troy to 28.3 percent shooting for the game, while forcing 17 turnovers, including 10 in the first half. Troy made just three field goals in the final 10 minutes of the first half. For the game, Troy had just five 2-point field goals, while connecting on 8-of-28 3-pointers (28.6 percent).

Nebraska was relentless on the offensive glass, collecting 13 offensive rebounds, 11 of which came in the first half. The rebounding effort resulted in a 19-3 advantage in second-chance points, including a 17-1 margin before half. NU had 20 assists to just six turnovers, and the Huskers finished with a 17-5 advantage in points off turnovers and 26-10 edge in points in the paint.

Nebraska first took control of the contest by dominating the final 10 minutes of the first half. After Troy led 15-12 with 10:34 to play in the first half, Nebraska out-scored the Trojans 29-10 over the remainder of the first half to lead 41-25 at intermission.

The Husker surge began with a 12-2 run to lead 24-17 with just under eight minutes left in the first half. The run included a pair of 3-pointers by Sandfort, a 3-pointer by Lawrence and a traditional 3-point play by Frager.

Nebraska’s lead ballooned to double digits at 32-19 as Sandfort continued his first-half scoring spree with eight consecutive points. He hit his fourth and fifth trifectas of the opening half and added a pair of free throws to give the Huskers a 13-point advantage with just over five minutes before half.

After Troy pulled within 11 early in the second half, Nebraska re-asserted itself beginning with a pair of Sandfort 3-pointers to lead by 17. Troy would get no closer than 17 points over the game’s final 14 minutes. Nebraska stretched its lead to 30 points at 70-40 after a 10-0 run culminated with a Buyuktuncel putback with 6:50 remaining. 

Notes
- Nebraska picked up its first NCAA Tournament victory in school history. The Huskers had been winless in their previous eight NCAA Tournament games.
- Nebraska improved to 27-6 on the season setting a school record for single-season victories. Nebraska’s previous record of 26 wins was held by the 1990-91 team.
- Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg picked up his fifth victory in the NCAA Tournament as a head coach, after previously winning four tournament games at Iowa State.
- Nebraska has now won its last five postseason games in national tournaments dating back to winning four straight games at the 2025 College Basketball Crown.
- Nebraska has won 11 of its last 12 neutral-site games dating back to the 2024 Diamond Head Classic. 
- The victory over Troy marked the first meeting between the schools. Nebraska improved to 10-5 against current members of the Sun Belt Conference. 
- Junior Pryce Sandfort scored a team-high 23 points for his 29th double-figure scoring game of the season and his 14th 20-point game.
- Sandfort connected on seven 3-pointers in the contest, including five in the first half. It marked his 10th game of the season with at least five 3-pointers, and increased his school-record season 3-point total to 120.
- With his 120 3-pointers on the season, Sandfort is now tied for second on the Big Ten’s single-season 3-pointers list. Carsen Edwards (Purdue) made 135 in 2018-19. 
- With his 23 points, Sandfort increased his season scoring total to 594 points moving him up to ninth on the single-season scoring list.
- Senior Jamarques Lawrence scored 13 points in the win to surpass 1,000 career points (1,006). Lawrence’s double-figure effort was his 16th of the season and his first since scoring 11 points at Iowa on Feb. 17.
- Freshman Braden Frager scored 13 points in the game, marking his 18th double-figure game of the season, including 16 off the bench.
- Senior Rienk Mast scored 11 points in the game, marking his 23rd double-figure scoring game of the season. 
- Senior guard Sam Hoiberg had four assists against Troy, increasing his season total to 143.
- Nebraska had a 10-0 run in the second half to extend its lead to 70-40. That marked Nebraska’s 30th double-figure scoring run of the season. 
- Nebraska made 14 3-pointers in the game, marking its 22nd game this season with at least 10 3-pointers. Nebraska is 18-4 this season when making at least 10 3-pointers in a game.