How Sweet It Is: Huskers Top Vanderbilt in Final Seconds

Braden Frager hit a layup with 2.2 seconds left to lift the Nebraska basketball team to a thrilling 74-72 victory over Vanderbilt in the second round of the NCAA South Regional at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City in front of a partisan Husker crowd Saturday night.

The win continued Nebraska's record-setting season and sent the Huskers to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. NU advances to the South Regional in Houston for a Sweet 16 matchup on Thursday against the winner of Sunday’s Iowa-Florida contest.

NU led for the majority of the game Saturday but faced its largest deficit at 67-62 with just over five minutes remaining. The Huskers then scored six straight points to take the lead.  Vanderbilt hit a clutch 3-pointer to regain the lead at 72-70 and the teams traded baskets on their next possessions. Rienk Mast tied the game at 72-72 with less than a minute remaining before the Huskers got a defensive stop and Pryce Sandfort found Frager for his game-winning layup.

The Commodores had one final chance but Tayler Tanner's half-court heave rolled in and out as Nebraska survived and advanced.

Nebraska continued to increase its school-record victory total and improved to 28-6 on the season. Vanderbilt saw its season end with a 27-9 record.

The Huskers featured a balanced scoring attack and were led in scoring by Frager and Sandfort who each finished the game with 15 points. Mast and Berke Buyuktuncel  also scored in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. For the game, Nebraska shot 56 percent from the floor, and connected on 9-of-19 from the 3-point line. 

Vanderbilt was led by guard Tyler Tanner who scored a game-high 27 points, including 15 in the first half. The Commodores made 13 3-pointers, including 10 in the second half.

Nebraska led by seven at the half, 39-32. But behind the barrage of 3-pointers, Vanderbilt outscored the Huskers by five in the second half.

Vanderbilt immediately sliced Nebraska’s seven-point halftime lead to three by scoring the first four points of the second half. Vandy pulled with one on several occasions, before tying the game at 55 with 9:05 to play and taking its first lead of the game at 58-55 with a 3-pointer with 8:25 remaining. 

Vanderbilt continued to hold the lead until Nebraska's late 6-0 run and took its final lead at 72-70 with less than a minute remaining before the Huskers' late-game heroics.

Nebraska never trailed in the first half, scoring the game’s first eight points and leading 39-32 at intermission. The Huskers connected on 60 percent from the field (15-25) and the 3-point line (6-10) in the game’s first 20 minutes. The Husker defense held Vanderbilt to 37 percent shooting in the first half, and just 3-of-15 from beyond the arc.

Nebraska jumped to an early nine-point lead at 11-2 in the game’s first four minutes behind three 3-pointers, one from Buyuktuncel and a pair from Mast. The Huskers extended the lead to 10 at 14-4 on a Jamarques Lawrence 3-point play, before Vanderbilt rallied to cut the lead to three points at 18-15.

Mast connected on his third 3-pointer of the first half to give the Huskers a 21-15 edge with 8:38 left in the first half. Nebraska rebuilt its lead to 10 points at 31-21 on a Frager layup with 3:59 remaining before intermission.

Vanderbilt twice cut the lead to four points in the final four minutes of the first half, but Sandfort’s two 3-points in the final 3:25 of the first half allowed the Huskers to maintain their seven-point halftime advantage. Nebraska held its halftime advantage for most of the second half but in the end needed its late rally to advance to the Sweet 16.

Post Game Notes

• Nebraska improves to 28-6 on the season and reaches the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. Nebraska will play on Thursday against the winner of Sunday’s game between Iowa and Florida.
• The 28 wins extends Nebraska’s single-season school record for wins. NU’s previous school record was 26 in 1990-91.
• Nebraska has now won 49 games the last two seasons, the most the Huskers have ever won in a two-year span.
• Nebraska has now won six straight postseason games dating back to the 2025 College Basketball Crown.
• Nebraska improves to 2-0 against SEC teams this season, adding to a November victory over Oklahoma. Before this season, the Huskers had not beaten a team from the SEC since the 2015-16 season.
• Nebraska improves to 3-5 all-time against Vanderbilt while the win over the Commodores was the first by NU since a 68-57 win on Dec. 22, 1975. NU lost its last two meetings with Vanderbilt (2010 and 1997).
• Nebraska improved to 3-4 against ranked teams this season and the win over No. 16 Vanderbilt evened NU’s all-time record vs. teams ranked 16th in the AP Poll to 7-7.
• This marks the second time Fred Hoiberg has guided a team to the NCAA Sweet 16, as his 2013-14 Iowa State also reached the Sweet 16 before losing to eventual national champion UConn
• Nebraska has now won 12 of its last 13 neutral-site games dating back to the 2014 Diamond Head Classic.
• Junior Pryce Sandfort scored 15 points in the game to increase his season total to 609. Sandfort’s 609 points rank sixth on the NU single-season list.  In tonight’s game Sandfort passed Dave Hoppen (598, 1984), Andre Smith (600, 1980) and Tyronn Lue (603, 1997).
• Sandfort connected on three 3-pointers in the game, giving him 123 this season, good for second on the Big Ten single-season list. He broke a tie with Penn State’s Shep Garner (120, 2017-18) in tonight’s game.
• This marked Sandfort’s 24th game of the season with at least three made 3-pointers.
• Nebraska extended its mark for 3-pointers in a season (360) and Nebraska went over 1,000 3-point attempts for the first time in school history.
• Senior Rienk Mast made three 3-pointers in the game, marking the eighth time this season he has made at least three 3-pointers.
• Senior guard Sam Hoiberg had six assists, including five in the first half. With his six assists, Hoiberg increased his season total to 149 to move into ninth on the single-season assists list.
• Freshman Braden Frager scored 15 points off the bench for his 19th double-figure game of the season, with 17 of those outings from off the bench. Frager increased his season 3-point total to 52 to tie CJ Wilcher for second on Nebraska’s freshman 3-point list.
• Berke Buyuktuncel made a pair of 3-pointers marking the third time this season he has made multiple 3-pointers. He finished the game with 12 points for his sixth game in double figures and his first since Dec. 30 against New Hampshire.
• Nebraska had 16 assists as a team, including 10 in the first half. The Huskers increased their season assist total to 611, moving into third place on the single-season team list.