Huskers Travel to BYU for Exhibition Friday Night

Huskers Travel to BYU for Exhibition Friday Night
Nebraska hits the road for its next exhibition challenge, as the Huskers will take on BYU Friday night in Provo. Tipoff from the Marriott Center is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be available online on ESPN+ (subscription required). The radio broadcast is available on select Husker Sports Network affiliates across the state, as well as on Huskers.com and on the Huskers app. 

Nebraska comes off a 79-74 loss to Saint Louis in its exhibition opener last Friday. The Huskers went deep into the bench, as 13 of the 14 players who dressed saw action against SLU. Freshman guard Jacob Lanier led NU with 15 points off the bench while senior Cale Jacobsen added 10 points and seven boards. NU led 39-37 at the half before the reserves played extensively in the second half. NU nearly rallied back for the win late in regulation, as NU had a chance to pull within two points with 24 seconds left, but missed a pair of free throws that allowed the Billikens to hold on.

NU got solid production from its big men, as Boden Kapke, Damon Wilkinson and Leo Curtis combined for 24 points and 15 rebounds splitting time. Kapke and Wilkinson made their debuts for NU while Curtis, who played in 17 games last year, hit all four of his shots and grabbed six rebounds in 13 minutes of work. The Huskers will use Friday's game in a similar manner as they try out several lineup rotations. 

The Huskers will face a retooled BYU roster after AJ Dybantsa (1st, Washington) and Richie Saunders (32nd, Memphis) were taken in last year's NBA Draft. Junior guard Robert Wright III returned after earning All-Big 12 honors as he averaged 18.1 points, 4.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game last year. 

About the Huskers
The 2026-27 Huskers bring back seven returnees from a team that won a school-record 28 games last season, including two of its top three scorers in Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager. NU adds eight newcomers with six Division I transfers and two highly-touted freshmen to the mix.

Sandfort comes off one of the best seasons in school history, as the 6-foot-7 wing averaged 18.1 points per game, including a school-record 129 3-pointers, en route to earning first-team All-Big Ten honors. Earlier this week, Sandfort was named to the 10-man preseason All-Big Ten team as one of two unanimous selections (MSU's Jeremy Fears Jr.).  Sandfort comes off a strong NCAA Tournament run when he averaged 21.0 points per game on 57 percent shooting.  Frager was NU's sixth man last year as a redshirt freshman and averaged 11.8 points on 49 percent shooting and 3.8 rebounds per game. He was named Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and totaled 20 double-figure efforts, including six games of 20 or more points.

Fifth-year seniors Cale Jacobsen and Connor Essegian and sophomore Leo Curtis all saw time last year and will look for extended roles. Jacobsen played in all 35 games last year, averaging 4.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, highlighted by a 15-point, eight-rebound performance in the regular-season finale at Iowa. Essegian, whose 2025-26 season ended after seven games because of an ankle injury, looks to regain his 2024-25 form when he averaged 10.7 ppg off the bench and led the Huskers with 78 3-pointers. Curtis played in 17 games off the bench, including NU's two NCAA Tournament wins and the 7-foot-2 sophomore will challenge for extended minutes. 

Nebraska Exhibition History
Nebraska is 66-8 all-time in exhibition games dating back to the 1966-67 season and has won 35 of 38 exhibition games dating back to 2001. 

• A rule change prior to the 2025-26 season last year allowed teams to have exhibition games against Division I programs. Previously, they were only allowed as charity exhibitions. Beginning with the 2026-27 season, schools are now allowed to schedule three exhibition games.

• NU played three charity exhibition games since 2017, including a trip to Mississippi State in 2017-18 and a two-game series against Colorado in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

• The Huskers close the exhibition season against Kansas State in Grand Island, Neb., on Monday, Oct. 26.

Exhibition Games Under Fred Hoiberg

Season	Opponent	Result	Score
2019-20	Doane	W	91-63
2021-22	Peru State	W	97-58
2021-22	Colorado @	W	82-67
2022-23	Chadron State	W	87-60
2022-23	at Colorado @	L	61-72
2023-24	Doane	W	84-53
2024-25	Grand Valley State	W	73-53
2025-26	BYU	W	90-89
2025-26	Midland	W	91-50
2026-27	Saint Louis	L	74-79
@ - Charity Exhibition game

Series History vs. BYU
Nebraska is 1-4 all-time against BYU in a series that dates back to 1931 not including last year's exhibition contest. The last regular-season meeting between the teams was an 88-66 BYU win in the title game of the 2009 Las Vegas Classic on Dec. 23, 2009. In that game, Jimmer Fredette led BYU with 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting.  Eshaunte "Bear" Jones paced the Huskers with 21 points off the bench, his highest point total in his three seasons at Nebraska. 

• Prior to the 2009 meeting, the teams met four times between 1931 and 1935, including home-and-home matchups in 1935-36. In the first meeting in Lincoln, NU posted a 52-34 win over the Cougars before BYU won in Provo, 46-39, 11 days later.  

• The Huskers, who played in the Big 12 from 1996-97 until 2020-11, are 484-576 all-time against the current members of the Big 12. NU defeated Kansas State in the Hall of Fame Classic title game last November.

• Nebraska has won its last four regular-season games against Big 12 teams dating back to the 2023-24 season, when Nebraska won at Kansas State. 

• The Huskers do not have a Big 12 team on the 2026-27 regular-season slate.

Scouting BYU
BYU looks to make its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance after going 23-12 last season before falling to Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars were 19-6 and ranked No. 22 in the country when Richie Saunders suffered a season-ending injury and went 4-6 down the stretch. The Cougars had No. 1 overall pick AJ Dybantsa, who led the nation in scoring last season at 25.5 points per game while also pacing BYU with 6.8 rebounds per game.

Kevin Young begins his third year at BYU after leading the Cougars to back-to-back NCAA Tournament showings. Before taking over the BYU program, he served as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns from 2020-24, as he was the associate head coach of the Suns for his final three seasons. During his tenure in Phoenix, the Suns made the 2021 NBA Finals and made the playoffs all four years he was with the franchise. He also was an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers from 2016 to 2020 and was in the NBA G League from 2007-16, serving as head coach of the Utah Flash (2010-11), Iowa Energy (2011-13) and Delaware 76ers (2014-16).

Despite those losses, BYU has another All-American caliber player in junior guard Robert Wright III. A first-team preseason All-American, Wright averaged 18.1 points, 4.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game last season and is the only starter back. BYU also returns Khadim Mboup (2.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg), Dawson Baker (7.5 ppg in six games before a knee injury), but has added a number of transfers, including Jaxon Kohler (12.5 ppg, 8.9 rpg at Michigan State, Colin Chandler (6.4 ppg at Kentucky), Jake Wahlin (4.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg at Clemson). BYU also has another top-10 freshman in Bruce Branch III, who played for Prolific Prep and was a McDonald's All-American last year.

Last Year vs. BYU
Rienk Mast finished with a game-high 31 points, including 7-of-8 from 3-point range, as Nebraska topped BYU, 90-89, in an exhibition game on Oct. 17, 2025. Mast hit 11-of-15 shots from the field, including his first seven 3-pointers, as NU overcame an early double-figure deficit and withstood a BYU comeback in the final minutes.

The Huskers shot 50 percent from the field, including 16-of-34 from 3-point range, had 24 assists, including nine from Jamarques Lawrence, and just 10 turnovers. Connor Essegian added 20 points, including five 3-pointers, off the bench while Pryce Sandfort added 12 in the win.

Nebraska trailed 50-46 at the break before opening the half with seven straight points to take a 53-50 lead after a Mast 3-pointer. NU opened the second half with a 17-4 spurt over the first 5:03 of the half. Nebraska led by as many as 13 and built an 87-76 lead with 5:09 left. BYU chipped away behind AJ Dybantsa, who led the Cougars with 30 points, as he had seven of his points in a 9-1 spurt that pulled BYU within 88-85 with 2:25 left. A pair of Sam Hoiberg free throws stopped the run, but BYU continued to battle, getting to within one after a pair of free throws by Khadim Mboup with 16.8 seconds left and had two chances to win in the final seconds but both 3-point attempts were off the mark.

A Look at Nebraska 
The Huskers begin their quest for a fourth straight postseason appearance, returning seven players from a team that went 28-7 before losing to Iowa in the Sweet 16. 

NU returns one starter in senior Pryce Sandfort, who returns after earning first-team All-Big Ten honors. Sandfort averaged 18.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while ranking among the Big Ten leaders in scoring and 3-pointers (3.7 per game, 1st). NU brings back its top two performers off the bench in Braden Frager and Cale Jacobsen. Frager averaged 11.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game as a redshirt freshman, while his 57 3-pointers was second on the team. Jacobsen, who has played 79 games in his career, appeared in all 35 game last year and averaged 4.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game.

Fifth-year senior Connor Essegian (5.4 ppg) played just seven games last year after suffering a season-ending injury in November. Two years ago, Essegian averaged 10.7 ppg, including 38 percent from 3-point range. Leo Curtis (1.6 ppg) played in 17 games as a true freshman, including extended minutes in Big Ten games at Michigan and against Penn State. NU's other returnees are junior Will Cooper, who redshirted after playing at Air Force as a freshman, and Henry Burt, a walk-on who missed all of last season with a knee injury. 

NU added eight newcomers (six transfers and two freshman) to help offset the loss of four starters from last year. Rienk Mast (Indiana) and Sam Hoiberg (Phoenix) are in NBA training camps, while Jamarques Lawrence and Jared Garcia are playing professionally overseas.

Sandfort Named to Preseason All-Big Ten Team
Nebraska senior Pryce Sandfort was honored on Oct. 5, as the Big Ten Conference announced its preseason All-Big Ten team. Sandfort, a 6-foot-7 wing from Waukee, Iowa, was one of 10 players selected by a vote of media that cover Big Ten basketball.  Sandfort was one of two unanimous selections, joining Michigan State’s Jeremy Fears Jr., who was tabbed as the preseason player of the year.  Sandfort becomes just the fourth Husker to be named preseason All-Big Ten since Nebraska joined the conference in 2011-12, joining James Palmer Jr. (2018), Terran Petteway (2014) and Keisei Tominaga (2023).

Last season, Sandfort earned first-team All-Big Ten honors from the conference coaches as he averaged 18.1 points per game on nearly 48 percent shooting and 4.9 rebounds per game. He ranked fourth nationally in 3-pointers per game (3.7) while shooting 41.6 percent from beyond the arc, as his 129 3-pointers broke NU’s single-season record and was the second-highest total in Big Ten history. Sandfort totaled 15 games of at least 20 points, including a trio of 30-point outbursts, all coming in Big Ten action. He capped his first season as a Husker by leading NU to the Sweet 16, averaging 21.0 points per game on 57 percent shooting, including 25 points in the Sweet 16 matchup with Iowa.

Huskers Going for Four Straight Postseason Appearances
The Huskers will be shooting for a fourth straight postseason appearance in 2026-27, which would be the program’s longest streak since a nine-year stretch between 1990-91 and 1998-99.  NU also made five straight postseason appearances between 1982-83 and 1986-87. Nebraska looks to reach the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time since a four-year stretch from 1990-91 to 1993-94.

Longest Postseason Streaks in School History

No.	Streak	Years
1.	9	1990-91 to 1998-99
2.	5	1982-83 to 1986-87
3.	3	2023-24 to present

A Trio of 20-Win Seasons and Counting
Following last year’s school-record 28-7 mark, Nebraska has posted three straight seasons of 20+ wins for the first time in school history. Before the current three-year run, NU had recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons only twice in school history, both coming in the 1990s under Danny Nee.

Back-to-Back 20 Win Seasons

No.	Year (wins)
1.	2023-24 (23), 2024-25 (21), 2025-26 (28)
t2.	1997-98 (20) and 1998-99 (20)
	1992-93 (20) and 1993-94 (20)

Huskers Tabbed for Fifth in Big Ten Media Preseason Poll 
While the Big Ten does not do an official preseason poll, the Big Ten Preseason Media Poll organized by Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch takes votes from 28 beat writers from around the Big Ten footprint. 

The Huskers were picked to finish fifth in the poll, trailing Illinois, Michigan State, Michigan and UCLA. Pryce Sandfort was tabbed as a first-team honoree by the media. The fifth-place pick was NU's highest NU has placed in the preseason poll since being voted fourth in 2019.

Last year, NU was tabbed 14th by the conference media before finishing in a three-way tie for second place. 

Leonhardt Returns to Home State 
For fifth-year guard Trevan Leonhardt, Friday's game at BYU is a return to his home state, as Kaysville, Utah, is an hour drive from Provo. Leonhardt, who spent the last four seasons at Utah Valley, leading the school to back-to-back WAC regular-season titles.

Last year, Leonhardt averaged 11.9 points per game on 51 percent shooting along with 6.0 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game to help the school to a 25-9 record. The 6-foot-6 guard was the only person in Division I to rank in the top 25 nationally in both assists (23rd) and steals (18th) per game. Leonhardt took a two-year mission prior to enrolling at Utah Valley where he redshirted and played the last three seasons. 

Zeigler Recognized As one of Nation's Top Assistants
Nebraska men’s basketball assistant coach Ernie Zeigler was recognized by Silver Waves Media as one of the top 100 High Major Assistant Coaches on Oct. 7.

Zeigler is in his fifth season on the Husker coaching staff and has played a major role in the Huskers reaching postseason play in each of the last three seasons, including a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances. He works with the Husker offense and plays a major role in game planning, recruiting and scouting, as Nebraska comes off a school-record 28-win season and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in 2026.

Zeigler played a major role in the recruitment and development of Brice Williams, who earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2025 and helped develop Derrick Walker into an All-Big Ten performer in 2023.  Zeigler has helped teams make 11 postseason appearances during his career, including a national runner-up appearance at UCLA in 2006 and three other Sweet 16 squads. He was a head coach at Central Michigan for six seasons and has also served as an assistant coach at Kansas State, Bowling Green, Pitt, UCLA, Detroit and Mississippi State before joining the Husker staff in 2023. 

Double-Figure Duo
For the fourth time in the Big Ten era (2011-12 to present), the Huskers return a pair of double-figure scorers in Pryce Sandfort (18.1 ppg) and Braden Frager (11.8 ppg). In all three previous instances (2018-19, 2024-25, 2025-26), Nebraska has advanced to postseason play.  The Huskers actually have three players on the roster who have averaged double figures, as Connor Essegian averaged 10.7 points per game in 2024-25 before he suffered an ankle injury early last season.

• Sandfort’s 18.1 points per game not only matches the highest scoring average by a Husker returnee in the Big Ten era (also 18.1 by Terran Petteway, 2013-14) but is the highest since Aleks Maric averaged 18.5 ppg as a junior in 2006-07. Since 1950, NU has had a returning player average at least 18.0 points per game just 10 times - by a total of eight players.

Highest Returning Scoring Averages by a Husker since 1950

No.	Player (Previous Year)	PPG
1.	Dave Hoppen (1984-85)	23.5
t2.	Jerry Fort (1974-75)	20.2
	Jerry Fort (1973-74)	20.2
4.	Dave Hoppen (1983-84)	19.9
5.	Andre Smith (1979-80)	19.4
6.	Stu Lantz (1966-67)	19.2
7.	Aleks Maric (2006-07)	18.5
t8.	Pryce Sandfort (2025-26)	18.1
	Tyronn Lue (1996-97)	18.1
	Terran Petteway (2013-14)	18.1

Sandfort is Huskers’ Shooting Star
Pryce Sandfort put together one of the most prolific shooting seasons in Big Ten history in 2025-26. The 6-foot-7 wing led the Big Ten in 3-pointers made (129) and 3-pointers per game (3.7) while ranking third in 3-point percentage (.416). He finished the season third nationally in 3-pointers (129), fourth in 3-pointers per game (3.7) and 24th in 3-point percentage.

• Sandfort’s 129 3-pointers shattered Nebraska’s previous record of 89 set by Cary Cochran in 2002 and was the most by a Big Ten player since Purdue’s Carsen Edwards had 135 in 2018-19.
• To put Sandfort’s Big Ten season in perspective, his 79 3-pointers in conference play would have ranked sixth on NU’s single-season chart.
• According to Stathead, Sandfort is one of only five players in Big Ten history to shoot 40 percent from 3-point range and have at least 115 3-pointers in a season and the first since Penn State’s Shep Garner in 2017-18.

Big Ten Single-Season 3-Point Leaders

No.	Player	3pt.	Year
1.	Carsen Edwards (Purdue)	135	2018-19
2.	Pryce Sandfort (Nebraska)	129	2025-26
3.	Shep Garner (Penn State)	120	2017-18
4	Shawn Respert (Michigan State)	119	1994-95
5.	Chris Kingsbury (Iowa)	117	1994-95

Frager Flourishes as Big Ten’s Best Sixth Man
Braden Frager became the first Husker basketball player to win a Big Ten individual conference season award, as he was chosen as the Big Ten’s Sixth Man of the Year in 2026. The Lincoln Southwest product averaged 11.8 points per game on 49 percent shooting and 3.8 rebounds per game in 33 contests.

• He topped all Big Ten reserves in scoring and had 18 of his 20 double-figure efforts off the bench, including six games of at least 20 points. His 18 double-figure games ranked second among all Big Ten reserves.
• He finished among the program’s top freshmen in several categories, including 3-pointers (57, second), points (391, fourth), scoring average (fifth) and field goals (134, fifth) on his way to earning a spot on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
• His six 20-point efforts off the bench tied for sixth nationally. Frager trailed only AJ Storr of Ole Miss (8) for the most among power conference players.
• Frager was NU’s second-leading scorer during the NCAA Tournament, averaging 14.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game off the bench. He provided the game-winner in NU’s 74-72 win over No. 16 Vanderbilt with his basket with 2.2 seconds remaining and had 16 points, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, in the Sweet 16 loss to Iowa.

Adding Punch in the Portal
Nebraska has relied on the transfer portal under Fred Hoiberg, getting players such as All-Big Ten performers Derrick Walker (2023), Rienk Mast (2024), Brice Williams (2025) and Pryce Sandfort (2026).

The Huskers’ six-member transfer class this season enters 2026-27 with over 160 combined starts and nearly 2,900 points, 1,500 rebounds and 800 assists. Leonhardt (Utah Valley), Orme (Belmont) and Wilkinson (South Dakota State) all earned all-conference honors last year at their respective schools.

Husker Portal Additions (Career Totals)

Player	2025-26 School	GP	Starts	Pts.	Reb.	Asst.
Kadyn Betts	Montana	39	0	68	22	5
Taj DeGourville	San Diego State	64	5	340	183	157
Boden Kapke	Boston College	87	33	516	312	51
Trevan Leonhardt	Utah Valley	101	69	678	395	423
Sam Orme	Belmont	57	38	640	265	85
Damon Wilkinson	South Dakota State	60	19	580	274	58
Total		408	164	2822	1451	779

 

Home Court Advantage

The Huskers have made Pinnacle Bank Arena a formidable home court in recent seasons under Fred Hoiberg. In 2025-26, NU finished 16-2 at home and an impressive 55-13 (.809) over the last four seasons.

• The 16 wins were two shy of the school record of 18 set in 2023-24 and marked fourth time that NU had two or fewer losses at home in a season.
• NU has ranked in the top-20 nationally in attendance 11 times since Pinnacle Bank Arena opened in 2013-14, most recently 16th in 2025-26 with an average of 14,681 fans per game.
• NU sold out its final nine regular-season home games in 2025-26 while season and student tickets were sold out for the 2026-27 season by early September.

School-Record 31 Games to be Nationally Televised
The Huskers will make a school-record 31 national televisions appearances in 2026-27, as Nebraska will make appearances on seven networks (CBS, FOX, FS1, TNT, BTN, NBC Sports Network and ESPNU). The only game which will not be televised is the season opener against Le Monye, which is on B1G+.

Worth Noting

• Nebraska has improved its KenPom defensive efficiency in each of the past four seasons under Associate Head Coach Nate Loenser and finished eighth nationally in 2025-26. It marked the first time in program history that NU ranked in the top-10 nationally in defensive efficiency in KenPom. NU’s previous top KenPom rank on defense was 15th in 2008-09.
• Nebraska enters the 2026-27 season with 15 straight weeks in the AP Poll dating back to December 8, 2025. The 15 straight weeks ranked broke the school record of 13 set in 1990-91. NU spent a total of 15 combined weeks in the AP poll from the 1991-92 to the 2024-25 seasons.
• Nine of the 15 players on the 2026-27 roster are in their fourth or fifth season in college. All five of NU’s fifth-year players (Betts, Burt, Essegian, Jacobsen and Leonhardt) had previously redshirted in their career.
• Nebraska finished 3-4 vs. ranked teams in 2025-26 and is now 12-15 in its last 27 games against ranked teams dating back to March 1, 2022, including a 5-4 mark vs. top-10 teams. Prior to that, NU had lost 24 straight against ranked teams dating back to the 2019 Big Ten Tournament.
• Since the start of the 2023-24 season, NU is 72-32 (.692) while the 72 wins over the past three seasons are tied for fifth among Big Ten teams in that span (Purdue-88; Illinois-79; Michigan State-77; Wisconsin-73; Nebraska-72, Michigan-72).