Huskers Head to Sioux Falls to Battle Broncos on Sunday

Huskers Head to Sioux Falls to Battle Broncos on Sunday 
Two high-octane offenses will battle this Sunday in Sioux Falls, as the No. 25/24 (AP/Coaches) Huskers take on Boise State in an early season battle of unbeatens. Tipoff from the Sanford Pentagon is slated for shortly after Noon (central) and the game will be televised on BTN and broadcast across the state on the Huskers Radio Network as well as on Huskers.com and on the official Huskers app. Sunday's matchup with Boise State has been sold out since tickets went on sale to the public in September with a sellout crowd of over 3,200 for the neutral-site contest.

Nebraska comes into the matchup with a 3-0 mark after a 94-60 win over Lindenwood Wednesday night. The Huskers delivered a knockout blow early on, shooting 66 percent in the first half in racing to a 61-32 halftime lead. Pryce Sandfort led three Huskers in double figures with 22 points, including six 3-pointers, while Damon Wilkinson (19) and Braden Frager (14) also reached double figures, as Nebraska hit 11 3-pointers and dished out 19 assists.

Nebraska is averaging 89.0 points through the first three contests, which is the Huskers' second-highest scoring average through three games in the Big Ten era (2011-12 to present). NU has six players averaging at least 9.3 ppg, led by preseason All-American Pryce Sandfort at 22.3 ppg.  As a team, the Huskers are shooting 51 percent from the field and averaging 10.0 3-pointers per game. Nebraska has been excellent on the defensive end as well, allowing 60.7 ppg and has held its last two opponents to 60 points or less.

Boise State comes into Sunday's matchup ranked second in the country in scoring offense at 114.3 points per game following a 111-79 win over Oakland on Wednesday. Aginaldo Neto's 25 points and five assists topped five Bronco starters in double figures as Boise State shot 57 percent from the field and hit 14 3-pointers.

NU's Highest Scoring Average After 3 Games (Big Ten Era, 2011-12 to present)

No.	Year	PPG
1	2018-19	91.0
2	2026-27	89.0
3	2025-26	83.7
4	2020-21	82.3
5	2024-25	78.7

Numbers to Know
27 - Nebraska has won its last 27 games against non-conference foes dating back to a loss to Saint Mary's on Nov. 17, 2024.  The streak includes 11 games in 2024-25 (7 regular season & four CBC), all 13 games in 2025-26 (11-0 non-con, 2-0 NCAA) and a 3-0 mark this year.

2 - Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg is 2-0 in his career against Boise State, including the 2025 College Basketball Crown semifinal and the 2014 Diamond Head Classic when Iowa State downed Boise State, 70-66.

1985-86 - Before Pryce Sandfort this season, the last Husker to open a season with three straight 20-point efforts was Dave Hoppen in the 1985-86 season. In 1984-85, Hoppen opened the year with five straight 20-point efforts.

15 - After being just outside the preseason poll, the Huskers were 25th in the Nov. 9 poll. NU has now been ranked in 16 of the last 17 polls dating back to last December. Nebraska spent a school-record 15 weeks in the AP poll during the 2025-26 season, breaking the school mark of 13 weeks in 1990-91.

1.86 - Nebraska ranked sixth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.86-to-1) in 2025-26, breaking a school record which had stood since 1984-85 (1.81-to-1).  So far, NU is a 1.65-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio through its first three games.

80 + - Nebraska is 53-10 (.846) under Fred Hoiberg when scoring 80 or more points, including a 46-7 mark since the 2022-23 season. NU has now won its last 19 games scoring at least 80 points following Wednesday's win over Lindenwood.

Scouting Boise State 
Boise State comes to Sioux Falls with a 3-0 mark following a 111-79 victory over Oakland on Wednesday. The Broncos have been one of the most consistent programs on the west coast under Leon Rose, posting five straight 20-win seasons and averaging 22.5 wins per season since 2019-20.  Rose is in his 17th year at Boise State and has guided the Broncos to the postseason in five of the last six seasons, including NCAA appearances in 2022, 2023 and 2024.  The Broncos are in their first season in the new Pac-12, where they were picked sixth in the preseason poll. Boise State opened the season by scoring 132 points against West Coast Baptist before putting up 100 points in a 100-81 win over Butler.

Sophomore guard Aginaldo Neto has paced the Bronco attack, averaging 20 points per game on 54 percent shooting and 6.0 assists per game after averaging just 3.2 ppg as a freshman.  Damari Wheeler-Thomas, a transfer from North Dakota State, is averaging 17.3 ppg on 57 percent shooting, while going 10-of-19 from 3-point range. In all, Boise State has six players averaging double figures and is shooting 53 percent from the floor as a team, including 41 percent from 3-point range, and committing just 8.7 turnovers per game.

This is the second all-time meeting between the two teams. Nebraska downed Boise State, 79-69, in the semifinals of the 2025 College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas. Juwan Gary led three Huskers in double figures with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, nine rebounds and three blocked shots, as the senior went a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range and tied a season-high with three blocked shots. The Huskers also got 14 points, six assists and five rebounds from Brice Williams and 10 markers from Sam Hoiberg.  Nebraska is 26-12 all-time against the current members of the Pac-12.

Painting Sioux Falls Red This Weekend
The game in Sioux Falls has been quickly become an annual tradition for the Husker basketball program.  Sunday's game with Boise State will mark the fourth straight year NU has played in Sioux Falls and fifth time since 2018.

• Nebraska is 3-1 all-time in the building , which hosted its first college game on Nov. 8, 2013. That was also the date of the first game at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. Nebraska has wins over Oklahoma State (2018), Oregon State (2023) and Oklahoma (2025) with the only loss coming to Saint Mary's in 2024.
• A capacity crowd of 3,200 is expected as tickets went quickly once they went on sale in September.
• It is a Husker hoops weekend, as the Husker women, ranked No. 25 in the AP poll, take on Kansas at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be aired on B1G+ and tickets are still available for that matchup on Ticketmaster.com.

Worth Noting

• Nebraska's 61-point first half against Lindenwood was its highest-scoring first half since also putting up 61 against Southern Utah on Nov. 30, 1991. The 61 points matches NU's highest scoring half under Fred Hoiberg, as NU had a 61-point second half against Oklahoma last season.
• Nebraska has been strong on the defensive end, holding all three of its opponents to under 0.90 points per possession this season, including just 0.81 by Providence and 0.80 by Lindenwood. Nebraska is now 49-2 the last three-plus seasons when holding opponents under 1.00 points per possession.
• Nebraska is 39th nationally in steals per game as of Nov. 13, and has recorded 10 or more steals in each of the first three games. It marks the third time that has happened in the Big Ten era and first since a three-game stretch between Nov. 22-Dec. 1, 2024. The last time NU had four consecutive games with 10+ steals was in the 2007-08 season.
• Pryce Sandfort enters Sunday's game with Boise State with four straight 20-point games dating back to last year's NCAA Sweet 16. Sandfort had a run of five straight 20-point games last season from Jan. 13-17.
• With a win in Sunday, Fred Hoiberg can move into a tie for third place on Nebraska's career wins chart. He would match Tim Miles, who won 116 between 2012-13 and 2018-19.
• Nebraska has relied on its balance early as seven different players have reached double figures, while NU's leader in both rebounds and assists has been a different player in each of the first three games.
• The Huskers are 1-0 in neutral-site games this season following last Saturday's win over Providence. NU has three more neutral-site contests, including Sunday's matchup with Boise State in Sioux Falls. NU also travels to Chicago (vs. Butler, Nov. 22) and Kansas City, Mo. (vs. Missouri, Dec. 12).
• The Husker men's and women's teams are both ranked in the AP poll on Nov. 9. Nebraska is one of 11 schools nationally with both programs ranked in the top 25, joining Michigan, USC, UConn, Duke, Texas, Louisville, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Kentucky and Illinois.
• Nebraska's 106 points in the season opener against Le Moyne tied for the fifth-highest opening night total in school history and the most since the 2018-19 season. Last year, NU reached the 100-point plateau just once, a 105-99 win over Oklahoma in Sioux Falls.

Last Time Out
Pryce Sandfort’s 22 points led three Huskers in double figures, as the Nebraska men’s basketball team took control early in a 94-60 win over Lindenwood. The Huskers (3-0) blitzed the Lions in the first half, shooting 66 percent in the half en route to a 61-point first half, the Huskers’ highest scoring first half in more than 30 seasons. Nebraska led by as many as 38, at 56-18 with just under four minutes remaining in the half and took a 61-32 lead into the locker room.

Sandfort led the way with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting including six 3-pointers, while Damon Wilkinson (19) and Braden Frager (14) also finished in double figures. Sandfort’s 22-point effort was his third straight to open the season, while Wilkinson hit 7-of-8 shots, including the first two 3-pointers of his career, in just 18 minutes off the bench.

Lindenwood’s only lead of the game came after their opening layup before Nebraska took control with a 23-4 spurt to build a 23-6 lead. From there, NU took control from long range, hitting six 3-pointers in a seven-minute stretch to pull away.  Nebraska opened the second half outscoring Lindenwood 13-4 to build a 73-36 lead with 14:45 left before cruising to a 34-point win.

Sandfort Is Huskers' Shooting Star
 Pryce Sandfort put together one of the most prolific shooting seasons in Big Ten history in 2025-26 and has continued that pace to start the 2026-27 season

The 6-foot-7 wing comes into the Boise State game averaging 22.3 points per game while shooting 56 percent from the field and comes off a 22-point effort on Wednesday against Lindenwood. His numbers after the first three games are well ahead of last season's averages.

• Last season, he 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.
• 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.

Frager Looks to Expand Role
After serving as NU's sixth man last year, Braden Frager looks to enjoy a breakout season in 2026-27 as he moves into the lineup. Early on, Frager has made an impact on both ends, averaging 11.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game. His 2.7 steals per game is second in the Big Ten entering this weekend's action.

Frager is in his third year in the program after reclassifying prior to his senior year in high school. He is ranked No. 97 on the CBS Sports Top 101 Players in the country and No. 92 by the Field of 68. Frager had 12 points and tied a career high with four steals in 32 minutes against Providence.

• Last season, he 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. The Lincoln Southwest product averaged 11.8 points per game on 49 percent shooting and 3.8 rebounds per game in 33 contests
• Frager 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.
• 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.
• 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.

 A Dose of Cale is Good for the Huskers
Cale Jacobsen returns for his fifth year and is poised to experience a jump like what Sam Hoiberg had in 2025-26. Jacobsen, who originally walked on, played in every game last year, averaging 4.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in helping NU make the Sweet 16.

• This season, Jacobsen has moved into the starting lineup and has averaged a career-high 11.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game. He has a 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and has set career highs in two of NU's three games. In the opener against Le Moyne, Jacobsen totaled a career-high 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting before matching a career-high with five assists in Wednesday's win over Lindenwood.
• Earlier this month, he was chosen by Jon Rothstein of 247Sports as one of 10 Glue Guys to Monitor.
• Jacobsen moved into the rotation during the 2025 College Basketball Crown and has helped NU go 35-7 in that span. During his career, Nebraska is 38-7 when Jacobsen played at least 10 minutes per game.

Productive Posts
Nebraska has gotten good production from its posts as it looks to replace two-time All-Big Ten performer Rienk Mast. Transfers Boden Kapke and Damon Wilkinson have combined to give NU 12.3 points on 71 percent shooting and 7.3 rebounds per game. Wilkinson comes off a season-high 19-point effort on 7-of-8 shooting while Kapke added seven points in just 12 minutes because of foul trouble. In Saturday's win over Providence, the pair combined for 19 points and 12 rebounds, with Kapke totaling 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting while Wilkinson came off the bench for six points and a team-high seven boards.

Splitting the Point
In Nebraska's system, the Huskers share ball-handling duties and the trio Trevan Leonhardt, Taj DeGourville and Jacob Lanier have all performed well early on. As a group, the trio has a combined 25-to-6 assist-to-turnover ratio over the first three games.

Leonhart has started all three games has is averaging 2.7 assists per game with an 8-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.  He had seven points and seven assists without a turnover in NU's opening night win over Le Moyne. Leonhardt was one of the top point guards in the transfer portal after earning first-team All-WAC honors at Utah Valley. He started all 34 games, averaging 11.9 points per game along with 6.0 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. The 6-foot-6 guard was the only player nationally to rank in the top 25 in both assists (23rd) & steals (18th) per game.  He led the WAC in assist-to-turnover ratio in each of the past two seasons, ranking fifth nationally in that category in 2024-25. He looks to become the third guard under Head Coach Fred Hoiberg to rank in the top-10 nationally in that category, as Sam Hoiberg set NU's school record with a 3.74-to-1 ratio last season.

DeGourville leads the Huskers with 3.7 assists per game coming off the bench and has nearly a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Last season, he ranked among the Mountain West Conference leaders in both assists (3.0, 12th) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0-to-1, seventh). DeGourville made a significant impact in the win over Providence, coming off the bench and dishing seven assists and grabbing three rebounds - all on the offensive end.

Lanier has come off the bench and posted a 6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in three games. He totaled four assists in 18 minutes against Lindenwood on Wednesday.

Last year, Nebraska ranked sixth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.86-to-1), the third time a Fred Hoiberg-coached team ranked in the top-10 nationally (2014-15, 8th; 2013-14, 2nd) in assist-to-turnover ratio.

 Battie and Schlagel Sign with Huskers
Nebraska Men’s Basketball Coach Fred Hoiberg announced on Nov. 12 that Dawson Battie (Dallas, Texas) and Ty Schlagel (Saint Paul, Minn.) have signed National Letters-of-Intents to play basketball for the Huskers in 2027-28. the class is ranked in the top 30 nationally by both Rivals and 247 Sports, while the No. 24 ranking by Rivals is the highest in the publication's history.

Battie (pronounced bah-TEE) signs with the Huskers as one of the highest-rated recruits in program history. The 6-foot-9 forward is ranked as high as No. 25 nationally by Rivals and No. 26 by 247Sports and ranked among the top five power forwards in the country by Rivals and 247 Sports. Battie has been in the USA Basketball pipeline and was invited to the October 2026 USA Men’s Junior National Team minicamp and the 2026 USA Men’s U18 National Team training camp.  He plays for Coach Chris Dial at St. Mark’s School of Texas, and Dawson averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game as a junior.

Schlagel comes to Nebraska from Cretin-Derham Hall High School in Saint Paul, Minn., where he plays for Coach Jerry Kline. He was a four-star recruit by 247 Sports, which has him ranked No. 139 nationally while he was a three-star selection by ESPN and Rivals. As a junior, Schlagel was a named to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune All-Minnesota boys basketball team after averaging 19.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.