Postgame Notes

• Today marked the third top-10 matchup in Nebraska basketball history and the second this week. It also marked the first home top-10 matchup in school history.
• Illinois snaps Nebraska’s 12-game home win streak with today’s win.
• Freshman Braden Frager led Nebraska with 20 points, his fifth 20-point game of the season. He had missed NU’s last two games after spraining his ankle in the first half against Washington on Jan. 21.
• Frager’s 20-point game was his fifth off the bench, while his six 3-pointers was one shy of his season best in that category.
• Nebraska hit 15 3-pointers in the game, the fourth time this season the Huskers hit 15 or more 3-pointers in a game.
• Nebraska went 11-of-20 from beyond the arc in the first half. The 11 makes and 20 attempts in a half are each the most of their respective category by NU this season.
• The last time the Huskers made 11 3-pointers in a half was on March 15, 2024, against Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
• Four Huskers shot in double-digits – Braden Frager (20), Pryce Sandfort (14), Sam Hoiberg (13) and Jamarques Lawrence (10).
• Sandfort had four 3-pointers today and now has 77 on the season to move past Keisei Tominaga (76, 2023-24) for ninth on NU’s single-season list.
• Hoiberg reached double figures for the sixth straight game and had six assists without a turnover.  He now has a 5.88-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio on the season.
• Nebraska finished with 17 assists and just eight turnovers, the sixth time in the last seven games NU had 10 or fewer turnovers.
• Nebraska went on an 11-0 run in the first half, recording their 24th killshot in 22 games this season.

Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg
On Keaton Wagler’s performance
“He’s been doing it all year. He finds a way to get to the rim. He gets to the line and got to the line 12 times."

On freedom of movement and Rienk playing today after missing Michigan
Pryce (Sandfort) had it going for us, they gotta let Pryce run, he’s getting held, he’s getting grabbed. Our offense, freedom of movement, that’s gotta be enforced. We run a pretty aesthetically pleasing offense, but when you’re being held, you can’t run it. We are going to continue to try and do it and cut with force and do everything we can to get these guys open and free them up, but it’s tough at times when you’re out there.

I give Reink (Mast) a lot of credit for going out there and battling being able to play 25 minutes. He played like he was in the ER until three in the morning (on Wednesday). He’s going to get his timing back, he’s going to get his wind back, but it was tough for him but he battled, he battled his ass off and he’ll get it going again, there’s no doubt in my mind.”

On the Big Ten’s strength
“It’s been pretty good since I’ve been here. That first year, besides us, out of the 14 teams, the other 13 teams were pretty darn good. When you look at Michigan and their talent, Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois is as hot as anybody right now, Wisconsin is on fire, Iowa is playing great, there’s a lot of teams that are playing really good basketball right now. USC, UCLA, Indiana’s got it going, so yes, I think the league is in a really good place and top-to-bottom, you gotta be ready to go when you step on the floor.” 

On not playing until next Saturday
“It comes at a good time for us to get our guys that have been a little bit banged up, to get them right. We're actually going to come in and watch film tomorrow and get some shooting and skill work, and then we're going to take Tuesday off, and then get three days to prepare for Rutgers on Saturday. But listen, this is a Rutgers team that's playing really good. Lost on the road last night by three to USC. They had the game against Michigan State, had a 15-point lead in the second half. That's hard to do, obviously, against Michigan State. So this team is playing really well, always tough and physical, especially in the RAC. So we need to get right, get better. Have a good week of toughness in our practices. Tuesday is an important day for our guys to get the tubs and get recovered and have a really good three days ahead of the weekend.”

Junior forward Pryce Sandfort
On if the loss was execution or play problems
“Maybe a little bit of both. They switched some things up defensively. We couldn’t knock them down and we got the open ones. That made the semi-contested ones even tougher. It was a little bit of everything.” 

On how to move on from back-to-back ranked losses
“Obviously, back-to-back losses, we just have to look at the film tomorrow and learn from it. Keep our heads high and flush it as we get ready for Rutgers.” 

On Cale Jacobsen
“He (Cale Jacobsen) always stays so steady and he’s a really heady guard. He takes care of it really well and finds shooters in transition. He’s a really skilled guy. Very smart player. Really, really fun playing with him. We know what he can do. He’s coming in and providing some really good minutes. Super proud of him, and we have to keep going.”

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood
Opening Statement
“It was two really good basketball teams today. We knew we were going to have to play extremely well to win and beat a team that had not lost here at home, and other than about a two-minute stretch in the first half, I thought we did that. We've shown some growth on the defensive side since the first time we played. I think our connectivity was excellent. Mixed in a little bit of zone in the first half to just try to help keep them off rhythm a little bit. They're so good with their movement. And then I thought we did a nice job of really trying to take away layups for the most part throughout the meat of the game, I thought that was a big piece of that. Tommy (Tomislav Ivisic) and Z (Zvonimir Ivisic) were just huge in the first half, we were able to play over the top a little bit with Z. In the second half, they were very dialed in early and made his stuff hard, one of the best defensive teams, not only in the Big Ten, but in the country. So but not to be the job Jake Davis and Ben (Humrichous) did they do all the little things rebounded in Jake's block, Ben's block, I mean, just a lot of little things. So just a good team win and beat a heck of a ball team today.”

On playing bigger lineups
“It gives us some options, some opportunities to really space it, but it also gives the opportunity to play above people and over the top. And we're really big. I think one time we had David (Mirkovic) out there and playing the point with maybe Ben at the two Mirk and those two. So, you know, you throw a bunch of 6’9”, 7’2”, guys out there, it gives us a chance to do that, but Mirk gives us that luxury because of his ball handling and his passing. But Mirk threw a heck of a pass to him over the top of Berke (Buyuktuncel) for the one lob. But then defensively, we get to protect the room pretty good with both those guys. 

On using a taller lineup more often
“Well, it's something we’re trying to do a lot just because David gives us those matchups. But you know, the challenge that comes in, you where we, you know, have a challenge with Kylan (Boswell). And, yeah, it's something that we're going to continue to look at, and we'll be able to do that moving forward.”