The No. 7 Nebraska men’s basketball team cruised to a 76-66 victory over Washington Wednesday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Cornhuskers took the floor with their highest-ever ranking in program history, then looked the part, opening a lead as large as 18 in the game.
But there was some bad news: Freshman guard Braden Frager, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, suffered an ankle injury roughly three minutes into the game and only returned to the bench in street clothes while wearing a protective boot on his left foot. Coach Fred Hoiberg said in his postgame interview that, while he was unsure of the extent of Frager’s injury, he did expect Frager to miss time.
Otherwise, it was all Nebraska (19-0, 8-0 Big Ten). Pryce Sandfort led with 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Sam Hoiberg pitched in 14 points and seven rebounds. Rienk Mast tallied 12 despite 4-for-13 shooting. Jamarcus Lawrence added 11 points. The Huskies (10-9, 2-6 Big Ten) were led by Hannes Steinbach’s 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting. He also registered a double-double with 12 rebounds. Zoom Diallo added 18 points. No other Washington player scored more than six points.
Nebraska gradually pulled away early, building a 17-10 lead with 12:25 to go in the first half. An 8-0 keyed by two three-pointers by Pryce Sandfort ballooned the lead to 32-19 with 6:50 in the first half. After the Huskies cut the lead to 36-28 late in the first half, Hoiberg ended the half on a personal 5-0 run to send the game to halftime with NU leading 41-28. The lead never shrunk to smaller than 10 in the second half and the Huskies ended the game on a 6-0 run to make the score look closer than it was for most of the game.
The Huskers now prepare to take on Minnesota Saturday in Minneapolis. Pregame coverage begins at 10 a.m., with tipoff at 11 a.m. on KLIN.