The Nebraska men’s basketball team rewrote history in resounding fashion, defeating Troy 76-47 to win its first-ever game in the NCAA Tournament after losing in the first round in their previous eight trips to the tournament Thursday in Oklahoma City. The Cornhuskers were the only major-conference school to have not won a men’s tournament game until Thursday’s thrashing of the Trojans. Nebraska had lost in the first round in its prior eight trips to the Big Dance.
But Pryce Sandfort made sure that this time would be different. He led the Huskers with 23 points, shooting a blistering 7-for-12 from three-point range. He was especially important in the first half, scoring 17 points as Nebraska built a 16-point lead. Jamarcus Lawrence and Braden Frager tallied 13 points each. Rienk Mast added 11 points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing seven assists. Berke Buyuktuncel had nine points and seven rebounds, while Sam Hoiberg led the Huskers with nine rebounds despite being one of the shortest players on the floor. Victor Valdes led the Trojans with 14 points, but he was the only Troy player with double-digit scoring.
But this day belonged to Nebraska. In front of a partisan Husker crowd, NU took the lead for good midway through the first half. After the Trojans led 15-12, back-to-back threes by Sandfort plus a three-pointer from Lawrence swung the game to the Huskers, 21-15 with 8:45 to go until halftime. Sandfort went on a personal 8-0 run later in the half to build the lead to 32-19 with five minutes to go in the half. A Lawrence three late in the half pushed the advantage to 18, and Nebraska took a 41-25 lead to halftime.
Troy scored the first five points of the second half to shrink the Huskers’ lead to 41-30 with 17:51 to go. After a Sandfort three, Cobi Campbell hit two free throws to stay within 44-32 with 16 minutes remaining. But then a Nebraska 8-0 run pushed the lead to 20, 52-32 with 14 minutes remaining. The Trojans cut the Huskers’ lead to 17 twice, but after Troy pulled to within 54-37 with 12:35 to go, a 16-3 run by Nebraska all but secured the victory.
The win set the school record for victories in a season with 27, and now the Huskers await the winner of McNeese/Vanderbilt in the second round, to play Saturday with a tipoff time to be determined. The game will be broadcast on KLIN.