A layup by Lincoln native Braden Frager with 2.2 seconds to go sent the Nebraska men’s basketball team onto the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, as the Cornhuskers defeated Vanderbilt 74-72 Saturday in Oklahoma City in the second round of the tournament.
A half-court heave from Tyler Tanner at the buzzer nearly went in, but rattled out, sending the Huskers to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. Tanner had bedeviled Nebraska all night long, racking up 27 points on 9-for-21 shooting as he nearly single-handedly kept the Commodores in the game. Tyler Nickel, the only other Vanderbilt player in double-digits, had 16 for the Commodores. Frager and Pryce Sandfort scored 15 points each to lead the Huskers. Rienk Mast added 13 while Berke Buyuktuncel cotributed 12.
Nebraska bolted out to an 8-0 lead to begin the game and led the entire first half, taking a 39-32 lead to the locker room. The Huskers led the first 11 minutes of the second as well, until a layup by Tanner tied the game at 55 with 9:05 remaining. A three-pointer from Ak Okereke gave Vanderbilt its first lead of the game, 58-55 with 8:26 remaining. A three-pointer by Tyler Nickel with 5:34 to go pushed the lead to 67-62. But a Nebraska 6-0 run on a Sandfort basket in the lane plus two free throws and a Buyuktuncel basket put the Huskers back ahead, 68-67 with 2:08 to go. Okereke answered with a three from the left corner to put the Commodores back ahead, 70-68 with 1:44 to play. Sam Hoiberg, playing on his 23rd birthday, had a putback layup to tie the game at 70, but a driving layup Tanner put Vanderbilt back ahead, 72-70, with 58 seconds to play.
On the following possession, Mast had a putback tip-in to tie the game at 72. The Commodores brought the ball down and Chandler Bing missed a layup, which Pryce Sandfort rebounded. Sandfort brought the ball up, passed it to Frager, who drove down the middle of the lane for the game-winning layup with two seconds to go.
After Nebraska had never won an NCAA Men’s Tournament game before, the Huskers have won two in the space of three days. Nebraska now advances to the Regional Semfinal round to take on the winner of Florida and Iowa, who play Sunday. The Huskers will take on that winner Thursday in Houston, Texas. Tipoff time is to be determined, but the game will be broadcast on KLIN.