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First Look at Illinois Basketball's Game 11 Opponent: Nebraska Cornhuskers

The Illini face 10–0 Nebraska in a major Big Ten showdown that could shape early conference standings and March seeding
Pranav Hegde|
Dec 7, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Sam Hoiberg (1), forward Rienk Mast (51) and forward Pryce Sandfort (21) celebrate after a three-point basket by Hoiberg against the Creighton Bluejays during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images
Dec 7, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Sam Hoiberg (1), forward Rienk Mast (51) and forward Pryce Sandfort (21) celebrate after a three-point basket by Hoiberg against the Creighton Bluejays during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

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Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois (8-2, 1-0 Big Ten) returns to Champaign feeling pretty good about itself – and honestly, why shouldn’t they? Beating Ohio State on the road to open Big Ten play is the kind of thing that makes you walk a little taller on campus, maybe even hold the door open for someone on Green Street.

Now the Illini get one more showdown before finals week arrives and everyone collectively panics about exams, group projects, and whether Canvas actually submitted that assignment.

Nebraska (10-0, 1-0 Big Ten) comes to town on Saturday (3:00 p.m. CT, Peacock) just as Illinois is finally (mostly) healthy. Ty Rodgers is still working his way back, but everyone else is upright, available, and starting to resemble a team that can make a deep run in March. With more than a week off looming after this one, the Illini have a golden chance to head into study mode with some momentum, protect home court, and maybe even get the students to forget about finals for a couple of hours.

Nebraska at a glance

The Cornhuskers roll into Champaign under seventh-year head coach Fred Hoiberg and his rebuild in Lincoln has been nothing short of impressive. Nebraska basketball hasn’t exactly been a historical powerhouse, logging just two NCAA Tournament appearances since 2000, and one of those came under Hoiberg two seasons ago. Slowly but surely, he’s dragged the program from the barrel of the Big Ten into something that actually resembles sustained success.

The Huskers have stacked back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time this century and once again look legitimately dangerous. Not that the preseason media noticed. They pegged Nebraska to finish 14th in the Big Ten, a prediction that has aged about as well as warm milk. The Huskers have stormed out to a 10–0 start, picked up real wins over Creighton and Wisconsin, and climbed to No. 23 in the AP Poll, while their NET ranking (also 23 as of now) continues to hover in high-major respectability.

Simply put: this is not your same old Huskers. They’re good, they’re confident, and they’re not showing up just to admire the State Farm Center’s lighting.

The Cornhuskers on the court

Hoiberg’s squad is powered by senior big man Rienk Mast, who missed the entire 2024–25 season with a knee injury but has returned like someone who spent his rehab plotting revenge on every rim in the Big Ten. He announced his comeback early in a preseason scrimmage against BYU, where he played so well that Cougar star AJ Dybantsa – the actual projected No. 1 pick in the next NBA Draft – half-joked he’d take Mast first.

And Mast has backed it up. He’s topped 20 points in four games already and flashed real NBA tools, stepping out for threes, bullying defenders inside, and generally behaving like he intends to make a few scouts uncomfortable with their rankings. He has been a matchup nightmare all season and is the unquestioned engine of Nebraska’s attack – the guy Illinois absolutely cannot let get rolling.

The Huskers have plenty of support around Mast, starting with Iowa junior transfer Pryce Sandfort – a smooth-scoring forward who looks like he was built in a lab specifically to annoy Big Ten defenses – and senior guard Sam Hoiberg, the coach’s son who somehow always seems to be in the right place at the right time.

Nebraska’s roster is full of guys who can make plays, stay within the system, and punish mistakes. Combine that with how well-coached they are, and you get a team that’s become a tough out for pretty much everyone who crosses their path this season.

Hoiberg once led the NBA in three-point percentage, so it’s no shock his teams are encouraged to let it fly early, often, and occasionally from the parking lot. But here’s the difference between Nebraska and your average high-volume chuck-fest: the Huskers actually make their threes.

They’re one of the more entertaining offenses in the conference, playing fast, spacing the floor beautifully, and surrounding Mast with shooters who can all punish a late closeout. When Nebraska gets humming, it looks less like a college team and more like a Hoiberg fever dream come to life.

Nebraska, being Nebraska, isn’t exactly swimming in five-star athletes, so Hoiberg has to get a little crafty on the defensive end. They went full man-to-man against Wisconsin, but in their blowout of Creighton they mixed in some zone looks that would make a geometry teacher proud.

Even their man defense resembles a zone at times, with how deep the help-side defender sinks – against Wisconsin, the guy two passes away was basically camping under the rim like he was waiting for a rebound that hadn’t happened yet.

This approach allows Nebraska to clog the paint and protect the rim, but it comes with a trade-off: they’re vulnerable to kick-out threes. Quick ball movement can pry open shots on the perimeter, while drives into traffic often result in three Huskers materializing out of nowhere to swarm the ball. It’s unconventional, occasionally chaotic, but effective enough to keep opposing offenses uncomfortable all night.

Illinois vs. Nebraska matchup

For Illinois, this matchup represents a chance to stack a third straight Quad One win and launch into a very manageable stretch of the schedule with some real momentum. Starting 2–0 in the Big Ten is never trivial, especially in a league where multiple teams look like they’re auditioning for title contender status.

Michigan, Purdue, and Michigan State all appear terrifying in their own unique ways, and Nebraska has played well enough to land fifth in our power rankings – which says plenty about the depth of this conference.

And shoutout to Michigan fans, who probably deserve something to smile about after the Sherrone Moore news, even if that something is simply “our basketball team is kind of absurd right now.”

All that sets the stage for what should be a wildly entertaining game: plenty of pace, plenty of threes and a loud State Farm Center crowd trying to avoid thinking about finals week. Whoever walks out 2–0 in league play will be sitting in a great spot for both the conference race and the early March resume conversations.

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Pranav Hegde
PRANAV HEGDE

Primarily covers Illinois football, basketball and golf, with an emphasis on news, analysis and features. Hegde, an electrical engineering student at Illinois with an affinity for sports writing, has been writing for On SI since April 2025. He can be followed and reached on Instagram @pranavhegde__.

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