Halftime Wake-Up Call Fuels Huskers’ Dominant Finish at Minnesota

Fred Hoiberg’s message in the locker room flipped the switch for Nebraska, triggering a dominant second-half surge that turned a close game into a decisive road win.

Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg admitted he got quite animated at halftime, with his team trailing Minnesota by six. The Huskers went on to win by 19. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

It appears Fred Hoiberg has the art of the halftime speech down to a science.

Saturday in Minneapolis, the Huskers found themselves down six to a Minnesota team that had its eyes on an upset of the No. 7 Huskers. Then Hoiberg got a chance to have a good chat with his team.

“We kind of took turns at them,” Hoiberg said during his press conference after Nebraska’s 76-57 win over Minnesota. “I started it, Nate went then I went back at them, and you know championship teams respond the right way, and that’s exactly what our guys did.”

It was quite the turnaround when you look at the numbers.

Minnesota had No. 7 Nebraska on its heels Saturday, entering the halftime locker room with a six-point lead. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Golden Gophers had everything clicking in the first half. They shot over 41% from the floor and made nearly half of their 3-pointers, going 9-for-20 in the first half. Minnesota also had the advantage in points off turnovers (5-0), second-chance points (3-2), fast break points (2-0) and bench points (5-2).

There was plenty to discuss for NU at halftime.

“I felt really fortunate to only be down six at halftime,” Hoiberg said. They go 9-for-20 from three, and we didn’t play a great offensive game in that first half, and we were only down two possessions.”

Then came the adjustments, and an entirely different Nebraska squad. Several times through the season, you’ve heard coaches and players talk about getting in passing lanes and getting their hands on the ball defensively. That happened in spades in the second half thanks to what Hoiberg called one of their better defensive efforts of the year.

Nebraska senior Sam Hoiberg proved to be an impact player again Saturday with 14 points and seven assists in the win. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

NU outscored the Gophers 46-21 in the half, holding Minnesota to an 0-11 mark from behind the arc. Inside the arc wasn’t much better, as the Gophers dipped down to 37% shooting.

“Our defensive energy was much higher,” Nebraska senior guard Sam Hoiberg said of the team’s second-half effort. “Our hands were way more active, and that’s when we play our best. We talk about deflections all the time, and if we’re getting deflections, our defense reflects that and we shut teams down.”

Nebraska, unsurprisingly, was led by Pryce Sandfort, who poured in 22 points to lead all scorers. It was Sandfort’s fourth-straight 20-point game, but what stood out Saturday is that Sandfort recorded only his second career double-double and the first this year. His 10 rebounds and four blocks made it one of his more complete games, and his head coach took notice.

After a sluggish first half, Nebraska's Pryce Sandfort found his touch, leading all scorers with 22 points in the NU win. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

“His 22 points is great, but the 10 rebounds and four blocks – that shows toughness,” Fred Hoiberg said. “The good teams find a way, and things weren’t going great, but the second half – we’ve done a really good job coming out of the locker room, and I just thought we played with so much more urgency.”

That urgency has carried Nebraska to a school record 20-0 start to the season and a record 24th-straight win dating back to last season. NU’s win streak has now tied Ohio State's streak from the 2010-11 season and is just five short of the all-time Big Ten win-streak mark set by Illinois (29) during the 2004-05 season.

However, to accomplish that would be one of the most unlikely stretches for any team, let alone a Nebraska team that’s still learning how to play at the highest level of college basketball. The 7th-ranked Huskers may take a slight rise in the rankings to kick off next week, but if they match Illinois’ record streak, Nebraska might just become the top-ranked team in the country.

Michigan is the next test for the now 20-0 Nebraska men's basketball team, and it kicks off the toughest stretch of the season. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

That assumption is based on the difficulty of the road ahead. Tuesday, the Huskers will be in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to take on a 3rd-ranked Wolverine squad that’s suffered just one loss – a 91-88 setback to Wisconsin on Jan. 10. Then it’s a rematch against No. 11 Illinois on Sunday, Feb. 1. Let’s not forget how the Huskers beat the Illini in Champaign earlier this year – an 83-80 upset that came on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

The Huskers then head back on the road to take on a Rutgers team that plays well at home, featuring wins this month over Oregon and Northwestern. Then it’s back to Lincoln to take on 4th-ranked Purdue. It’s safe to say NU knows it will be all hands on deck for the next few weeks.

“We’ve got an unbelievable opportunity in front of us against what I think is arguably the best team in the country,” Fred Hoiberg said of the team’s upcoming game against Michigan. “Wisconsin made 10 threes in a row, and they still took them all the way to the last possession to get the win. It’s going to take a monumental effort, but I believe in these guys.”

Nebraska's win over Minnesota only reaffirmed a belief of its head coach - that they've finally adopted a championship mentality. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The head ball coach should have plenty of confidence in his guys for the battles ahead, because he’s starting to see something from them that took 24-straight wins to develop – a championship mentality. Not only did the Huskers rattle off four-straight wins to capture the first-ever Crown Championship to end last year in Las Vegas, but they haven’t shrunk in big moments this season.

The last-second win at Illinois and upsetting No. 9 Michigan State in Lincoln are the two obvious moments fans turn to, but coming back from 16 down at Indiana and even playing without Braden Frager on Saturday in Minneapolis are other points where the team showed the championship resolve.

The team doesn’t run from tough moments. If anything, they’re running through them.

Nebraska's ability to come back and dominate Minnesota in the second half has the team primed to make a special run. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

“It’s important to know you can do it,” Fred Hoiberg said of his team’s response in tough situations, including being down in the second half to Minnesota. “Our crowd was great. They got the chants going, and I think that was a big reason that we were able to continue on that run and give the guys a little bit more energy that played a lot of minutes.”

When asked about the 25-point edge NU had on Minnesota in the second half, Sam Hoiberg said it’s what has started to define this year’s team.

“I think that this team is very mature,” he said. “We’ve talked about that, and I never felt any sort of panic in our body language. Coaches jumped us at halftime, I thought they were playing harder than us. That was all it really was. There was no panic, though, and we knew if we could get back to playing our game that this thing would turn, and fortunately, we did that in the second half and things turned out right.”

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