How to Watch No. 11 Nebraska Basketball vs. No. 18 Purdue in B1G Tournament with Preview, Breakdown, TV Channel

The postseason is finally here for the No. 11 Nebraska men's basketball team.

In what could go down as the best team in school history, the Huskers served up a nice cold dish of revenge to end the regular season. Welcoming in an Iowa team that had taken down NU in a 57-52 slopfest in Iowa City, the Cornhuskers had plenty of reasons for motivation, even if their triple bye in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament was already secure.

After a tight-knit first half that saw Nebraska go up 30-26 into halftime, Nebraska had appeared to pull away in the second half. A trio of three-pointers, including two from Pryce Sandfort and one from Rienk Mast, extended the lead to 40-30. The Huskers would keep that 10-point cushion with a pair of free throws from Mast to lead 64-54 with 5:13 remaining, but the Hawkeyes stayed around by hitting key treys and taking advantage of missed NU free throws. Trailing 70-67 with 13.7 seconds left, All-American candidate Bennett Stirtz missed a three-pointer, but an Iowa offensive rebound gave Kael Combs an opportunity to tie it, and he did by sinking a three-pointer with 2.7 seconds left to send the contest into overtime.

The Nebraska native Cale Jacobsen stepped up when needed the most, pouring in six of his career-high 15 points in the overtime period to spark a 9-0 run and cause a 1-for-6 Iowa shooting spell to turn away the Hawkeyes 84-75 on senior day. Sandfort tied Jacobsen with 15 while Mast added 14 points as the Huskers ended the year 16-2 at home.

While Nebraska hasn’t experienced this type of success before, it has come close, and that still hasn’t mattered in the postseason, where the Cornhuskers remain the lone Power Four team to have never won an NCAA Tournament game. Nebraska’s opportunity to rid itself of that curse won’t come yet, but it can still stamp its regular season with an impressive showing at the Big Ten Tournament, beginning its journey in the quarterfinals thanks to a triple bye.

Up first is an opponent that dealt massive heartbreak to NU earlier in the year, and the Huskers will have a shot to return the favor. Here's all you need to know as Nebraska takes on the No. 18 Purdue Boilermakers to start off the evening session in Chicago for the Big Ten Quarterfinals.

How to Follow Along

Matchup: No. 11 Nebraska (26-5, 15-5 B1G) vs. No. 18 Purdue (24-8, 13-7 B1G)
Tournament Round: Quarterfinals
When: Friday, March 13
Where: United Center, Chicago, Ill.
Time: 5:30 p.m. CDT
Watch: Big Ten Network
Listen: Huskers Radio Network and Affiliates

No. 18 Purdue Scout

Head Coach

Matt Painter | 21st season at Purdue; 22nd as HC
495-223 (.689) at Purdue; 520-228 (.695) Career Record
16x NCAA Tournament Apps., 1x NCAA Runner-Up, 1x Elite Eight, 6x Sweet 16
5x B1G regular season, 2x B1G Tournament, 1x MVC regular season
5x B1G Coach OTY, 2x AP B1G Coach OTY, NABC Coach OTY, MVC Coach OTY, John R. Wooden Legends Coaching Award
Previous head coach at Southern Illinois
Previous assistant at Purdue, Southern Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Barton and Washington & Jefferson

2024-2025 Record & Awards

Record: 24-12 (13-7 B1G, T-4th)
All-Americans: 1x First Team, 1x Honorable Mention
Conference Awards: B1G Player of the Year
All-B1G: 2x First Team, 1x Honorable Mention

All-Time Series

Purdue leads 22-7
Feb. 10, 2026, last matchup, 80-77 Purdue

One of college basketball's best ever distributors, Braden Smith was named to another All-Big Ten First Team. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Key Returners

Braden Smith | G | Sr. | First Team All-Big Ten this season who leads Purdue in scoring with nearly 15 points per game while shooting over 38% from three and dishes out over eight assists per contest.
Trey Kaufman-Renn | F | Sr. | 6-foot-9 veteran who joined Smith on the All-Big Ten First Team last season, and named honorable mention this year after seeing his point production slip from 20 to 13 points per game.
Fletcher Loyer | G | Sr. | Another returning starter for the Boilermakers who's adding over 13 points per game and leads Purdue with 85 made three-pointers.
Daniel Jacobsen | C | Soph. | 7-foot-4 center that played in only two games before breaking his leg last year; contributes over six points and three rebounds per game as a key reserve off the bench.
C.J. Cox | G | Soph. | Sharpshooter off the bench last season as a freshman, but now is part of the starting five for Purdue and logs eight points per game with 50 made three pointers.
Gicarri Harris | G | Soph. | Returning sophomore who has appeared in all 31 games this season while chipping in 4.9 points and 1.7 rebounds per contest.
Raleigh Burgess | F | Soph. | 6-foot-10 depth forward that saw only six minutes per game last year, but has yet to touch the floor this season.

Key Departures

Myles Colvin | G | Transfer | Started in eight of his 36 appearances last season as a true freshman, but transferred to Wake Forest over the offseason, where he's a double-digit scorer (12.2 PPG) for the Demon Deacons.
Camden Heide | F | Transfer | Another true freshman that started in eight games across 36 appearances, but now plays at Texas and averages 7.6 points per game.
Caleb Furst | F | Graduated | Veteran post that produced over four points and three rebounds per game while starting in 23 of his 36 showings last year.

Purdue's Fletcher Loyer is a huge three-point threat and was one of three double-digit scorers against Northwestern. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Impact Transfers/Newcomers

Oscar Cluff | C | Sr. | Heralded as one of, if not the best, transfer over the offseason after pouring in 17 points and 12 rebounds per game at South Dakota State. It has been a tougher transition to the Big Ten, but the 6-foot-11 center adds nearly 10 points and seven rebounds per game for the Boilermakers.
Omer Mayer | G | Fr. | 6-foot-4 true freshman from Israel who's carved out a role off the bench with over five points per game.

Outlook

After beating No. 7 Nebraska in a hostile Pinnacle Bank Arena for one of its best wins of the campaign, a 5-4 finish to the season was certainly not on the minds of head coach Matt Painter and his team. The Boilermakers followed up the Huskers with a blowout win over Iowa, an 11-point loss to No. 1 Michigan, and a dominant 93-64 victory over rival Indiana. A hard-fought 76-74 defeat to No. 13 Michigan was nothing to worry about, but an 82-74 loss to unranked Ohio State and a 97-93 upset loss to Wisconsin flipped Purdue's narrative heading into postseason play.

Fortunately for the Boilermakers, No. 15 seed Northwestern pulled off the biggest upset of the conference tournament, taking down No. 10 Indiana to disrupt the potential in-state battle in the third round. Purdue played much better than its last meeting against the Wildcats, getting 19 points apiece from Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff while three-point specialist Fletcher Loyer added 14 of his own. Statistically, Northwestern was neck-and-neck with the Boilermakers, but a 35-23 rebounding advantage flipped the tide.

6-foot-11 Purdue center Oscar Cluff grabbed 10 offensive rebounds in the last game versus Nebraska on Feb. 10 in Lincoln. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

That'll be the biggest story to watch throughout Friday's contest and whether Nebraska can compete in the paint. While it was only a three-point, overtime loss, the Huskers were crushed in the rebounding battle back in February as the Boilermakers recorded a 54-37 edge, including a 21-6 blowout in the number of offensive rebounds. Cluff and Kaufman-Renn were the reasons as the two combined for 33 of the rebounds, including 10 offensive boards for Cluff.

Despite the compeition not being as stiff, the Huskers have faired better in that territory, but Purdue is a bad matchup, and they played up to their potential on Thursday in the 81-68 win over Northwestern. I'm leaning towards the Boilermakers, but this feels like another game that'll go down to a final possession.