In Nebraska’s Biggest Game, Huskers' Rienk Mast Stands Tall Against Michigan State

Sometimes, a college basketball team needs its star. And in the most important game a team has played in maybe decades, a team really needs its star.

And for Nebraska’s 14-0 men’s basketball team, on a memorable Friday night, that was Rienk Mast, who kept the Huskers alive in the first half and made the game-winning basket.

Mast helped carry the Huskers to heights unknown to this program. In the biggest game of this remarkable Huskers season, Mast led the Huskers over Tom Izzo’s ninth-ranked Michigan State Spartans, 58-56.

Friday’s game was being called the biggest game in Pinnacle Bank Arena history and the fans acted like it. They stood throughout the game and even during timeouts. Fans were yelling and screaming after every Michigan State turnover, and there were an uncharacteristic 19 of them.

When it was over, the court was filled with Nebraska fans chanting “Go Big Red” and just enjoying the ecstatic moments.

“It was one of the best crowds I’ve been a part of in my time here and we certainly appreciate it,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said in a news conference after the victory. “That played a huge factor in the win. And it was fun to see our guys celebrate, but once we got in the locker room, they were ready to move past it.”

And through all of the emotion and passion inside the mostly red-clad arena, 6-foot-10 Rienk Mast stood tall. Tallest of them all.

First-half heroics

Mast scored 19 points, had seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Even with the game’s most impressive box score and the winning basket, Mast was valuable in other ways — clutch baskets, key rebounds, the glue that held the Huskers together when Sparty was trying to impose its considerable will.

It was the first half when Nebraska needed Mast the most. It’s when the game could have slipped away from the Huskers. In that first half, Mast stuck five three-pointers. He lofted those high-arching beauties over typically tough Spartans defense that was somewhat negated by his size. Each basket was met with a resounding response.

Michigan State’s sweaty, intense defense prevented open Nebraska looks in the first half. That’s when Mast took over, scoring 15 of his 19 points in the first half.

Nebraska went into halftime tied at 33. Hoiberg said he was happy with where the Huskers stood at that point. Nebraska held its own against one of nation’s best defensive rebounding team.

“Those were the keys and I said it about a thousand times over the last three days: We had to get back [on defense] and we had to rebound,” Hoiberg said, even while lamenting that his team was outrebounded by 45-31.

“Total team effort. Rienk was obviously our offense tonight.”

Mast, who was born in Groningen, Netherlands, made one three-pointer in the second half — the game-winner with 1:51 to play. It was appropriate that Mast made that shot. Even with plenty of contributions from many Huskers, they needed a clutch shot and that’s what they got.

Huskers meet the challenge

If there ever was a barometer game for the Huskers, Michigan State was it. Sparty has eight Final Fours under Izzo. Sparty has 11 Elite Eights under Izzo. And that 2000 national championship, too.

Izzo has a career record of 749-304, with 11 Big Ten regular-season championships and six Big Ten Tournament championships.

Friday night was the first ranked-vs.-ranked home game for the Huskers since 1991, when a guy named George Bush was in the White House. No, the other George Bush, the dad.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo talks with Spartans center Carson Cooper in a game earlier this season. — Michigan State coach Tom Izzo talks with Spartans center Carson Cooper during a game earlier this season. | Dale Young-Imagn Images

It’s almost a rite of passage in the Big Ten. If you want to rule the conference, you must take out Michigan State. If you want your program to be taken seriously — in the conference and nationally — you need to win games like this.

Once, it was acceptable for Nebraska — and many other programs — to play Michigan State tough, hang with the Spartans for awhile, then lose by a respectable margin.

They were Michigan State, after all.

But Nebraska has moved past that polite-loser stage. The 13th-ranked Huskers are 14-0 and deserve to be, with wins over No. 13 Illinois and No. 9 Michigan State. This Huskers team eventually might be the one all future Nebraska teams are judged by.

Their legacy is now.

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