Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg Sets the Path for the Huskers' NCAA Tournament Success

Toward the end of his news conference, Nebraska men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg summed up quite nicely what his fourth-seeded Huskers need to do against Troy in their NCAA Tournament first-round game.

“The biggest thing: You got to execute, you got to be disciplined, and you got to find a way to battle adversity,” Hoiberg said at a news conference in Lincoln on Monday about Thursday’s game (11:40 a.m. CDT, TruTV) at Oklahoma City.

Hoiberg could have been reading out of a basketball coaching manual. That’s how tried and true those theories are. But he knows his 26-6 team and what makes them tick. He knows what fundamentals lead to success.

Hoiberg read from another page of the mythical coaching manual when talking about the 13th-seeded Troy Trojans. Offer no bulletin-board material. Praise the opponent to help focus his own team. Loose lips sink ships and all that.

“Really impressive team. Very well coached, very disciplined,” Hoiberg said about the 21-11 Sun Belt regular season and tournament champions.

Troy forward Thomas Dowd shoots against Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Tournament title game. | Gregg Pachkowski/Pensacola News Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“They take care of the ball. They have a very good assist-to-turnover ratio. Do a really good job on the glass. And it’s a team that’s got a lot of skill all over the floor.

“[Thomas] Dowd and [Victor] Valdez, they’re really good players, both all-league players, Dowd first team. Those guys play with a lot of confidence, and a lot of swagger.

“Listen, it’s a team that has won 20 games five straight years, so they’ve got a winning culture and we’re going to have to be on point.”

Huskers’ experience

This is Nebraska’s third consecutive 20-win season, and second NCAA trip in three seasons. The Huskers lost to Texas A&M, 98-83, in 2024, the eighth consecutive NCAA Tournament loss for Nebraska, the only power conference team without an NCAA win.

The NCAA Tournament didn’t arrive at a particularly good time for Nebraska, which lost its first Big Ten Tournament game to Purdue on Friday. The Huskers are 6-6 in their last 12 games.

Teams want to play well heading into March Madness. Momentum could mean a lot in this environment.

Both Nebraska and Troy have some NCAA experience. Rienk Mast started that game against Texas A&M. Sam Hoiberg, Cale Jacobsen and Jamarques Lawrence played in the loss.

Fred Hoiberg is going to lean on that experience for this NCAA run.

“Rienk [has been very vocal the last couple days,” Fred Hoiberg said. “Sam has done a good job being vocal. Jamarques [Lawrence] has done a good job.

“This is Pryce’s [Sandfort] first time playing in the NCAA Tournament and the excitement that comes with that. Cale [Jacobsen] was part of our team a couple of years ago. That certainly can help and speak to our younger players.

“Braden [Frager], it’s his first experience. He’s been really good these last couple of days.

“Both teams have [NCAA Tournament] experience. When you look at this Troy team that played in the NCAA Tournament against Kentucky last year [a 76-57 UK win], it was a really good game. When you looked at the first half, I think it was a two-possession game at halftime so their players got really valuable experience.

“I do think it’s important that we’ve had guys who have played in this environment … At this time of year, you got to defend, you got to rebound.

“That’s been the thing that’s carried us all year long, being one of the most efficient defensive teams in the country and that’s going to have to hold true if we want to advance at this time of year.”

Controlling emotions

The NCAA Tournament stage is enormous, as is the interest. Hoiberg knows players have to handle their emotions and not let the passion and intensity of the event throw them off their game. It must be so easy to be overhyped, playing off the crowd, knowing the stakes.

“You have to do it [control emotions] all year in the Big Ten,” Hoiberg said. “If you don’t you’re going to get smacked. We did it for the most part …

“We’re going to play a really good team again on Thursday and we have to keep our emotions in check if we want to have a chance.

“Our guys have handled adversity pretty darn well all year. That’s why we’re, whatever we are, 26-6, against some really good teams in a great conference. We have to keep that as our constant.

“Now all of a sudden, it’s a one-and-done. I think it’s the greatest sporting event in the world for those reasons but yes, we’re going to have to keep our emotions in check.”

Nebraska getting ready to go

But Hoiberg said his team is fired up. He wants them to play with intelligent, controlled emotion.

“Our guys had a really good workout today,” Hoiberg said. “They’re excited to go out there and have this opportunity but at the same time you have to control your emotions.

“You can’t go out and all of a sudden try to do things that you haven’t done all year. It’s important for us, it’s all about the basics, the things that we’ve been doing since Day One on both ends of the ball.

“Share it, make the simple play and do a good job, and have great communication, get back in transition, don’t give up easy baskets.

Nebraska's Braden Frager (from left), Jared Garcia, Sam Hoiberg and Rienk Mast can't get the ball against Purdue. | David Banks-Imagn Images

“Just all of things that you have to do, that you really encourage your team from the first day of practice and all the way through. It’s on steroids now.

“It’s a great time of year. It’s a fun time of year. I’ve talked to our guys about enjoying it but at the same time this is a business trip for us.”

Hoiberg knows he’ll have the customary big Husker crowd supporting his team in OKC.

“It’s important for us to go down there and get our crowd into it,” Hoiberg said. “I think we’re going to have a really good crowd in Oklahoma City. It’s our job to get them into it. So important to go down there with the right mindset and get off to a fast start.

“We know what’s out there. We know what’s at stake. Our guys have done a lot of really good things this year, some things that have never been done in the history of the program.

“And again, a lot of that has been done because our guys have had great focus. And they haven’t gotten too far ahead of themselves and all they’ve worried about is the next assignment.

Nebraska guard Jamarques Lawrence has previous NCAA Tournament experience, playing for the Huskers in 2024. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

“We can’t think about it [what’s at stake] that way. There’s enough pressure at this time of year and if that’s your thought process you’re not going to be focused on the little things, the things you have to do to go one possession at a time. Just the importance of every possession at this time of year.

“So, if you do that, if you go out and you execute, hopefully things at the end of the day take care of themselves. That’s been the mentality of our group all year.

“I know I’ve talked a lot about the big wins that we’ve had and the way our guys have gotten over it. The tough losses our guys have had and found a way to rebound and get their focus back and that’s one thing we’re going to have to continue with if we want to keep playing.”

And once more about Troy

“They’re their own team,” Hoiberg said. “The thing I’ve been very impressed, they’re very well coached. They do an unbelievable job.

“They play with great discipline. [They remind Hoiberg] a little bit of a couple of teams we played against but they’re their own group and they got talent all over the floor and they got experience all over the floor.

“We’re going to have to go out and do the things well that we did all year. If we jump off the map, all of a sudden, we’re going to be in trouble.”

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