Nebraska Fights Past Boise State, Advances to College Basketball Crown Finals with $100K

More money in the bank.

Nebraska men's basketball beat Boise State in the semifinals of the College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas on Saturday, 79-69. Huskers improve to 20-14 on the year as the Broncos end their season at 26-11.

With the win, Nebraska earns at least $100,000 in NIL prize money. The payout for teams that don't advance beyond the semifinals is $50,000, while the runner-up earns $100,000 and the champion will take home $300,000.

The Huskers are heading to the @CBBCrown Championship 👑#B1GMBBall x @HuskerMBB pic.twitter.com/oWBZnbqpue
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) April 5, 2025

Boise State controlled much of the first half, taking advantage of a nearly seven-minute stretch without Nebraska making a basket. But the Big Red closed on a 20-7 run to take a 39-33 lead into halftime.

That lead stretched to double-digits with a 7-2 run to begin the second half. Nebraska stretched the difference to 15 points before giving up an 8-0 Bronco run, holding off one of the Crown favorites down the stretch.

The Huskers shot 46.4% for the game, including a scorching 12-of-19 from 3. The Broncos shot 39.7% overall, making 9-of-27 from deep.

Nebraska center Braxton Meah dunks the ball against Boise State in the College Basketball Crown semifinals in Las Vegas. | Nebraska Athletics

Juwan Gary scored a team-high 21 points, finishing one rebound shy of a double-double. Brice Williams added 14 points, putting him just 16 points away from tying James Palmer Jr. (708) for the program's single-season scoring record.

Nebraska advances to the Crown championship Sunday against UCF. Tip from T-Mobile Arena is slated for 4:30 p.m. CDT on FOX.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Postgame Notes

Nebraska improves to 20-14 on the season and will play in the College Basketball Crown on Sunday.
Nebraska posted consecutive 20-win seasons for the third time in school history and the first time since 1997-98 and 1998-99.
Nebraska's 12 3-pointers was a season high (previous high was 11 vs. Washington) and its 63.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc was also a season best. It was NU's best 3-point effort by percentage since going 13-of-20 (.650) at Penn State during the 2021-22 season.
Juwan Gary had his ninth 20-point game of the season with 21 points and nine rebounds. Gary has scored 20+ points in four of NU's last six games and is averaging 20.8 ppg over his last six games.
Gary's four 3-pointers tied a career high, as he also had four against Minnesota on Feb. 24, 2024. His previous season best was three, which he had done six times this season. Gary is 7-of-9 from 3-point range over the last two games.
Gary now has 976 points at Nebraska and needs 24 to become the 33rd Husker to reach 1,000 points at Nebraska.
Nebraska got 26 points from its bench, including eight apiece from Connor Essegian and Ahron Ulis. For Ulis, it was his highest scoring effort since scoring a season-high 10 points vs. North Florida on Dec. 1. Ulis also tied a season high with five rebounds.
Brice Williams had 14 points and tied his season high with six assists. Williams now has 692 points this season and is 16 points shy of James Palmer Jr., who holds NU's single-season record with 708 points.
Sam Hoiberg posted his second double-figure game of the season with 10 points as he has been in double figures in two of the past four games.

More From Nebraska on SI

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.