Nebrasketball Dances into the Sweet 16 with Thriller Over Vanderbilt

OKLAHOMA CITY — Nebrasketball is dancing its way to Houston and the Sweet 16.

The No. 4 seed Nebraska needed a last minute push, and a layup from Braden Frager in the closing seconds, to defeat the No. 5 seed Vanderbilt in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City, 74-72. The Huskers improve to 28-6 on the year, while the Commodores see their season end at 27-9.

After winning the first NCAA Tournament game in program history against Troy on Thursday, Nebraska is off to its first-ever Sweet 16.

The Game
The Stats
What's Next
Postgame Notes
Nebraska Men's Basketball 2025-26 Schedule

The Game

Nebrasketball hadn't gotten out to a start this hot in a while. The Huskers made their first three shots to open an 8-0 lead in just over two minutes of action.

Vanderbilt, meanwhile, made just one of its first seven shots from the field.

But Nebraska had a stretch of turnovers that helped Vanderbilt keep the lead from growing too far. The Commodores used an 11-4 run midway through the first half to cut the deficit to three points.

Nebraska's Sam Hoiberg drives up court as Vanderbilt's Tyler Tanner defends. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Rienk Mast then made his third three-pointer of the game to extend the lead back to two possessions. After the first 20 minutes, Nebraska led by seven points.

From a statistical standpoint, Nebraska dominated the first half. The Huskers shot better from the field (60% to 37%) and from deep (6-of-10 to 3-of-15). But the Commodores got to the line more, making 9-of-12 free throws to just 3-of-4 for the Huskers.

Nebraska also had three players with two fouls each at the break: Mast, Berke Buyuktuncel, and Jamarques Lawrence. Vanderbilt had just one: Devin McGlockton.

Vanderbilt held the advantage out of halftime, getting the first four points and a number of foul calls. The Commodores made four of their first six three-point attempts in the half, but the Huskers punched back with several makes as well to still hold a 50-47 lead at the under-12 media timeout. NU was already playing without Lawrence, who was on the bench with his fourth foul less than a minute earlier.

Nebraska's Rienk Mast shoots a 3-point basket as Vanderbilt's Duke Miles defends. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After cutting the deficit to one back with a putback, Vanderbilt continued to get calls as Nebraska held a slim lead. The Commodores finally took their first lead at the 8:22 mark on a three-pointer.

Three points remained the lead for Vanderbilt when Lawrence returned to action with 4:42 left in the game.

The next points weren't until Pryce Sandfort made two free throws just over a minute later. On the next Husker offensive possession, and a stop on the other end, he missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Buyuktuncel finished a layup on a Mast pass to give Nebraska a 68-67 lead, but Vanderbilt answered with its 13th made three-pointer of the game. Sam Hoiberg then grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up and in to tie the contest.

Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Pryce Sandfort drives to the hoop past Vanderbilt Commodores forward Ak Okereke. | William Purnell-Imagn Images

An exchange of baskets gave Vandebilt the ball in the final minute but a 10 second difference with the shot clock. A desperation attempt at the end of the shot clock missed, and Nebraska pushed, finding Braden Frager with a wide-open lane for the go-ahead layup with 2.2 seconds remaining.

Out of a Vanderbilt timeout, the Commodores got a clean look from beyond halfcourt that nearly went down, but rimmed out, sending the Huskers to the Sweet 16.

The Stats

Nebraska shot 55.8% for the game, making 9-of-19 three-pointers. Vanderbilt made 41.4% of its shots, including 13-of-37 from deep.

Despite early free throw disparities, Vandy only ended up making four more from the stripe than NU.

The Huskers got balanced scoring, with six players notching at least eight points. Sandfort and Frager led the way with 15 points each.

Box score

What's Next

Nebrasketball advances to the Sweet 16 next weekend in Houston. The Huskers will face the winner of the No. 1 seed Florida and the No. 9 seed Iowa. The Gators and Hawkeyes play on Sunday in Tampa.

Postgame Notes

Nebraska improves to 28-6 on the season and reaches the NCAA Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. Nebraska will play on Thursday against the winner of Sunday’s game between Iowa and Florida.
The 28 wins extends Nebraska’s single-season school record for wins. NU’s previous school record was 26 in 1990-91.
Nebraska has now won 49 games the last two seasons, the most the Huskers have ever won in a two-year span.
Nebraska has now won six straight postseason games dating back to the 2025 College Basketball Crown.
Nebraska improves to 2-0 against SEC teams this season, adding to a November victory over Oklahoma. Before this season, the Huskers had not beaten a team from the SEC since the 2015-16 season.
Nebraska improves to 3-5 all-time against Vanderbilt while the win over the Commodores was the first by NU since a 68-57 win on Dec. 22, 1975. NU lost its last two meetings with Vanderbilt (2010 and 1997).
Nebraska improved to 3-4 against ranked teams this season and the win over No. 16 Vanderbilt evened NU’s all-time record vs. teams ranked 16th in the AP Poll to 7-7.
This marks the second time Fred Hoiberg has guided a team to the NCAA Sweet 16, as his 2013-14 Iowa State also reached the Sweet 16 before losing to eventual national champion UConn
Nebraska has now won 12 of its last 13 neutral-site games dating back to the 2014 Diamond Head Classic.
Junior Pryce Sandfort scored 15 points to increase his season total to 609. Sandfort’s 609 points rank sixth on the NU single-season list. In tonight’s game Sandfort passed Dave Hoppen (598, 1984), Andre Smith (600, 1980) and Tyronn Lue (603, 1997).
Sandfort connected on three 3-pointers, giving him 123 this season, good for second on the Big Ten single-season list. He broke a tie with Penn State’s Shep Garner (120, 2017-18) in tonight’s game.
This marked Sandfort’s 24th game of the season with at least three made 3-pointers.
Nebraska extended its mark for 3-pointers in a season (360) and Nebraska went over 1,000 3-point attempts for the first time in school history.
Senior Rienk Mast made three 3-pointers, marking the eighth time this season he has made at least three 3-pointers.
Senior guard Sam Hoiberg had six assists, including five in the first half. With his six assists, Hoiberg increased his season total to 149 to move into ninth on the single-season assists list.
Freshman Braden Frager scored 15 points off the bench for his 19th double-figure game of the season, with 17 of those outings from off the bench. Frager increased his season 3-point total to 52 to tie CJ Wilcher for second on Nebraska’s freshman 3-point list.
Berke Buyuktuncel made a pair of 3-pointers marking the third time this season he has made multiple 3-pointers. He finished the game with 12 points for his sixth game in double figures and his first since Dec. 30 against New Hampshire.
Nebraska had 16 assists as a team, including 10 in the first half. The Huskers increased their season assist total to 611, moving into third place on the single-season team list.
Notes courtesy of Nebraska Athletics.

Have a question or comment for Kaleb? Send an email to kalebhenry.huskermax@gmail.com.

Nebraska Men's Basketball 2025-26 Schedule

Oct. 18 Nebraska 90, BYU 89
Oct. 27 Nebraska 91, Midland 50
Nov. 3 Nebraska 86, West Georgia 53
Nov. 8 Nebraska 96, Florida International 66
Nov. 11 Nebarska 69, Maryland-Eastern Shore 50
Nov. 15 Nebraska 105, Oklahoma 99 (Sanford Pentagon)
Nov. 20 Nebraska 84, New Mexico 72 (Hall of Fame Classic)
Nov. 21 Nebraska 86, Kansas State 85 (Hall of Fame Classic)
Nov. 25 Nebraska 80, Winthrop 73
Nov. 29 Nebraska 72, South Carolina Upstate 63
Dec. 7 Nebraska 71, Creighton 50
Dec. 10 Nebraska 90, Wisconsin 60
Dec. 13 Nebraska 83, Illinois 80
Dec. 21 Nebraska 78, North Dakota 55
Dec. 30 Nebraska 86, New Hampshire 55
Jan. 2 Nebraska 58, Michigan State 56
Jan. 5 Nebraska 72, Ohio State 69
Jan. 10 Nebraska 83, Indiana 77
Jan. 13 Nebraska 90, Oregon 55
Jan. 17 Nebraska 77, Northwestern 58
Jan. 21 Nebraska 76, Washington 66
Jan. 24 Nebraska 76, Minnesota 57
Jan. 27 Michigan 75, Nebraska 72
Feb. 1 Illinois 78, Nebraska 69
Feb. 7 Nebraska 80, Rutgers 68
Feb. 10 Purdue 80, Nebraska 77
Feb. 14 Nebraska 68, Northwestern 49
Feb. 17 Iowa 57, Nebraska 52
Feb. 21 Nebraska 87, Penn State 64
Feb. 25 Nebraska 74, Maryland 61
Feb. 28 Nebraska 82, USC 67
March 3 UCLA 72, Nebraska 52
March 8 Nebraska 84, Iowa 75
March 13 Purdue 74, Nebraska 58 (Big Ten Tournament)
March 19 Nebraska 76, Troy 47 (NCAA Tournament)
March 21 Nebraska 74, Vanderbilt 72 (NCAA Tournament)
March 26 vs. Florida/Iowa (NCAA Tournament)

Home games are bolded. All times central.

Add us as a preferred source on Google