Nebrasketball Survives Scare From North Dakota to Stay Undefeated

LINCOLN—At the end of the day, Nebrasketball is still undefeated.

NNo. 15 Nebraska men's basketball needed a strong second half to survive a scare from North Dakota on Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Huskers won 78-55 to improve to 12-0 on the year. The Fighting Hawks fell to 5-10.

Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Jamarques Lawrence drives against North Dakota Fighting Hawks guard Eli King. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

NU got on the board right away, with Sam Hoiberg driving inside and dropping the ball off to Berke Buyuktuncel for an easy lay-in. After that, the going got tough.

North Dakota posted a 13-2 run to go up by nine points. Meanwhile, Nebraska struggled to score from anywhere on the court. The Big Red missed their first 10 attempts from deep and had a first-half stretch of 1-for-7 on shots inside the arc.

"I give North Dakota a lot of credit for their game plan," Nebraksa coach Fred Hoiberg said after the game. "They put a smaller guy to get up underneath Rienk (Mast) and I thought we just stood around and ball faked and that thing never got shifted side to side. Now that being said, I did think we had some decent looks, if those are going in, you know those are great ones to take. As the half went on, I thought we took some contested ones, settled, and we just didn’t get the ball in the paint, and you know that's credit to North Dakota and what they did."

A 6-2 run to end the half brought the Huskers within two points and built momentum for the start of the second half. Nebraska opened on a 6-0 run. After a quick exchange of the lead, NU put some distance on the scoreboard and pulled away for the 23-point victory.

Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Pryce Sandfort looks to pass against North Dakota Fighting Hawks guard Garrett Anderson. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska shot 45.2% for the game, including 6-of-27 on three pointers. The second-half saw the Big Red go 4-of-9 from deep.

North Dakota shot 33.3% overall, making 10-of-29 3s.

Nebraska held the edge at the free throw line, making 16-of-19. North Dakota shot just nine free throws, making six of them.

In the middle of the slow start and extension in the second half, Berke Buyuktuncel put together the best statistical game of his Husker career. The Turkiye native posted the fourth triple-double in program history, tallying 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. He completed the achievement on a three-pointer with 2:03 to go in the game.

Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Fred Hoiberg watches during the first half against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Pinnacle Bank Arena. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

"I thought Berke as the playmaker was unbelievable, got a couple of tip-ins for us that really got us going," Hoiberg said.

Other Nebraska men's basketball triple-doubles:

Nov. 8, 2025 Rienk Mast
Dec. 17, 2020 Dalano Banton
Dec. 15, 2019 Cam Mack

Braden Frager led all scorers with 17 points. Sam Hoiberg (15 points) and Jamarques Lawrence (13 points) also scored in double figures.

Nebraska closes out non-conference play on Dec. 30 against New Hampshire. Tip Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 8 p.m. CST. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

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Nebraska Athletics Postgame Notes

With the win, Nebraska improved to 12-0 on the season, extending its best start in school history.
Nebraska has now won 16 straight dating back to last year, extending its own school record streakNebraska men (12-0) and women (12-0) are both unbeaten as Nebraska joins Iowa State and Vanderbilt with unbeaten men’s and women’s teams.
Berke Buyuktuncel‘s triple-double tonight (12 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) was the fourth in school history and the second this season. Before tonight, Buyutuncel never had a double-double.
All of NU’s triple-doubles have come under Fred Hoiberg – Buyuktuncel and Rienk Mast this year, Dalano Banton in 2020 and Cam Mack in 2019.
Buyuktuncel’s 10 assists more than doubled his previous career high of four set at Ohio State last year.
Four Huskers scored in double digits – Braden Frager (17), Sam Hoiberg (15), Jamarques Lawrence (13) and Berke Buyuktuncel (12).
Braden Frager’s 17 points off the bench was NU’s 13th double-figure game of the season. It also marked the second time Frager led NU in scoring this season.
Nebraska had 22 assists and six turnovers, the eighth time in 12 games NU has had 20+ assists.
Sam Hoiberg finished with four assists and no turnovers and now has a 48-to-8 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Nebraska held North Dakota to 33.3 percent shooting, the ninth opponent held under 40 percent this season.
Nebraska now has won a school-record 21 straight non-conference games dating back to 2004 and 15 straight non-conference games at home dating back to 2003.

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 New Hampshire 8 p.m. BTN
Jan. 2 Michigan State 8 p.m. Peacock
Jan. 5 Ohio State 5:30 p.m. FS1
Jan. 10 Indiana 11 a.m. BTN
Jan. 13 Oregon 8 p.m. BTN
Jan. 17 Northwestern 3 p.m. BTN
Jan. 21 Washington 8 p.m. BTN
Jan. 24 Minnesota 11 a.m. FS1
Jan. 27 Michigan 6 p.m. Peacock
Feb. 1 Illinois 3 p.m. FS1
Feb. 7 Rutgers 11 a.m. BTN
Feb. 10 Purdue 6 p.m. FS1
Feb. 14 Northwestern Noon BTN
Feb. 17 Iowa 8 p.m. BTN
Feb. 21 Penn State 1 p.m. BTN
Feb. 25 Maryland 6 p.m. BTN
Feb. 28 USC 3 p.m. BTN
March 3 UCLA 10 p.m. FS1
March 8 Iowa 4 p.m. FOX
March 10-15 Big Ten Tournament in Chicago

Home games are bolded. All times central.

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