No. 9 Nebrasketball Bounces Back with Rout of Penn State

LINCOLN — Coming off a loss at Iowa earlier in the week, Nebrasketball left no doubt Saturday.

No. 9 Nebraska hammered Penn State at Pinnacle Bank Arena, 87-64. The Huskers improved to 23-4 on the year and 12-4 in the Big Ten Conference, while the Nittany Lions fell to 11-17 and 2-15.

The Game
The Stats
What's Next
Big Ten Standings
The Tournament Picture
Video Analysis
Nebraska Athletics Postgame Notes
Nebraska Men's Basketball 2025-26 Schedule

The Game

Playing without Berke Buyuktuncel in the lineup due to an illness, Braden Frager made just his second start of the season. The talented freshman hit a pair of three-pointers midway through the first half to put Nebraska up by double digits.

But it was the Pryce Sandfort show in the first half. After breaking Cary Cochran's record for single-season made three-pointers by a Husker against Iowa, Sandfort went ballistic against the Nittany Lions. The former Hawkeye had three makes before Frager's pair. He would add two more as Nebraska built a lead to 21 points, before taking an 18-point lead into halftime.

Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Braden Frager shoots a three-point shot against Penn State Nittany Lions guard Freddie Dilione V. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

The Nittany Lions, whose only Big Ten wins are over Minnesota and Washington, never closed the gap in the second half. The Huskers led by as many as 28 points before the 23-point difference at the buzzer.

The Stats

Nebraska shot 51.6% for the game, including 14-of-35 on three pointers. Penn State made 42.1% of its shots, making 4-of-20 from deep.

The Huskers shared the ball well, assisting on 22 of the 32 made shots.

Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Pryce Sandfort shoots a free throw against the Penn State Nittany Lions. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Sandfort's heater ended with a game-high 33 points. He went 8-for-14 on three-pointers, adding nine rebounds.

Sam Hoiberg finished with a double-double of 11 points and 10 assists. He also pulled down five rebounds and had a pair of steals.

In the starting lineup, Frager was second on the team with 15 points. He made 4-of-8 triples and grabbed six boards.

Box score

What's Next

Nebrasketball stays home Wednesday to host Maryland.

The Terrapins are10-16 on the year and 3-12 in the Big Ten Conference. They host Washington this afternoon.

Tip at Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 6 p.m. CST. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Big Ten Standings

After losing three out of five games, Nebraska's spot at the top of the league has slipped a bit, but Saturday's win helps keep the Huskers in contention for a top-four seed and a triple bye in the Big Ten Conference Tournament.

Nebraska is now up to No. 4 in the league, behind Michigan (15-1), Illinois (13-3), and Purdue (12-4). In a battle for that triple bye, Michigan State (11-4) hosts Ohio State (9-6) on Sunday.

Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Leo Curtis drives against Penn State Nittany Lions forward Justin Houser. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Wisconsin isn't out of the picture for jumping up either. The 10-5 Badgers play the 9-6 Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday.

The Huskers will see the Hawkeyes again, in Lincoln on March 8. UCLA, also 9-6 in the league, will host Nebraska on March 3. The other L.A. game is against USC (7-8). Nebraska's other game of the four to close out the regular season is against Maryland (3-12).

The Tournament Picture

The NCAA Tournament selection committee revealed its top 16 at this point in the season earlier on Saturday. Nebraska slotted in as a 3-seed.

The Huskers entered the day at No. 11 in the NET, with records of 5-4 against Quad 1, 7-0 against Quad 2, 4-0 against Quad 3, and 6-0 against Quad 4. As for the metrics, the Huskers were 11th in the Torvik, 11th in the KenPom, and 18th in the BPI.

Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Jared Garcia shoots a free throw against the Penn State Nittany Lions. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Due to the order of the top 16 from the selection committee, Nebraska's first-round site for the NCAA Tournament would be Buffalo, New York. The two closest locations to Lincoln, Oklahoma City and St. Louis, would be occupied by Iowa State, Houston, Illinois, and Kansas.

However, the Huskers need to just take care of business on their end. Earlier on Saturday, before Nebraska and Penn State had reached halftime, unranked Cincinnati finished off an 84-68 win over No. 8 Kansas in Lawrence. That's the largest win by an unranked team at Allen Fieldhouse since 1973 and snaps a 425-game run of not losing by double digits at home to an unranked opponent.

Via ESPN Research: Cincinnati's 16-point win is the largest by an unranked team at Kansas since Iowa State won by 24 at Allen Fieldhouse in 1973.

The loss also snapped Kansas’ 425-game run of not losing by double-digits at home against an unranked opponent. https://t.co/QOJnxtZu7L
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) February 21, 2026

Video Analysis

Jack Mitchell and Kaleb Henry recap the game on the Nebrasketball Hour.

Kaleb Henry delivers four Quick Kernels from the Husker victory.

Nebraska Athletics Postgame Notes

Nebraska won its 23rd game of the season today. The 23 victories tie the 2023-24 squad for the second-most victories in a season in school history.
Nebraska’s 12 Big Ten wins ties for the second-highest number of conference wins in school history. NU also on 12 games in 2023-24 (Big Ten), 1965-66 (Big Eight) and 1915-16 (Missouri Valley). NU can it the school record for most conference wins on Wednesday when the Huskers host Maryland.
Pryce Sandfort finished with a career-high 33 points, topping his previous career high of 32 points at Illinois on Dec. 13. It is the most points by a Husker since Brice Williams had a school-record 43 points at Ohio State last season. The 32 points bettered his previous high of 32 set at Illinois on Dec. 13.
Sandfort tied Nebraska’s single-game record with eight 3-pointers, going 8-of-14 from beyond the arc. He tied Cary Cochran, who had eight 3-pointers against Baylor on Feb. 27, 2002.
Sandfort posted the second 30-point game of his career and 12th 20-point game this season. Sandfort had 20 first-half points, the third time this season he had at least 20 points in a half.
Sam Hoiberg posted his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 10 assists. His 10 assists were a career high, topping his previous career high of seven, accomplished twice.
NU shot 52 percent from the field marking the 10th time this season it has shot 50 percent or better. The Huskers shot 50 percent for the first time in eight games.
The Huskers had 22 assists on its 32 baskets. Today marked NU’s 12th game this season with 20 or more assists.
NU had a 10-0 run in the first half, marking its 27th scoring run of 10-0 or larger this season.
Nebraska made 14 3-pointers against Penn State, the sixth time this season NU has made 14 or more 3-pointers.
Braden Frager made his second start of the season and finished with 15 points, his 15th double-figure effort of the season.
Jared Garcia had seven rebounds, his highest output of the season and tied his season best with three blocked shots (also vs. Oregon).

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 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.