Oregon's Altman on 90-55 Loss to No. 8 Nebraska: 'We Got Our Ass Kicked'

Oregon coach Dana Altman knows quite a bit about Nebraska basketball.

In 17 total meetings against the Huskers during his time at Creighton, Altman’s Bluejays won 10 of them. After making the jump to Oregon, his Ducks have been 2-0 against NU…until Tuesday night.

Nebraska earned an emphatic 90-55 win over Oregon.

Duck and cover. pic.twitter.com/pyITOj4D01
— Nebraska Men's Basketball (@HuskerMBB) January 14, 2026

“We got our ass kicked and they played harder than we did,” Altman said matter-of-factly during his postgame press conference. “They outrebounded us, outfought us at every turn. (I’m) very disappointed in my ball team. We’ve got a tough stretch coming up with Michigan State. It’s not going to get any easier for us.”

You might not know it by the final score, but No. 8 Nebraska and Oregon actually traded baskets for much of the first half. With just a few minutes left, the game was all knotted up at 28. However, that’s when Nebraska stopped playing with its food.

In the matter of those few minutes of game time, NU opened up a 12-point lead at the half and never looked back in the 35-point rout of the Ducks.

Oregon coach Dana Altman said Nebraska beat his team in every facet of Tuesday night's game. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

“It’s an embarrassment for a program that’s been to five Sweet 16s, a couple Elite 8s and a Final Four to have a performance like that,” Altman said. “I’m embarrassed for our program. I’m sure our fans are going to have a lot to say about that one.”

The emphasis for the Huskers heading into Tuesday was to limit Oregon’s ability on the glass. The Ducks came to Lincoln ranked just outside the top-25 in offensive rebounding with more than 13 per game. At the half, Oregon hadn’t recorded an offensive board yet.

“For this particular game, we had to rebound,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said in his postgame press conference. “We had to bring our hard hat. We had to bring our lunch pail. We had to go out and compete with this team on the glass. That’s what they do, and that’s the reason I’m sure Dana started that lineup was to beat us up a little bit out there. I thought our guys responded.”

“Responded” may be an understatement.

Nebraska's Pryce Sandfort pulls in one of his four rebounds during NU's 90-55 rout of Oregon. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Not only did the Huskers completely shut down Oregon on the offensive glass in the first half, but it was a complete masterclass in rebounding by NU. They out-boarded the Ducks 8-7 on the offensive glass, which is saying something considering Nebraska shot a blistering 53.3% from the field. Frankly, there aren’t a lot of offensive rebounds to go around when more than half of the shots you’re putting up are going in.

NU did more damage on the defensive boards, outrebounding Oregon 26-22. It’s safe to say for yet another game this season, the 17-0 Huskers followed the game plan to a “T.”

“We talked about making the first contact on the block outs,” Hoiberg said. “You have to find a way to neutralize the length and athleticism. If you don’t, it’s going to be a long night. The other thing about it, if you take care of it early, you know they don’t go as hard a lot of times. For our guys to do a good job early in that game of establishing the boards was as key as anything.”

Oregon proved more than competitive early against Nebraska, as the game was tied at 28 with 3:30 to go in the first half. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

With 3:30 left in the first half, Nebraska hadn’t broken Oregon’s will just yet. The game was tied at 28, and Nebraska was still trying to find its footing. However, one of Pryce Sandfort’s seven 3-pointers broke that tie and the Huskers never looked back. Sandfort finished with a game-high 28-points in the win, marking his sixth 20-point game this season and second in Big Ten Conference play.

“We started to be more physical defensively, and we were looking to get buckets in transition,” Sandfort said of Nebraska flipping the switch late in the first half. “We were getting the ball up the court quick and thought our offensive flow really started to get into a groove. At halftime, I think they had zero offensive rebounds, so a great job in the first half – coming out and executing the game plan.”

Believe it or not, Sandfort wasn’t the only Husker who tallied seven 3-pointers in the win. So did redshirt freshman Braden Frager, who continued his season-long coming-out party Tuesday night. Frager ended up with 23 points on a night where he admitted the hoop looked like an ocean.

Nebraska pulled away from Oregon thanks to its ability to get up and down the floor quickly in transition. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

“We kind of knew we could attack that, and we were getting easy open looks in transition, so we just kept attacking that,” Frager said. “Jamarques (Lawrence) obviously was the head of that, bringing it up with pace, and it just opened up a lot of things when we ran up the court.”

“He was fighting his shot a little bit, and when he’s in practice, the rhythm that he shoots it with, he’s just been a little hesitant,” Hoiberg said when talking about Frager’s progression this season. “It was just great to see him rise up. I need him to be a great catch-and-shoot player, and he was that (Tuesday night). I’m really happy for him.”

Tuesday night also served as the first time the team got to play as a Top-10 team in front of its student fanbase, which is officially back for the second semester in Lincoln. It led to a mid-week sellout of Pinnacle Bank Arena with a recorded attendance of 15,163.

While Hoiberg has spent much of the season keeping his players on task, the rout allowed them to look up just long enough to soak in the energetic crowd on Tuesday.

The Nebraska football team is used to sellout crowds, but now the Husker men's basketball team is enjoying packed houses. — The Nebraska football team is used to sellout crowds, but now the Husker men's basketball team is enjoying packed houses, including a Tuesday night sellout for the Oregon game. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

“If I’m not mistaken, we’re pretty much sold out the rest of the year,” Hoiberg said. “I think there might be a few tickets left for one or two of the games, but our guys deserve it, and we appreciate the support more than I think anybody realizes. It makes a huge difference for us. If we’re going through a lull, we need them to help pick us up at times.”

No pick-me-up was necessary Tuesday for a Husker basketball team that is now shifting its focus to a road test at Northwestern on Saturday. The Wildcats are in their own tough stretch as they take on 13th-ranked Illinois Wednesday night, No. 8 Nebraska on Saturday, then a road trip out west to take on currently 14-3 USC.

Loyal Husker fans might also remember that Northwestern was one of just two Power Four conference teams to have never won an NCAA Tournament game in men’s college basketball. That changed in 2017, when the Wildcats knocked off Vanderbilt in the opening round of the tourney.

Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg is trying to become the first coach to lead the NU men's basketball team to its first-ever NCAA Tournament win. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

For the last nine years, it’s been just Nebraska on the lonely list of winless Power Four teams when it comes to the tournament. As mentioned earlier, Dana Altman knows all too well about Nebraska’s struggles through the years.

After his team’s blowout loss to NU Tuesday night, you can add him to the list of believers that this year may be “the year.”

“I hate to jinx them, but I think they’re going to get the monkey off their back,” Altman said of Nebraska. “It’s hard to tell from our performance tonight, but I think they’re going to be really good.”

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.