Rienk Mast Goes Off for 31 to Help Nebrasketball Fend Off Winthrop

LINCOLN—Looking to stay undefeated early in the season, Nebrasketball had missed shots, missed assignments, and a missing player.

The Huskers also had Rienk Mast.

The Netherlands native scored a game-high 31 points to lead Nebraska to an 80-73 win over Winthrop at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Tuesday. NU improved to 7-0 while WU fell to 3-4.

7️⃣-0️⃣ pic.twitter.com/p7t8k1R5Rm
— Nebraska Men's Basketball (@HuskerMBB) November 26, 2025

Winthrop led 36-32 at the half. At the time, Nebraska was shooting just 32.4% from the field, including 4-of-22 on three pointers.

Mast opened the second half with a pair of triples. The Huskers slowly gained a larger advantage until a 13-5 run by Mast pushed the difference to double figures.

The lead got as tight as three points with under two minutes to play, but buckets from Pryce Sandfort and Cale Jacobsen, four made free throws, and a 2-for-7 effort from the Eagles to close the game ended with the Huskers out in front.

"I think you realize now I had so much anxiety going into this game," Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said after the game. "That’s a veteran team. They play nine seniors. They’ve got grad transfers, they just put you in a really tough situations because of their ability to shoot the ball and they take care of it."

Mast's 31 points are a season high and his most since a 34-point outing against Ohio State two seasons ago. He added five rebounds, four assists, one blocked shot, and one steal to his career-high seven three-pointers made.

Rienk Mast has efforts of 31 points and a triple-double already through seven games this season. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska ended the game shooting 42%, including 13-of-38 on three-pointers. With Mast going 7-for-10, that meant the rest of the team was just 6-of-28 from deep.

Lincoln native Braden Frager got his first start as a Husker. He filled in for Berke Buyuktuncel, who had a boot on his foot and did not play in the game.

Buyuktuncel's offensive presence wasn't missed terribly on the night, with Frager performing admirably. It was on the defensive end that Nebraska showed holes. Winthrop made 13 three-pointers and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, both areas that Buyuktuncel's presence helps with.

"We have to set the tone from a physicality standpoint," Hoiberg said. "I thought (Winthrop) did that to their credit, and then you give up 17 offensive rebounds, get out-rebounded by 10 on your home court. Berke [being out] had something to do with that, you know, there’s no doubt about that.

"He’s our best defensive rebounder. He’s a guy that’s our most versatile defender from an analytics standpoint. He does a lot of really good things on the court that don’t show up in the box score. So, we knew we had our hands full, especially when we found out Berke wouldn’t be able to play tonight."

Frager finished with 11 points, six rebounds, and two steals. Sandfort poured in 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Cale Jacobsen scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench.

Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Cale Jacobsen shoots the ball against Winthrop Eagles guard Kody Clouet during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Nebraska stays home this weekend to host South Carolina Upstate. Saturday's tip from Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 1 p.m. CST. The game will be streamed on B1G+.

Box score

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Nebraska Athletics Postgame Notes

With the win, Nebraska extended its nation-leading win streak to 11 games, dating back to last season. The Huskers’ 11 consecutive victories tie for the sixth-longest win streak in school history and mark the first time since the 2010-11 season that Nebraska has had an 11-game winning streak.
The Huskers also increased their nation-leading streak to 18 consecutive non-conference victories.
Rienk Mast had 31 points for his third career 30-point game and first this season. Mast scored 22 of his game-high 31 points in the second half.
Mast was 7-of-10 from the 3-point line, setting a career high with seven 3-pointers. His seven 3-pointers tied for the most by a Nebraska player at Pinnacle Bank Arena. He tied the mark of Glynn Wattson Jr., who twice hit seven 3-pointers in a game inside PBA.
Mast's seven 3-pointers were the most by a Husker since Kobe Webster had seven at Northwestern on March 7, 2021.
NU had 21 assists in the game, marking the fourth time this season the Huskers have had 20 or more assists in a game this season. Tonight was also the second time this season that Nebraska has had 20 or more assists and five or fewer turnovers in a game.
Nebraska made nine 3-pointers in the second half (9-of-16). That performance marked the fourth time this season the Huskers have made nine or more 3-pointers in a half.
The Huskers scored on 20 of their 33 second-half possessions, averaging 1.46 points per possession in the final 20 minutes to overcome a four-point halftime deficit.
Nebraska turned the ball over on each of its first two possessions of the game, but then had only three turnovers over the game’s final 38:41.
Sam Hoiberg tied his career high with four steals. He also had five assists and only one turnover, giving him an assist-to-turnover ratio of 29-to-5 this season.
Cale Jacobsen finished with a career-high 11 points and tied his career-high with six rebounds.
Freshman Braden Frager made his first career start in tonight’s game and finished with 11 points. Frager is the Husker freshman to start for NU since the 2023 Big Ten Tournament (Jamarques Lawrence)

Nebraska Men's Basketball 2025-26 ScheduleEmpty heading

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 South Carolina Upstate 1 p.m. B1G+
Dec. 7 Creighton 4 p.m. FS1
Dec. 10 Wisconsin 8 p.m. BTN
Dec. 13 Illinois 3 p.m. Peacock
Dec. 21 North Dakota 7 p.m. BTN
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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