Why This Might Be Fred Hoiberg’s Most Unselfish Team

When asked to describe his team in one word, Fred Hoiberg said "unselfish." It turns out the stat sheets agree with him.

Fred Hoiberg has Nebraska off to a record 12-0 start this season, and he is giving all the credit to unselfish play. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

When Rienk Mast returned from knee surgery for his senior season, it was pretty well understood that head coach Fred Hoiberg planned to run the offense through the Dutchman.

The last time Mast suited up for the Huskers was the 2023-24 season, where he was one of several star players that included Keisei Tominaga, Brice Williams and Juwan Gary. Mast was the third leading scorer on the team, averaging 12.3 points across 32 games. Even more surprisingly, the team only had three seniors, indicating quite a bright future.

As fans will remember, that team made it to the NCAA Tournament before yet another first-round exit for the only power-four conference team to not win a tourney game in program history.

Rienk Mast sat out the 2024-25 season after off-season knee surgery. | Amarillo Mullen

Fast forward to this season, and the Husker men’s basketball team has an entirely different makeup. Instead of three seniors on a 17-man roster, there are seven seniors on a 16-man squad. For even more perspective, only three other players from this year’s roster contributed to that 2023-24 version of the Huskers.

Sam Hoiberg, Jamarques Lawrence and Cale Jacobsen combined to average 11 points per game two years ago. Those same three players now average 22.4 points per game, along with Mast’s team-leading 17 points per game. The reason we just took that deep dive into the numbers is to provide backing for the statements provided by both coaches and players over the past few weeks.

This may be the most unselfish Nebraska team we’ve seen under head coach Fred Hoiberg.

Rienk Mast celebrates a 3-pointer made by fellow senior Sam Hoiberg in NU's win over Creighton. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

“We come in the locker room every game, (and) we talk about being the hardest working, most connected team on the floor,” Fred Hoiberg said after his team’s 83-80 win over then-No. 13 Illinois. “For the most part, I think our guys have accomplished that.”

For weeks now, we’ve seen the 12-0 Huskers look great, but they’ve also had stretches that have made Pinnacle Bank Arena awfully quiet. To explain both scenarios, Hoiberg has leaned into one recurring theme – movement.

On multiple occasions, Hoiberg has talked about his team not only moving fast, but also getting deflections due to aggressive defensive play. When the team’s doing well, they’re flying around. When they’re not…they’re not. That was very evident in the team’s lackluster first half against North Dakota this past Sunday.

North Dakota more than held its own against Nebraska in the first half Sunday. NU eventually pulled away for a 78-55 win. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

“We weren’t ourselves the first half,” redshirt freshman Braden Frager said after Nebraska’s 78-55 win over North Dakota – a game where NU trailed by two at the half. “(Coach Hoiberg) didn’t scream at us, didn’t need to get us, he just said be yourselves and we came out ourselves in the second half.”

And you guessed it – the Huskers started “moving.”

“We started moving, and that helped,” Hoiberg said after the North Dakota win. “I give North Dakota a lot of credit for their game plan. They put a smaller guy, had him get up underneath Rienk, and I thought we just stood around and ball faked, and that thing never got shifted side-to-side.”

What’s underneath the constant remarks about “moving” is Nebraska’s innate ability to not care who scores. As NU fans saw two years ago, the top-four scorers are once again accounting for around 65% of the team’s scoring, but on any given night, the “star” can change.

Following a sluggish first half, ball movement and aggressive defense led to a comfortable NU win over North Dakota. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

You might remember this storyline from another Nebraska team that went undefeated all season long until they met their very unexpected end in the NCAA Tournament. It might be far-fetched to expect the Nebraska men to pull off an undefeated regular season, but unselfish play is still serving as a recipe for success.

In fact, Nebraska’s quick pass game has led to more than 60% of the team’s field goals.

“It’s just the way these guys are built,” Hoiberg said. “It’s having Rienk on the floor. He was our leading assist guy two years ago. Our guys – they’re figuring out the nuances within the offense. It took us a little while to get there, but when they cut, when they move, when we play with pace, when we play to the next action – that’s where I thought our offense (is) really good.”

Currently, Nebraska is averaging nearly six more points per game than the tourney team from 2023-24. Mast is leading the way with 17 points per game, but transfer Pryce Sandfort and Frager have been the two diamonds in the rough, along with Sam Hoiberg and Lawrence, who have helped Nebraska shoot out to its perfect 12-0 record.

Iowa transfer Pryce Sandfort has lived up to the billing, nearly leading Nebraska in scoring through 12 games. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Sandfort, who’s averaging 16.3 points per game this season, came to Lincoln after playing his first two seasons for border rival Iowa. Last season, he averaged just shy of nine points per game on nearly 49% shooting. He was incredibly effective with his opportunities in Iowa City, and the same can be said about his first 12 games as a Husker.

He also said those opportunities are only coming because he’s now on a team that’s more than willing to share the wealth.

“I think that’s been our main reason for success,” Sandfort said after the team’s win over Illinois. “There’s a ton of things that go into it, but the unselfishness of this team is truly special. You can see everybody on the court cheering each other. Everybody wants to see each other succeed, and I feel like that’s pretty rare at this level, honestly, so it’s been great playing with it, and I think that’s what’s really gotten us out to such a great start.”

Tom Izzo will be bringing another strong Michigan State team to Lincoln in early January. | Dale Young-Imagn Images

That great start will be challenged fairly quickly following the holiday break. The Huskers will get their feet back underneath them with a home contest against New Hampshire, but then it’s back to put-up-or-shut-up basketball with Michigan State coming to town.

The Spartans are 11-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming to Duke on December 6. Around that one loss, MSU has wins over Kentucky, North Carolina and Arkansas, so a road trip to Lincoln in early January won’t exactly be a daunting task for Tom Izzo and company.

For Fred Hoiberg, the perfect 12-0 start to the year and the No. 13 national ranking over Christmas mean nothing if they come out flat with a heavy Big Ten Conference slate ahead.

“We signed up for a marathon, and we just finished a 10K,” Hoiberg said. “If we’re satisfied now, we’ve got no chance. We’re going to keep grinding them, keep going out there looking for way to improve because we’re going to have to if we want to continue on this path. We’re going to have to become a better team all across the board.”

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