With NCAA Tournament Hopes on the Line, Nebraska Men's Basketball's Comeback Falls Short Against Minnesota

For the second time this week, Nebraska men's basketball had a chance to win in the closing seconds. For the second time, the Huskers came up just short.

Minnesota dominated Nebraska for much of the game Saturday afternoon, holding on late to beat NU 67-65 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Huskers fall to17-12 on the year and 7-11 in the Big Ten Conference while the Gophers improve to 15-14 overall and 7-11 in the league.

Cornhuskers head coach Fred Hoiberg watches action against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half. — Mar 1, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Fred Hoiberg watches action against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

The Gophers took control of the game midway through the first half. Minnesota used a 16-2 run to buld a double-digit lead. Nebraska closed well, though, to trail by just nine points at halftime.

Out of the break, it was all Minnesota. The Gophers tore off on a 12-2 run to take the lead to 19 points. From there, Nebraska bagan to claw back.

The Huskers rolled with a 25-6 run to take the lead with 6:28 to play. The score would stay close the rest of the way, including in the final minute.

Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Connor Essegian (0) scores on a three-point shot against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. — Mar 1, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Connor Essegian (0) scores on a three-point shot against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

With 28 seconds to go, Brice Williams scored to cut the deficit to one point. Minnesota was then called for a 10-second violation, giving the Huskers the ball with a chance to take the lead. They did just that, with Juwan Gary scoring on an offensive rebound.

Then a wild sequence began.

With neither team having any remaining timeouts, Minnesota pushed the ball up the floor to Brennen Rigsby who had a good look from the right wing. The shot went in to put the Gophers up by two points with four seconds to play.

The ball was inbounded to Sam Hoiberg who pushed the ball cross-court, seemingly to Gary, but Andrew Morgan caught the ball instead and took the last-second shot from deep. The shot did not find the mark.

Mar 1, 2025; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Andrew Morgan (23) defends a shot attempt from Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Brennan Rigsby (24) during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena. | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

The Huskers shot 43.9% for the game, including 4-of-16 on 3s. The Gophers made 50.9% of their shots, including 10-of-21 from deep.

Gary and Williams tied for the game-high with 21 points each.

Nebraska goes on the road Tuesday to face Ohio State. Tip from Columbus is set for 8 p.m. CST. The game will be streamed on Peacock.

Box score

Nebraska Athletics Notes

Brice Williams and Juwan Gary each scored 21 points for Nebraska. Today marked the sixth game this season where NU had multiple players score 20-or-more points and the fifth time with both Williams and Gary hitting that plateau.
Juwan Gary’s 21-point effort marked his sixth 20-point effort of the season and ninth of his career.
Brice Williams had his 16th 20-point game of the season and his eighth in the past nine games dating back to Jan. 30. He has been in double figures in 27 of NU’s 29 games.
The Huskers committed only six turnovers, tying their season low in that category.
Connor Essegian added 11 points off the bench, his 13th double-figure game off the bench this season.
Rollie Worster notched his 500th career assist, making him the first Husker basketball player to total 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists.
Nebraska had eight steals in the game, marking the seventh Big Ten game this season the Huskers have had eight or more steals. The Huskers scored 19 points off turnovers.
Nebraska held Dawson Garcia to just nine points, the fifth time he has not reached double figures this season.
Minnesota got 31 points from its bench, including a team-high 20 points from Brennan Rigsby, who had just 30 points and four 3-points in 14 Big Ten games prior to Saturday.
Minnesota won in Lincoln for the first time since 2012 with Saturday’s win.

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