Nebraska basketball thumps Oregon 90-55 thanks to monster 3-point shooting night
Nebraska basketball (17-0, 6-0) routed Oregon 90-55 on Tuesday to keep its undefeated season rolling. The Huskers pulled away late in the first half and never took their foot off the gas.
Pryce Sandfort led the way with a monster shooting night. He drilled seven 3-pointers and finished with 28 points. Braden Frager wasn’t far behind, with a 7-of-11 clip from deep and a career-high 23 points.
The Huskers shot 53% from the field and 47% from deep in the victory. They forced 16 turnovers, six of which came on Sam Hoiberg steals, and scored 23 points off of them.
Here is an instant recap of the victory:
Huskers pull away
Nebraska got off to a sluggish start in its return to PBA. The Huskers began the night 1-of-5 from the field and 0-for-3 from deep, but Rienk Mast knocked down a wide-open 3-pointer to spark the offense.
Out of the under-16 timeout, Nate Bittle drilled a 3-pointer off a mismatch, but Sandfort immediately answered with one of his own in transition. Frager gave Nebraska the lead shortly after with a second-chance 3-pointer that brought PBA to its feet. That foreshadowed a huge night for the sharp-shooting duo.
Both sides traded buckets as Nebraska continued to heave triples. They began 4-of-13 from deep, but Oregon turnovers and second-chance Husker points made the difference. The Ducks gave it away nine times and had no offensive rebounds in the first half.
Oregon shot at an impressive rate, reaching as high as a 69% clip, but could not pull away. Nebraska’s defense forced mistakes all over the court and nabbed five steals.
Bittle hit another from deep to cap off a 5-0 Oregon run, but Frager answered once again. He kept the Huskers around while the rest of the team went cold from behind the arc.
A Hoiberg steal turned into a Jamarques Lawrence and-one at the other end. Three scoreless minutes for the Ducks resulted in a 6-0 Nebraska run that gave them a 23-19 lead at the under-eight timeout. Oregon came out of the break on fire, however, forcing a three-minute Nebraska scoring drought of its own. The game was tied 23-23 with seven minutes left in the half.
Enter Pryce Sandfort. The junior guard scored eight straight points for Nebraska and was the only Husker to score over six minutes of game time. He finished the half with four 3-pointers and a team-leading 14 points.
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Oregon matched Sandfort at the other end, but when Frager decided to get in on the fun, it was too much to handle. A 14-2 Husker run followed. The redshirt freshman knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers, helping Nebraska head into the locker room with a 42-30 lead.
Despite a slow start, the Huskers shot 45% from deep in the first half. They launched 10 more triples than Oregon did.
Full steam ahead
Nebraska’s offense kept its foot on the gas in the second half. Hoiberg’s sixth steal led to another Sandfort 3-pointer in transition. Oregon was forced to call a timeout less than two minutes into the half. Nebraska extended its lead to 47-30 with 18:47 left.
Mast fouled Wei Lin on a 3-point attempt, bringing a 19-2 Husker run to an end. Sandfort and Frager didn’t seem to notice. The former knocked down three free throws himself before Frager threw down an emphatic dunk over an Oregon defender. Nebraska extended its lead to 52-33 with 15:51 remaining.
Both sides traded baskets before Hoiberg added a 3-pointer of his own. He kept the hot hand, driving to the rim and pushing his total to 11. Sandfort followed with his sixth 3-pointer to give Nebraska its largest lead of the night at 23.
Cale Jacobsen found lightning in a bottle, scoring 11 points over a two-minute stretch, while Sandfort dropped his seventh from behind the arc.
Frager, refusing to be outdone, hit three more 3-pointers down the stretch to bring his total to seven as well. The Huskers took a 30-point lead and refused to let Oregon creep back in. Nebraska kept its magical season rolling with a 90-55 victory.
