No. 7 Nebraska keeps perfect season alive by defeating Washington 76-66
No. 7 Nebraska basketball (19-0, 8-0) kept its miraculous undefeated season going by taking down Washington (10-9, 2-6) in front of a sold-out Pinnacle Bank Arena.
NU faced early adversity after redshirt freshman Braden Frager went down with a left ankle injury only four minutes into the first half and never returned. He appeared in the second half on the bench in a walking boot. However, the Huskers’ 3-point firepower (11-of-29) propelled them to a 76-66 victory.
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Here’s an instant recap from the Big Red’s win…
Shots falling early keep Huskers ahead
Nebraska’s 5-of-10 start from beyond the arc fueled a 32-19 lead nearly 14 minutes into the first half. Pryce Sandfort led the way, knocking down three first-half triples, including NU’s first basket from the FNBO logo. The 6-foot-7 junior paced the Huskers with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting before the break.
Center Rienk Mast and guard Sam Hoiberg also provided an offensive spark, combining for 16 first-half points.
Washington opened the game efficiently, making eight of its first 15 shots from the field. Huskie guard Zoom Diallo was 5-of-7 to post 12 points. Yet Nebraska’s defense tightened late in the half as it forced the Huskies to miss their final five field-goal attempts.
Nebraska also held Washington’s leading scorer, Hannes Steinbach, to just four points in the first half. While the Huskies found success inside off of six offensive rebounds that contributed to 20 points in the paint, NU’s efficient shooting proved decisive. The Huskers went 15-of-29 (51.7%) from the field in the first 20 minutes to carry a 41-28 lead into the locker room.
Nebraska maintains control
After missing its first three shots to start the second half, the Huskers found their rhythm as Hoiberg splashed a 3-pointer to give Nebraska its first score of the second half. From there, NU rejuvenated its offensive juice by making seven of its next 11, three of which were beyond the arc, to build a 61-44 lead at 10:37.
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Sandfort drained another three and went 4-of-5 overall in the final 20 minutes to finish with a team-high 23 points. Jamarques Lawrence delivered two from deep himself to account for 11 points, along with four assists.
Hoiberg had himself another stellar showing. The 6-foot senior finished going 6-of-9 (66%) to finish with 14 points. But most impressively, Hoiberg tied forward Berke Buyuktuncel for a team-high seven rebounds. Mast also had 12 points as NU had four players score double digits.
Steinbach woke up in the second half by scoring 17 to post 21 points, and the Huskies added another four offensive rebounds to finish with 10 total. It helped them score 40 points in the paint. However, the Huskers never took their foot off the gas offensively, finishing 28-of-55 (50.9%) from the field.
With Frager unavailable, forward Jared Garcia also gave the Big Red quality minutes in the second half. The 6-foot-8 senior had three rebounds in the final 20 minutes and finished with five total points.
Nebraska now looks to reach 20-0 when it travels to Minnesota (10-9, 3-5) on Saturday for an 11 a.m. CT tip. It can be seen on FS1.
