No. 9 Huskers Battle Hawkeyes on Senior Day

The No. 9/9 (AP/Coaches) Nebraska men's basketball team returns to Pinnacle Bank Arena for the final time this season, as the Huskers play host to Iowa on Senior Day. Tipoff is set for shortly after 4 p.m. and the game will be televised on FOX, broadcast on the Huskers Radio Network, as well as on Huskers.com and on the official Huskers app. The game will also be available on the Fox Sports and Fox One apps.

The Huskers (25-5, 14-5 B1G) will honor their five seniors - Kendall Blue, Jared Garcia, Sam Hoiberg, Jamarques Lawrence and Rienk Mast - during pregame ceremonies which will start around 3:40 p.m. This group of seniors has guided the Huskers to one of the best seasons in school history and could etch their names into the record book with a win on Sunday. Lawrence, Mast and Hoiberg were key contributors to Nebraska's 2024 NCAA Tournament team and have played significant roles in helping NU post three straight 20-win seasons for the first time in school history.

Nebraska looks to bounce back from a disappointing 72-52 loss at UCLA late Tuesday to complete a split on the West Coast. Hoiberg's 12 points led three Huskers in double figures, as the Huskers were held to 38 percent shooting in seeing its three-game win streak snapped.

The Huskers enter the final weekend with plenty on the line. NU is tied for third in the Big Ten standings with Illinois entering Saturday's action. A win on Sunday would assure the Huskers of at least a third-place finish and the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament next week. NU could clinch a triple-bye with a loss but would need Wisconsin to win at Purdue on Saturday.

Iowa (20-10, 10-9 B1G) comes off a 71-68 loss to Michigan Thursday night in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes erased a 10-point second-half deficit to pull even at 66-all with less than a minute to go before Michigan escaped with the win. Bennett Stirtz led Iowa with 21 points, four assists and three steals while Cam Manyawu added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Numbers to Know
3 - Pryce Sandfort has three 30-point games this year following his 32-point effort at USC on Feb. 28. The only players with more 30-point games in a season are Dave Hoppen (6, 1984-85), Brice Williams (4, 2024-25), Andre Smith (4, 1979-80), Eric Piatkowski (4, 1993-94) and Tyronn Lue (4, 1997-98). 

317 - Nebraska's 317 3-pointers this season is two shy of the school record of 319 set in 2023-24. NU has hit 10-or-more 3-pointers in 19 games this season. 

53.4 - Nebraska's top four scorers (Rienk Mast, Pryce Sandfort, Braden Frager and Jamarques Lawrence) are combining for 53.4 points per game. None of them were in the Husker lineup last season.

80+ - Nebraska is 52-10 (.839) under Fred Hoiberg when scoring 80 or more points, including a 43-7 mark over the last three-plus seasons. Of those seven losses since the start of the 2022-23 season, four came in overtime.

1,072 - Rienk Mast now has 1,072 career rebounds and is one of only five active players with at least 1,000 career rebounds, Carson Towt (Notre Dame),  Graham Ike (Gonzaga), Izaiyah Nelson (South Florida) and Yaxel Lendeborg (Michigan).

13 - Pryce Sandfort has 13 20-point games on the season, which ties for the third-most by a Husker in the Big Ten era. The only Huskers with more 20-point games in a season in the Big Ten era are Brice Williams (20, 2024-25) and James Palmer (18, 2018-19).

5 - Braden Frager became the fifth Husker since 1996-97 to earn multiple conference rookie/freshman of the week, joining Bryce McGowens (2021-22), Shavon Shields (2012-13), Toney McCray (2008-09) and Joe McCray (2004-05).

1 - According to Stathead, Sam Hoiberg is the only player nationally at 6-0 or under averaging at least five rebounds per game this season. Over the

past six seasons, only two power conference players 6-0 or under have grabbed 5 or more rebounds per game (Braden Smith, 2023-24; RJ Davis, 2022-23).

Worth Noting
• The Huskers are looking to earn their second top-three Big Ten finish in the last three years which would be the first time that has happened for the Huskers in the Big Ten era and first the first time since the early 1990s (1990-91, 3rd; 1992-93, t-2nd).

• A Husker win on Sunday, along with a Michigan State loss to Michigan, would put the Huskers in a tie for second, their best conference finish since the 1992-93 season.

• Pryce Sandfort enters Sunday's Big Ten finale needing just three 3-pointers to tie the Big Ten record for most 3-pointers in conference play. The mark is 80 set by Michigan State's Shawn Respert in 1994-95.

• Rienk Mast will make his 150th career appearance in Sunday's regular-season finale. He is 97-52 (.651) in games he's appeared in during his college career. Mast ranks 13th among all active NCAA players in games played entering this weekend's action.

• Nebraska's 25-5 record marks the first time that Nebraska has won 25 of its first 30 games in a season.

• Nebraska's 25 wins marks just the second time in program history that Nebraska has won 25 or more games in a season (also 1990-91). With a win on Sunday vs. Iowa, Nebraska will match a school record for wins in a season.

• The Huskers now have three straight 20-win seasons for the first time in school history. Nebraska's 25 regular-season wins is already a school mark, bettering the mark of 24 set by the 1990-91 team which entered the Big Eight Conference Tournament with 24 wins.

• Nebraska has 46 wins over the past two seasons. It is the most wins in a two-year stretch in school history. NU won a combined 45 games spanning the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons.

• Nebraska finished 7-3 on the road in Big Ten play in 2025-26. The seven road wins in conference play broke the school record of five, set most recently in 1965-66.  NU is 10-3 away from Pinnacle Bank Arena this season.

• Nebraska’s 14-5 Big Ten record is already the most conference wins in school history. The previous high for conference wins was 13, set in 2017-18, when NU finished with a 13-5 mark.

• Nebraska is 15-2 at home this season and is 54-13 (.806) at Pinnacle Bank Arena over the past four seasons. The regular season finale vs. Iowa on March 8 will be the ninth straight sellout in Big Ten play.

• Nebraska's 20-0 start marked just the third time in the last 30 years a Big Ten team has started 20-0 and the first since Ohio State opened the 2010-11 season with 24 straight wins.

• Nebraska is 12th in the NET rankings released on March 6. The Huskers are one of five Big Ten teams in the top 15 of the NET (No. 2 Michigan, No. 5 Illinois, No. 9 Purdue, No. 11 Michigan State and No. 12 Nebraska).  As of March 6, Nebraska's is 13-5 in the first two quads (7-5 in Q1, 6-0 in Q2).

• Nebraska saw its school-record 24-game win streak snapped on Jan. 27. It nearly doubled the previous mark of 14 set two other times (1912-13 and 1990-91) and was the longest win streak by a Big Ten team since Ohio State won 24 straight to open the 2010-11 season.

• Since the start of the 2023-24 season, NU is 69-30 (.697) while the 69 wins are fifth among Big Ten teams in that span (Purdue-81; Illinois-74; Michigan State-75; Wisconsin-70; Nebraska-69) as of March 6.

Noting the Husker Offense
• Nebraska is averaging 77.7 ppg, which would tie for the 10th highest scoring average in school history. It matches the 2023-24 team which also averaged 77.7 ppg en route to a 23-11 record.

• The Huskers are third in the Big Ten and 21st nationally with 10.6 3-pointers made per game as of March 6. NU is on pace to break the single-season record of 9.54 set in 2001-02. Nebraska is one of three teams on pace to break the Big Ten's single-season mark for 3-pointers per game (10.4 by Penn State in 2022-23).  NU led the Big Ten with 9.4 3-pointers per game in 2023-24, the fifth time a Hoiberg-coached team led the conference in 3-pointers per game.

• Nebraska's 317 3-pointers ranks second in school history, trailing only the school record of 319 set in 2023-24.

• Nebraska has made 10-or-more 3-pointers 19 times this season, including four games with at least 15 (17 vs. Oregon and FIU; 15 vs. Oklahoma and Illinois). The 17 3-pointers was one shy of the school mark of 18 set against Kansas in 2002.

• The seven 3-pointers by Braden Frager and Pryce Sandfort vs. Oregon on Jan. 13 marked the first time in school history that NU has had multiple players hit seven 3-pointers in a game. According to Stathead.com, it was the third Big Ten game since 2010-11 where multiple teammates hit seven or more 3-pointers in a game.

• The Huskers rank sixth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.87-to-1) as of March 6. It is on track to shatter the school mark of 1.81 set in 1984-85. The Big Ten has four of the top 10 teams nationally in that category (Purdue-1st; Northwestern-2nd; Nebraska-6th; UCLA-10th).

• Nebraska enters the Iowa game ranked fourth in the Big Ten and 15th nationally with 18.1 assists per game. It is an increase of 3.9 assists per game from last season. Nebraska's highest assist per game total under Hoiberg is 15.3 per game in 2023-24.

• The Huskers are seventh in the Big Ten and 25th nationally in turnovers per game at 9.7 per contest. The 9.7 turnovers per game is on pace to break the school mark of 9.96 per game set in 2018-19. 

Noting the Husker Defense
• Nebraska has been stout defensively this season, ranking second in the Big Ten and 20th nationally in field goal percentage defense (.400).

• The Huskers are second in the Big Ten and 15th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 65.7 ppg. The 65.7 ppg allowed is 6.9 points per game fewer than last season and on pace to be NU's lowest scoring defense since the 2014-15 season (63.1 ppg).

• Sunday's game with Iowa features the two best scoring defenses in the Big Ten and the only two conference teams ranked in the top 25 nationally.

• The Huskers have held 18 opponents to under 1.00 points per possession and have a 17-1 mark in those games.  Over the last four seasons, NU is 58-4 (.935) when holding foes to under 1.00 PPP and 60-6 when holding opponents to under 70 points.

• Nebraska leads the Big Ten with 7.2 steals per game.

• The Huskers are second in the Big Ten and 23rd nationally in turnover margin at +3.3 per game.  

• Nebraska has improved its KenPom defensive efficiency in each of the past three seasons and are fifth nationally as of March 2. Nebraska's best KenPom rank on defense was 15th nationally in 2008-09. That is the last time Nebraska ranked in the top 20 nationally in defensive efficiency. 

This and That
• The Huskers have excelled in close games this season, going 4-2 in games decided by one possession, including a 3-2 mark in Big Ten play. Last year, NU was 0-6 in games decided by one possession.

• The Huskers posted their third double-digit comeback of the season against Indiana on Jan. 10, overcoming a 16-point second-half deficit (also 16 vs. Oklahoma and 12 vs. USC Upstate). It marked the 12th time under Hoiberg NU has overcome a double-digit deficit, including seven times in the last two seasons. Nebraska nearly erased a 22-point deficit in the overtime loss to No. 13 Purdue on Feb. 10.

NU has 29 double-digit scoring runs this season, which is tied for 13th nationally according to EvanMiya.com as of March 6. It is third among Big Ten teams, trailing only Michigan (35) and Illinois (34). 

• Nine Huskers have posted double-figure efforts this season, while four players have had at least one 20-point performance (Pryce Sandfort-13; Braden Frager-6; Rienk Mast-5; Jamarques Lawrence-3.

• Nebraska completed its non-conference slate with a perfect 11-0 record, marking the first time since the 1928-29 season where NU posted an unblemished non-conference mark (6-0). The Huskers are 31-2 in regular-season non-conference play since the start of the 2023-24 season (10-1 in 2023-24; 10-1 in 2024-25).

UCLA Recap
A cold-shooting night proved costly as No. 9 Nebraska fell at UCLA, 72-52, late Tuesday evening.

The Huskers (25-5, 15-5 Big Ten) shot just 38.8 percent, including 5-of-24 from 3-point range in seeing their three-game win streak snapped. Sam Hoiberg led three Huskers in double figure with 12 points, while Rienk Mast and Cale Jacobsen added 11 points apiece. 
Trent Perry led UCLA (20-10, 12-7 B1G) with 20 points and seven rebounds while Eric Dailey Jr. added 14 points and eight rebounds for the winners. The Bruins shot 46 percent from the field, including 10 3-pointers to improve to 17-1 at home and pick up their third top-10 home win of the season.

In the second half, the Huskers whittled an 18-point deficit to 57-47 with 6:49 remaining after a pair of Mast free throws capped a 5-0 run before a costly possession put the Bruins back in control. On Perry’s jumper, Jamarques Lawrence was called for an off-ball foul under the basket to give UCLA possession, The Bruins took advantage as Tyler Bilodeau’s 3-pointer extended the margin to 62-47 and UCLA was in control the rest of the evening. Notes from the UCLA Game

• Nebraska fell to 25-5 on the season and saw its three-game win streak snapped. All five of Nebraska’s losses are to Quad 1 teams.

• Nebraska finished Big Ten play with a 7-3 road record. The seven wins is a single-season school record for conference road wins.

• UCLA improved to 5-1 all-time against Nebraska in Los Angeles and has won five straight meetings.

• Nebraska’s 52 points and five 3-pointers tied season lows in both areas.

• Cale Jacobsen tied a career-high with 11 points, as he also had 11 vs. Winthrop and USC Upstate.

• Sam Hoiberg led Nebraska with 12 points, the first time this season and second time in his career that he has paced NU in scoring.