No. 13 Nebraska men’s basketball (14-0, 3-0) closed out a dog fight with a win over No. 9 Michigan State (12-2, 2-1), 58-56, Friday, Jan. 2.
“It was the loudest game I have ever played here,” Jamarques Lawrence said. “The fans here are amazing, the atmosphere, I am just blessed to be a part of this journey.”
An electric home crowd helped the Husker defense all night, as Nebraska forced the Spartans into 19 turnovers, eight more than their season average.
“If we were nobody, they wouldn’t have stormed the court,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “This is kind of a new experience, it’s the beauty of what you do when you build a program, I was telling myself, ‘Great’.”
In one of the most anticipated games on the regular-season slate, a sold-out crowd inside Pinnacle Bank Arena witnessed the first top-15 men’s basketball matchup in the building’s history.
“I am proud of our guys, we found a way to win an ugly one tonight,” Fred Hoiberg said. “We can certainly learn from this. It’s always better to learn when you’re in the left column.”
The best start in school history continues to get better, now at 14-0 this season. The Huskers have won 18 games in a row, the longest active streak in NCAA Division I.
Mast’s three-ball sparks momentum
Rienk Mast led the way for Big Red. The veteran’s 19 points, with 15 of them coming in the first half, helped propel Nebraska’s offense against the Spartans.
With the team needing someone to step up offensively, Mast filled those shoes at the perfect time. When the Spartans led 16-14, Mast knocked down a three to give the Huskers their first lead in nearly six minutes.
One was all he needed. From that point on, he continued to make shot after shot, forcing Izzo to call a timeout.
At the end of the half, Mast finished 5-for-7 from the 3-point line, responsible for nearly half of the team’s 33 points.
It took him 17 and a half minutes into the second half to score again. Mast did it with a 3-pointer from the right wing when the game was knotted up at 55 apiece to take a late lead.
“I had good confidence going into this game,” Mast said. “When Pryce got in foul trouble, I knew they were going to be more of a load for me.”
Sandfort overcomes adversity
Scoring started slowly for both teams, with neither team finding its sweet spot from the floor in the opening four minutes. They shot a combined 2-for-13 from the field in that span, with one of them being a 3-pointer from junior forward Pryce Sandfort.
After picking up two fouls early on, head coach Fred Hoiberg decided to pull him for the majority of the half, as Sandfort only tallied six minutes and shot 2-for-4 from the field.
By the time he was put back in the game in the second, he instantly positively impacted the game, knocking down a contested three from distance.
At 41-38, with just over 11 minutes to go in the game, senior guard Sam Hoiberg sprinted down the floor and found Sandfort in the corner for the easy triple.
Despite fouling out toward the end, Sandfort accumulated 13 points in 21 minutes, with three 3-pointers.
Sam Hoiberg’s effect outside the box score
The way Sam Hoiberg views the court is truly something to watch each time the Huskers take the floor.
“There’s not a kid in the Big Ten or NCAA basketball that plays harder than that kid,” Izzo said. “He plays 28 minutes, he guards people, motivates; I love Sam.”
On Friday night, Sam was everywhere, leading his defense to execute from all spots. Just before the under-eight media timeout, the Spartans committed eight turnovers, as they looked all out of sorts.
In most games, you may not see a high-point performance in the box score from Sam. However, what he provides to this team is one of the primary reasons they have the record they do.
To start the second half, Sam found himself in a tricky situation, as he racked up three fouls with 15 minutes to go. He was charged with defensive fouls on consecutive possessions.
Halfway through the second half, he helped force a seven-minute field goal drought for the Spartans, which was flipped into offense on the other end for a 10-0 run for the Huskers.
Looking Ahead
“It’s a huge win for our program, I am not going to discount that,” Fred Hoiberg said. “But, we have to get past it and move on to Ohio State.”
On Jan. 5, Nebraska will hit the road to continue conference play in Columbus, to take on Ohio State at 5:30 p.m. CST.
“This isn’t a fluke, this isn’t just a hot streak,” Mast said. “We’ve got to keep proving people wrong.”
Eli Rodriguez is a men’s basketball beat writer at The Daily Nebraskan. Follow him on X at @efrodriguez23.