With the Nebraska men’s basketball team looking to pick up the first NCAA Tournament win in school history this week, head coach Fred Hoiberg wants his team to hit its opponent in the mouth early.
The No. 4 seeded Huskers face No. 13 seed Troy, champions of the Sun Belt conference, on Thursday in Oklahoma City.
It’s been heavily reported that NU is the last remaining power conference school without a single NCAA Tournament win. Hoiberg said he won’t have to remind his team of that fact, noting the players have had success because of their ability to focus on the present.
“Our guys have done a lot of really good things this year, some things that have never been done in the history of the program,” Hoiberg said. “A lot of that has been done because our guys have really had great focus, and they haven’t gotten too far ahead of themselves, and all they worried about is the next assignment.”
As for the Troy Trojans, he said it’s a winning program.
“Listen, it’s a team that’s won 20 games five straight years, so they’ve got a winning culture, and we’re going to have to be on point,” Hoiberg said. “It’s important for us to go down there and get our crowd into it. I think we’re going to have a really good crowd in Oklahoma City, and it’s our job to get them into it.”
The coach added that the Trojans played Kentucky close in the first round of last year’s tournament before the Wildcats pulled away late.
NU starters and seniors Sam Hoiberg, Jamarques Lawrence and Rienk Mast all played on the 2024 NCAA Tournament team that lost to Texas A&M in the first round. Coach Hoiberg said that experience will be helpful.
Sam Hoiberg said this team can’t control the eight previous Nebraska NCAA Tournament teams that all lost. He deleted social media to block out the outside noise. The senior guard also acknowledged the team has talked about the school’s history with tournament games.
For the seniors, this “is our last chance to get this tourney win for our program,” Hoiberg added. “So we’re going to do everything in our power to prepare the best that we possibly can, and I think we’re just bringing that urgency in, trying to spread that to the rest of the team.”
The Huskers face Troy at 11:40 a.m. CT on Thursday. Tru TV will televise the first round game, with streaming access available via the March Madness Live app.
The winner of that game will hit the court with the No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 McNeese winner on Saturday. Time and television assignments for the second round have yet to be announced.