Story by NU Athletic Communications
HOUSTON - The Nebraska men's basketball team's historic season and NCAA Tournament run came to an end on Thursday night as No. 9 seed Iowa defeated No. 4 seed Nebraska, 77-71, in the NCAA Sweet 16 at the Toyota Center.
The Huskers finished the season 28-7, a school record for season wins. Nebraska achieved its first-ever NCAA Tournament win and first Sweet 16 appearance in program history.
Iowa (24-12) advanced to the Elite Eight where it will face the winner of second-seeded Houston and third-seeded Illinois on Saturday.
Nebraska led for 32 minutes in the game. Iowa took its first lead with 2:10 remaining and
Pryce Sandfort scored 25 points, connecting on 6-of-10 from 3-point range. Braden Frager had 16 points, hitting 5-of-8 from deep. Rienk Mast and Jamarques Lawrence each had nine points, while Sam Hoiberg had six points and six assists.
NU shot 41.4 percent from the field (24-of-58) and 34.2 percent from 3-point range (13-of-38). Iowa hit 51.9 percent overall (27-of-52) and 43.3 percent from beyond the arc (13-of-30). Bennett Stirtz had 20 points to lead the Hawkeyes.
Nebraska outrebounded Iowa 35-26 but had 10 turnovers to just five for Iowa. The Hawkeyes converted that into a 20-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
Nebraska got off to a hot start with threes by Lawrence and Sandfort, a three-point play by Mast, and another three by Sandfort to go up 12-2 at the 16:54 mark. Berke Buyuktuncel had two offensive boards that led to both Sandfort triples.
Iowa cut the lead to 16-14 with a 7-0 run before Frager stopped it with a corner three. After Tate Sage answered with a three for Iowa, Frager connected from deep on back-to-back possessions for a 25-17 lead with 11:57 left in the first half.
Cale Jacobsen scored four points for the Big Red and Sandfort drained three free throws for a 32-23 lead with 9:31 to play.
Iowa pulled within 34-28 before Hoiberg converted consecutive driving layups to put NU back up by 10. But a dunk by Alvaro Folgueiras, a three from Bennett Stirtz and a three by Cooper Koch pulled Iowa within two,
40-38.
Lawrence knocked down three free throws and then sank a 3-pointer to make it 46-38. But Folgueiras scored in the paint and Sage hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to trim the Huskers' lead to 46-43 at the break.
Iowa evened the game up at 50-50 by the first media timeout of the second half. Sandfort and Koch traded threes, then Frager hit one with the shot clock winding down to make it 56-53 NU. Sandfort scored in the paint for a 58-53 advantage at the 12:38 mark, but Iowa cut it to 58-57 after two straight layups.
A three by Sandfort put NU up 62-57 with 9:02 to play, but Koch drained a three to tie the game at 62-62. Sandfort answered with a three of his own, but Folgueiras hit for Iowa to keep the score deadlocked at 65-65 with 5:03 remaining.
Stirtz hit a 3-pointer with 2:10 to go for Iowa's first lead of the game, 68-65. After the Huskers misfired, Sage hit a three from the corner to make it 71-65. Frager made a 3-pointer from the corner after an offensive rebound to cut it to 71-68 with 58.4 seconds left. But after a timeout, Iowa threw a length of the court pass and got a dunk and free throw by Folgueiras to go up 74-68 and went on to win 77-71.
Post-Game Notes
Nebraska ends its season with a 28-7 record, finishing with a school-record 28 wins, including the first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in program history.
NU falls to 2-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, as the Huskers made their second appearance in the last three seasons.
Nebraska falls to 16-29 all-time against Iowa, as tonight’s game was the first neutral site matchup between the schools.
The Huskers hit 13 3-pointers, finishing the season with a school-record 373 3-pointers. Tonight marked the 23rd time this season Nebraska made 10 or more 3-pointers.
Nebraska made 24 shots in the game. The Huskers finish the season with 957 field goals, the third-most in school history and the most since the 1995-96 season.
NU totaled 19 assists tonight, increasing its season total to 631. It is the second-highest assist total in school history and the most since a school-record 696 assists in 1990-91.
The Huskers finished the season averaging 9.71 turnovers, the lowest average in school history.
Nebraska finished with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.86, breaking the school record of 1.81 set in 1984-85.
Iowa shot 52 percent in the game, as the Hawkeyes were just the second opponent this season to shoot 50 percent against the Huskers (also Oklahoma on Nov. 15).
Pryce Sandfort posted his 31 double-figure game of the season with 25 points. Sandfort’s 25-point game marked his 16th 20-point game of the season and 17th of his career.
Sandfort’s six 3-pointers upped his school-record total to 129 and was the 12th time this season he has had at least five 3-pointers in a game.
Braden Frager scored 16 points. He reached double figures for the 20th time this season, including the 18th time off the bench.
With his 16 points tonight, Frager also moved into fourth place on NU’s all-time freshman scoring list with 391 points, passing Jerry Fort, who had 376 points in 1972-73
With five 3-pointers, Frager finished the year with 57 3-pointers. He finished in sole possession of second place on NU’s all-time freshman list, moving past CJ Wilcher, who had 52 threes in 2021-22.
With six assists tonight, Sam Hoiberg moved passed Tyronn Lue (152, 1997-98) for eighth place on Nebraska’s single-season list. Hoiberg finished the season with 157 assists.
Hoiberg moved into a tie for 10th on Nebraska’s career games played list with 125, tying Brandon Ubel (2009-10 to 2012-13).