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 never trailed again.
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.
Huskers.com
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