Huskers Battle Wildcats in Hall of Fame Title Tilt
The Nebraska men's basketball team looks for a tournament title, as the Huskers will face Kansas State in the title game of the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City. Tipoff between the Huskers and Wildcats at the T-Mobile Center is set for 8:30 p.m. and the game will be carried online at Peacock and carried on the Huskers Radio Network, as well as Huskers.com and on the Huskers app. Tickets for Friday's game are available at t-mobilecenter.com.
Nebraska is in the Hall of Fame Classic title game for the second time and first since 2018, as the Huskers look to become the first Big Ten team to win the event since Maryland in 2014.
The Huskers (5-0) reached the title game with an 84-72 win over New Mexico Thursday evening. Jamarques Lawrence had a career-high 21 points, while Braden Frager added 20 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
The Huskers, who never trailed, jumped out to a 22-5 lead and withstood a second-half rally from New Mexico before pulling away down the stretch. Nebraska hit 13 3-pointers, including four each from Lawrence and Frager. With his 21-point night, Lawrence became the fourth different Husker to post a 20-point game this season.
Kansas State (5-0) advanced to Friday's matchup with a 98-77 win over Mississippi State in the nightcap. PJ Haggerty led the Wildcats with 37 points, seven rebounds and eight assists to pace three KSU players in double figures. The Wildcats pulled away by shooting 57 percent, including 8-of-15 from 3-point range, in the second half.
Friday's title game features a pair of high-scoring offenses, as Nebraska averages 88.0 ppg and have four players averaging double figures, led by Pryce Sandfort (15.6 ppg) and Rienk Mast (15.4 ppg). KSU averages 94.4 ppg and has five players in double figures led by PJ Haggerty's 28.2 ppg.
The two long-time conference rivals will meet for the 224th time Friday night as K-State leads the all-time series, 129-94 in a series that dates back to 1906. Nebraska won the most recent meeting, 62-46, in Manhattan on Dec. 17, 2023.
Numbers to Know
9 - Nebraska has won nine straight games dating back to last season's College Basketball Crown. It is the nation's longest active winning streak and NU's longest win streak since winning 11 straight games during the 2010-11 season.
12.2 - Nebraska is averaging 12.2 3-pointers per game to rank second in the Big Ten as of Nov. 20. Currently, five Big Ten teams are averaging more than 10.0 3-pointers per game.
3.9 - Over the last nine games dating back to the College Basketball Crown, Sam Hoiberg is averaging 3.7 assists per game with a 3.9-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Hoiberg has double the number of steals (18) than turnovers (nine) in that stretch.
.807 - Nebraska is 42-10 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring 80 or more points, including a 33-7 mark over the last three-plus seasons. Of those seven losses since the start of 2022-23, four were in overtime.
Worth Noting
• Nebraska's nine-game win streak is the longest for the Huskers under Fred Hoiberg, bettering the seven-game win streak to start the 2023-24 season. Nebraska is averaging 84.8 ppg on 49 percent shooting during its nine-game win streak and has scored at least 1.00 points per possession in all nine contests.
• Nebraska has now won its last 16 non-conference games dating back to Nov. 22, 2024, which is the nation's longest non-con win streak.
• Nebraska has won three straight against Big Ten teams dating back to the win over the Wildcats in 2023. Last year, the Huskers downed both Arizona State and UCF in the College Basketball Crown.
• A win on Friday vs. KSU would give NU a double-digit win streak for the 11th time in history and the first time since the 2010-11 season.
• The Huskers have been one of the Big Ten's top 3-point shooting teams early in the season. NU is second in the Big Ten in 3-pointers per game (12.2) and fifth in 3-point shooting percentage (.381). Nebraska's 12.2 3-pointers per game is seven more per game more than last season after five games and is the best early-season start for a Fred Hoiberg team at Nebraska.
• Nebraska enters Friday's game with Kansas State averaging 20.6 assists per game, an increase of more than six assists per game from last season (14.2). NU has averaged 20 assists only two times in school history (1990-91 and 1984-85).
• Nebraska comes into Friday's game averaging 88.0 ppg, which is the highest-scoring five-game start under Fred Hoiberg and NU's best five-game total in the Big Ten era. The previous high was 82.0 ppg in 2018-19 and that is the only time in the Big Ten era where the Huskers averaged 80-or-more points per game in the first five contests.
• The Huskers are looking for their second in-season tournament title in as many years, as NU won the Diamond Head Invitational last December. Prior to that tournament win, NU's previous in-season tournament win was the 2000 San Juan Shootout.
• Rienk Mast is one of 17 players nationally averaging 15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game entering Friday's games. He is averaging 21.5 points per game over the Huskers' last two games. Mast is 27 points away from 1,500 career points.
• Nebraska is 39-15 (.735) over the past three-plus seasons when Sam Hoiberg plays at least 20 minutes. The senior is setting career bests in nearly every category, including scoring (7.4 ppg), rebounding (6.0 rpg), assists (4.0 apg) and steals (2.0 spg). According to stathead, Hoiberg is the only power conference player - and just one of 10 players nationally averaging at least 6+ rebounds, 4+ assists and 2+ steals per game entering Friday's action.
• Pryce Sandfort is averaging 18.8 ppg on 53 percent shooting, 4.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game over the last four contests. He also has a 14-to-1 assists-to-turnover ratio in that span.
• Nebraska has received outstanding play from its bench, averaging 29.6 ppg through the first four contests. The Huskers have gotten six double-figure efforts from their bench in the first five games (Braden Frager-3; Connor Essegian-2; Cale Jacobsen-1).
• Frager's 20-point game against New Mexico was his second 20-point game of the season, and he joins Connor Essegian has the only Huskers under Hoiberg with multiple 20-point games off the bench in a season. Frager is one of 11 players nationally to have multiple 20-point efforts off the bench.
• Rienk Mast, Jamarques Lawrence and Sam Hoiberg all played in the 2023 meeting in Manhattan. Mast had 19 points and 12 rebounds as one of two Huskers (also Juwan Gary) to post double-doubles in that contest.
• Big Ten teams are a combined 78-5 (.939) entering Friday's action following a 6-0 showing on Thursday.
• Nebraska has had eight double-digit scoring runs over the first five contests, including three each against West Georgia and FIU.
• Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg won a pair of conference tournament titles in the T-Mobile Center during his tenure at Iowa State (2014-15). Hoiberg is 7-7 in his coaching career against Kansas State (6-5 at ISU; 1-2 at NEB).
Last Night vs. New Mexico
Jamarques Lawrence and Braden Frager combined for 41 points as Nebraska used a blistering start and made enough plays down the stretch for an 84-72 win over New Mexico Thursday night at the Hall of Fame Classic.
Lawrence had a career-high 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including four 3-pointers for his second career 20-point effort while Frager came off the bench and provided a spark with 20 points, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and a team-high eight rebounds as Nebraska won its ninth straight game dating back to last season.
The Huskers jumped on the Lobos, getting out to a 11-2 lead in the first three minutes and hit nine of their first 13 shots from the field to extend the margin to 22-5 after two straight 3-pointers from Connor Essegian. NU shot 52 percent, including 9-of-19 from distance, in the opening 20 minutes to build a 43-25 halftime lead.
New Mexico came out firing in the second half, hitting 8-of-15 shots, including 6-of-10 from long range, to cut the Huskers’ 18-point lead to 51-47 on a 3-pointer from Luke Haupt with 12:31 left. The Lobos were within 59-53 at the under-eight timeout before the Huskers regained momentum. Pryce Sandfort’s driving basket started a 7-0 run that gave the Huskers a 66-53 advantage after Sandfort’s 3-pointer with 6:46 remaining. The Lobos would eventually pull within 66-58 on a Jake Hall 3-pointer before Rienk Mast, who had 17 points, keyed a 5-0 run that pushed the lead back to 13 with 2:57 left.
Noting the Win over the Lobos
• Jamarques Lawrence finished with a career-high 21 points, his second career 20-point game and first as a Husker. His previous best was 20 against Saint Bonaventure last season while at Rhode Island while his previous high at Nebraska was 19 at Indiana in 2024.
• Braden Frager came off the bench and had 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. It was his second 20-point game of the season, both coming off the bench.
• Frager’s 20-point night marked the 13th time a Husker reserve has scored 20 or more points in Fred Hoiberg’s seven seasons. It was also the sixth double-figure effort by a Husker reserve in 2025-26.
• With Lawrence (21) and Frager (20) both going over 20 points, marked the 21st time under Hoiberg – and second straight game – that Nebraska had multiple 20-point scorers.
• Nebraska finished with 20 assists, the fourth time in five games NU had at least 20 assists in a game.