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Nebraska stuns Illinois at buzzer on Jamarques Lawrence game-winning three-pointer

Danby: Daniel Hager6 hours agoDanielHagerOn3

For the first time in program history, Nebraska is 11-0.

With Saturday night’s marquee Big Ten matchup between No. 13 Illinois and No. 25 Nebraska tied at 80, senior guard Jamarques Lawrence drilled a game-winning three-pointer with .2 seconds remaining to propel the Huskers to the win.

In the midst of his seventh season as head coach, Fred Hoiberg looks poised to lead Nebraska to its first NCAA Tournament win in program history.

“I was just too locked into the game,” Lawrence said postgame. “That play was originally for Pryce (Sandfort). The play broke off, so shout out to Sam (Hoiberg). He got downhill and touched paint and found me. As soon as I touched the ball, I knew I was shooting it.”

“I didn’t think I was going to get the ball, but I got it like I said. As soon as I got it, I was letting it go. Simple as that.”

With games against North Dakota and New Hampshire on the horizon, it appears as if the Huskers could be welcoming No. 9 Michigan State to Pinnacle Bank Arena on Jan. 2 with an unblemished 13-0 record. That would likely be one of the most anticipated games in Nebraska Basketball history.

“First of all, I was really proud about how our guys got out of the gate,” Hoiberg said. “We knew Illinois would make a run. The way they did it was with their physicality and on the offensive glass. My message at halftime was that we did a lot of really good things, we just had to get back out and take care of the glass. And I think we responded very well and got off to a very good start in the second half.”

“That last play we designed was a bit of a go-screen coming out of there. We had a choice to go off of Rienk (Mast) or Pryce (Sandfort), but I thought Sam (Hoiberg) made a good decision kicking that ball out to Jamarques, who rose up and hit a huge shot for us. This is a great win for our program, to come into one of the best environments in the league with one of the best crowds that we’re going to face in the country.”

Under Hoiberg, Nebraska is 94-108 with one appearance in the NCAA Tournament (2024). The Cornhuskers have not lost a game since March 9, 2025, as they have won 14 consecutive games dating back to last season. That includes 10 regular season games this year and four games to win the College Basketball Crown last season.