The show goes on: No. 13 Nebraska defends home court with riveting win over No. 9 Michigan State
The show goes on.
And the show — Fred Hoiberg’s Nebraska Cornhuskers — is undefeated at 14-0, which now includes three Big Ten wins over Wisconsin, No. 19 Illinois and, now, No. 9 Michigan State.
The Huskers welcomed Tom Izzo and his Spartans for a Friday night Top 15 showdown and defended their home court with a riveting 58-56 win in front of a sold-out and loud Pinnacle Bank Arena.
>> In case you missed it, read three takes on the game here
With 0.7 seconds left and Nebraska leading 58-56, Michigan State big man Carson Cooper, a 75.4% free-throw shooter coming into the game, missed the first of two free throws after Pryce Sandfort was called for a foul on Cooper’s last-second drive on a possession that saw MSU grab multiple offensive rebounds.
Cooper intentionally missed the second free throw, Nebraska rebounded, and the court was swarmed.
It was a thrilling night in PBA, and Nebraska’s defense, along with Rienk Mast‘s team-high 19 points and six 3-pointers, led the way. The vibes are good in Lincoln right now, and fans are loving it:
Setting the tone early + and winning transition defense
There was no confusion about what needed to happen for Nebraska to have a chance at knocking off MSU. The Huskers needed to match the physicality the Spartans always seem to bring and be tough — and they did just that.
MSU even won the rebounding war 45-31, but only tied Nebraska with 10 paint points all night. Nebraska’s defense was crisp with its rotations, competed physically and bothered MSU to the point it shot 34% from the field and recorded just nine second-chance points on 11 offensive rebounds, nine of which came in the second half.
The game was a 33-all tie at halftime. Nebraska led by as much as six twice, but MSU always punched back. It was that kind of a Big Ten grind.
“We got out rebounded by 14, but I thought we did a hell of a job in that first half where he really needed to go out and set the tone. I think they had two at halftime,” Hoiberg said of MSU’s offensive boards.
MSU struggled with its ball security all night — the raucous PBA crowd likely had something to do with that, as well as the Huskers’ hand activity — and had a whopping 19 turnovers with Nebraska having only seven steals.
“They play so fast, and for us to get back and force them into the halfcourt, that’s exactly what we needed to do,” Hoiberg said.
And while Nebraska shot just 32% from the field — the Huskers nailed 13 3s at shot 35% from deep, though — and only 24.1% in the second half while its best shooter, Sandfort, fouled out and played only 21 minutes, Nebraska was still picking up their assignments on the run and staying between their man and the hoop.
Assistant coach Nate Loenser’s defense came through. Again.
“I thought our transition defense was exceptional, and we never took the wrong path chasing down a rebound that we couldn’t get,” Hoiberg said. “This is the best defensive rebounding team in the country, and we were dead if we were going to chase balls down. So I thought our guys really followed the game plan. And those were the keys — we had two of them tonight. It was getting back and rebound, and I said it about 1,000 times in the last three days.”
When Jaxon Kohler, MSU’s 6-9, 245-pound leading scorer, scored 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting, including 4-of-4 from 3 in the first half, Hoiberg said the halftime adjustment worked.
“Our communication was much better in the second half,” Hoiberg said. “First half, Kohler got loose on us. We adjusted, went to a switch, and did a better job.”
Kohler was held to five second-half points on 2-of-5 shooting (1-of-2 from 3).
After Jeremy Fears Jr. gave MSU a 55-52 lead with a jumper with 4:41 left, the Husker defense put the clamps down. The Spartans didn’t make another shot from the field the rest of the game and only scored one more point.
Sam Hoiberg’s aggressive drive to the hoop drew a foul, and his two free throws sparked a 6-0 run the Huskers used to turn a 55-52 deficit into a 58-55 lead. Mast also hit a free throw and a clutch 3 with just under two minutes remaining.
Hoiberg, Mast on Braden Frager’s ill-timed technical foul, and his reponse
With 9:31 left in the second half, Braden Frager, Nebraska’s electric redshirt freshman wing, drilled a 3 over Fears, but was called for a technical after saying something and pointing to Fears.
Frager’s 3 capped a 10-0 run and pushed Nebraska’s lead to 47-38 at the time, but MSU capitalized on Frager’s mental mistake with two free throws and possession of the ball. MSU wound up scoring six straight to cut the Husker lead to 47-44 and ultimately went on a 17-5 run to take a 55-52 edge with 4:41 left.
“Talked to Braden about the incident — that can’t happen,” Hoiberg said. “And it’s a great opportunity to learn from when you get up like that. So I’m proud of how he bounced back after that moment. He knew right when it happened that he messed up, but he found a way to regroup. Hit a huge three for us a couple possessions later, and I thought made some really good defensive plays out there as well.”
As MSU was shooting its free throws after the technical, Mast was seen talking to Frager, calming the redshirt freshman down.
“He’s a ball of energy, that’s what makes him special. So you don’t want to keep that fire too low. You want to feed it the right way,” Mast said. “But yeah, he got a tech in a kind of crucial moment that wasn’t smart. But he’s a freshman, and I think he learned from that going into next game. So I like the way he responded in this game. And he hit some big threes. He was huge down the stretch for us.”
Up next
Nebraska hits the road to Ohio State on Monday for a 5:30 p.m. game on FS1. The Buckeyes are 10-3 overall with a 2-1 mark in Big Ten play after an 80-73 win at Rutgers on Friday night.
After the Ohio State trip, Nebraska will return home for practices before hitting the road again at the end of the week, this time for a contest at Indiana (10-3, 1-1) on Saturday, Jan. 10.