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Nebraska tops NAIA foe Midland 91-50 in preseason finale

by: Sam Ojeda12 hours agoSamOjeda8
Pryce Sandfort Jared Garcia Nebraska basketball
Nebraska's Jared Garcia (15) and Pryce Sandfort celebrate during a Nebraska exhibition win. (Photo: Nebraska Athletics)

Nebraska finished its exhibition exposé Monday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena with a win over in-state opponent Midland. The Huskers weathered a sluggish offensive start to top the Warriors 91-50

The sharpshooting duo of Braden Frager and Pryce Sandfort lifted a limping first-half Nebraska offense to a dominant second-half show.

Fred Hoiberg worked deep into his bench early, playing 11 players before the midway mark in the first half. The lesser opponent allowed the seventh-year head coach to work in multiple different lineups. Kendall Blue, Jared Garcia, and Leo Curtis benefited from a significant increase in minutes. In Nebraska’s first exhibition game against BYU, Hoiberg played 11 men throughout the entirety of the game. Nebraska played all 15 players Monday night.

Both teams had their struggles from the 3-point line in the first half despite copious attempts. 25 of Nebraska’s 35 field goal attempts were from beyond the arc in the first half for a 28 percent clip. The two teams combined for 19 turnovers. Nebraska turned its 11 forced turnovers into 19 points and entered halftime with a 44-26 lead.

Frager took advantage of his time on the court, looking to establish a more defined role. The Lincoln Southwest product began his night with three straight 3-pointers. Sandfort aided in the early 3-point barrage with three long-range makes of his own. Frager won the race to the leading scorer with 21 points. Sandfort finished with 18 points in 18 minutes.

Connor Essegian and Rienk Mast saw limited playing time ahead of the season opener against West Georgia. Essegian shot 3 of 8 from the field in 16 minutes. Mast totaled 13 minutes between the two halves. The senior had 8 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists.

Nebraska continued to rely on the 3-point shot in the second half. Hoiberg labeled the long ball as the team’s strength, and it showed up in the second half. The Huskers shot 42 percent from long range, assisted once again by Frager and Sandfort. By the time the clock hit zero, they had attempted 44 3-pointers, making 15.

Nebraska struggled defending in the paint against a smaller Midland team. The Warriors managed to have 14 of their first 16 points in the paint. Curtis played a large chunk of the second half, and his size limited the Warriors to less than 10 points in the paint. Nebraska also struggled at the free-throw line. The Huskers were lackluster from the charity stripe against BYU and the struggles continued with a 64 percent showing against the Warriors.

After a 2-0 exhibition performance, including a win over preseason top-10 BYU, Nebraska begins to play games that count for the record. Nebraska hosts West Georgia on Nov. 3 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

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