Nebraska’s Rienk Mast (51) hugs Braden Frager (5) after their win against Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tournament at the Paycom Center on Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Oklahoma City.
Nebraska’s Rienk Mast (51) hugs Braden Frager (5) after their win against Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tournament at the Paycom Center on Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Oklahoma City.
OKLAHOMA CITY — No. 4 Nebraska (28-6) earned itself a spot in the Sweet 16 and a trip to Houston next week, thanks to a 74-72 win over No. 5 Vanderbilt (27-9) in epic fashion.
Junior forward Pryce Sandfort pushed the floor with eight seconds to go, tied at 72, and found redshirt freshman Braden Frager, who drove to the rim for a left-handed layup.
A layup that he’s done a million times.
The contest went back and forth throughout the last eight minutes, so a dramatic ending was the perfect fit to cap off the battle between two outstanding teams.
Star sophomore guard Tyler Tanner, who had 27 points, took an open look from half court, which was on line the entire time it was in the air. The ball hit right in the middle of the square on the backboard, hit every part of the rim and rolled out.
Here are the grades following Nebraska’s win in the Round of 32:
Fast starts — head coach Fred Hoiberg has talked about the importance of starting stronger all season long, game after game. Nebraska struggled to do so, until Saturday night. It was arguably one of the best starts this year, sparked by a 3-pointer in the corner from junior forward Berke Büyüktuncel.
Four Huskers finished in double figures for the second game of the NCAA Tournament. Sandfort and Frager steered the boat in the right direction, with 15 points respectively. Although Vanderbilt’s defense didn’t allow much space on the perimeter for Sandfort, he took the looks that were given to him. Heavily contested looks. The Waukee, Iowa native shot 50 percent from deep and 5-of-9 from the field.
In the first half, Nebraska shot at a 60 percent clip, which allowed it to take a seven-point advantage into the break, 39-32. The Huskers converted on 15 of their 25 attempts from the field, led by senior forward Rienk Mast, who notched nine points. The Netherlands man converted three 3-pointers on four attempts, two of them coming in the first four minutes.
Overall, Nebraska finished shooting 55.8 percent and 47.4 percent from 3-point land. One of its better shooting games of the season, finding 38 of its 74 points in the paint.
The Huskers did win the rebounding battle, a factor that many knew would play a role in the outcome of the game, 31-30.
Although they won the glass by one board, the Commodores grabbed six more offensive boards than the Huskers, 11-5, which created nine second-chance points.
“They crushed us on the glass in the second half,” Hoiberg said postgame. “We have to do a better job whoever we’re going to play in the next round.”
Two of the team’s five offensive rebounds came in the biggest moments. After a missed 3-pointer from the top of the key from Mast, senior guard Sam Hoiberg swooped in for the put-back layup, while still in the air.
On the next possession, Tanner cashed in a tough layup through traffic on the right-hand side, giving the Commodores a two-point lead. On the other end, Hoiberg drove down the lane, but couldn’t get the layup to go — Mast was right there for the put back.
Two major plays that helped Nebraska escape arguably the best game of the tournament thus far.
After allowing just 47 points and forcing 17 turnovers against Troy on Thursday, the Commodores put up 72 points and turned the ball over to Nebraska only eight times. However, the Huskers held Vanderbilt to 41 percent from the field and 35 percent from 3-point range on 37 attempts.
Nebraska’s defense is wired to force teams to shoot 3-pointers, and that’s what it did. Most of the Commodores’ offensive production came solely from Tanner, who went for 27 points and senior forward Tyler Nickel, who chipped in 16 points on five made 3-pointers.
“He’s so small; it’s like guarding Sam (Hoiberg),” senior guard Jamarques Lawrence said of Tanner. “He’s sneaky athletic. I’ve been watching him majority of the year, so I kind of expected that outcome from him.”
The Huskers held Commodore guard Duke Miles to nine points on 20 percent shooting and only one 3-pointer on eight attempts. He entered the contest on a 10-game double-digit scoring streak and had scored in single digits in only two games all season.
After running a man defense for the entire game, the Huskers switched to a 1-3-1 defense after the under-four timeout in the second half and found success across all aspects of their defense.
Despite Nebraska’s limited number of forced turnovers, it still capitalized on its turnovers with 12 points off eight takeaways.
It’s hard to replicate the way the Huskers protected the ball on Thursday after turning the ball over only six times against the Trojans. Although Nebraska turned the ball over 12 times, Vanderbilt only had one more point off turnovers than the Huskers did.
What was most impressive was the fact that the Huskers didn’t commit a single turnover in the final 9:08 of the game. Nebraska ended the game with a 16:12 assist-to-turnover ratio.
A concerning part of the 12 turnovers was the two shot-clock violations. There were multiple times throughout the game where the offense couldn’t get anything going and were forced to shoot shots near the buzzer.
Overall, the Huskers did a solid job at maximizing their possessions given how good Vanderbilt’s defense had been all season. The Commodores ranked in the top 35 nationally and in the top four of the SEC. They were also the top-ranked team in the SEC in overall turnover margin.
Nebraska will be back in action in the Sweet 16 in Houston. The Huskers will face the winner of No. 9 Iowa and No. 1 Florida, who face off Sunday, March 22, at 6:10 p.m CST.
Eli Rodriguez is a men’s basketball beat writer at The Daily Nebraskan. Follow him on X at @efrodriguez23. Alex Berry is an Assistant Sports Editor and men’s basketball beat writer. Follow him on X at @aberry13.
sports@dailynebraskan.com
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