Nebraska basketball’s historic season comes to a close with Sweet 16 loss to Iowa

Mark Fischer,
Ncaa Iowa Nebraska Basketball
A basketball falls through the net as players warm up before a Sweet 16 game between Nebraska and Iowa in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — The Nebraska men’s basketball team fell to Iowa in the Sweet 16 on Thursday, losing 77-71 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Nebraska held the lead for more than 32 minutes throughout the contest, but the Hawkeyes took the lead with 2 minutes left and never gave the lead back.

As a team, the Huskers shot 41% from the floor and 34% from deep, while Iowa shot 52% from the floor and 43% from deep.

Pryce Sandfort led the Huskers with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Braden Frager racked up 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Those were the only two double-digit scorers for Nebraska.

Berke Buyuktuncel pulled in a team-high 10 rebounds, while Sam Hoiberg dished out a team-high six assists in his final game as a Husker.

It was a historic season for the Big Red, including a program-record 28 wins and 15 Big Ten wins.

At the start of the season, Nebraska making the Sweet 16 wasn’t even a conversation, as the Huskers were picked to finish 14th in the Big Ten.

Nebraska will look to build off of this season’s momentum in the offseason.

LIVE UPDATES

SECOND HALF

Nebraska starts the second half with possession.

At the 15-minute mark, the two squads are tied at 50.

With 10 minutes left in the game, Nebraska leads 58-57.

With just over 5 minutes left to go, Nebraska holds a 65-62 lead.

Iowa took its first lead of the game, 68-65, with less than 3 minutes to go.

After another Hawkeye 3-pointer, Frager hit a 3-pointer in the corner to make the score 71-68 with less than a minute to go.

FIRST HALF

Nebraska wins the tip, and we are underway.

A quick start for the Huskers. Riek Mast converts the and-one to make the score 9-2 Nebraska.

At the 15-minute mark, Nebraska leads 16-6.

At the under-12 media timeout, Nebraska holds a 25-17 lead.

With 5 minutes left in the first half, Nebraska leads 40-32.

At halftime, Nebraska leads the Hawkeyes 46-43.

It was a back-and-forth first half, with both squads shooting lights out from the floor.

As a team, the Huskers are shooting 58% from the floor and 50% from deep, while the Hawkeyes are shooting 60% and 64% from beyond the arc.

Pryce Sandfort leads the Huskers with 11 points on 3-for-3 shooting, while Braden Frager and Jamarques Lawrence each have 9 points.

PREGAME

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