The Huskers will take the court for one final time this season against the UCF Golden Knights, where the winner takes home $300,000 and the Crown Basketball Tournament Championship.
Nebraska defeated Boise State 79-69 to advance to Championship Sunday, behind a team high 21 points from senior forward Juwan Gary where he shot 4/4 from three.
The Broncos didn’t go down without a fight, as the Huskers held a 74-59 lead with 4:48 remaining in the second half before the Broncos got it back to a 7 point game with just over a minute remaining, but it was too late for Boise State.
For the Golden Knights, it was a miraculous 42 point effort from senior guard Darius Johnson to not only send the game into overtime, but help ice it at the end at the free throw line.
Johnson has been electric in his last nine games, averaging 26.2 PTS during that span.
The matchup between Huskers guard Brice Williams and Johnson will be one to watch all game, and with the NCAA National Championship not until Monday night, it gives the world an opportunity to tune into what should be a great game.
Players to Watch for UCF:
Darius Johnson:
17.1 PTS 3.4 REB 4.3 AST 40.4% 3PT
Brice Williams vs Darius Johnson is must see TV given how the two have played recently, especially during this Crown Tournament.
Johnson shot an absurd 20 free throw attempts in the Golden Knights overtime win, including 7 attempts in the overtime period.
Johnson is playing with insane confidence right now and that can be hard to slow down, so be ready for the Huskers to throw the kitchen sink at Johnson and make anyone else beat them.
Jordan Ivy-Curry:
12.4 PTS 3.2 REB 2.3 AST 1.4 STL
After scoring a combined 10 points against Oregon State and Cincinnati in UCFs first two tournament games, Ivy-Curry scored 18 points, knocking down 4 threes to help take down Villanova.
It has been a struggle for Ivy-Curry to duplicate what he did in the first half of the season, but he played a great game in 30 minutes off the bench.
Players to Watch for Nebraska:
Brice Williams:
20.5 PTS 4.0 REB 2.8 AST 1.1 STL
While senior guard Brice Williams didn’t have the biggest impact on the game in the scoring column, it was his presence alone that worried Boise State, which opened up opportunities for the rest of the Huskers.
Williams scored 14 points on 50% shooting from the field and tied his season high in assists with 6.
Expect Williams to be more explosive towards the rim on Sunday, the senior guard is not going to go down without a fight in his last game as a Husker, especially when he is only 18 points away from breaking James Palmer Jr’s single season scoring record.
Juwan Gary:
14.2 PTS 4.9 REB 1.2 STL
Juwan Gary was everywhere both offensively and defensively for the Huskers today, playing one of his best games of the season.
Gary not only was a perfect 4/4 from three, but was a force defensively, blocking a season high three shots.
The key for Gary will be his aggressiveness and his ability to get the UCF forwards in foul trouble.
Prediction:
Nebraska might just be playing their best basketball of the season right now and with $300,000 on the line for the winner, expect the intensity to be turned up another notch.
It seems like the Huskers are playing more freely on offense and coming off a game where they shot 63.2% from three, confidence is going to be through the roof.
Sunday April 6th, 2025
4:30 PM CT FOX
Nebraska: 82 UCF: 77