After dominating Georgetown behind 28 points from Nebraska’s Brice Williams, the Huskers are now set to face off against an NCAA Tournament snub in Boise State in the Semifinal round of the Crown Basketball Tournament.
Coached by Leon Rice, the Broncos enter in with a record of 26-10 and would’ve been playing in the NCAA Tournament, if it wasn’t for the Colorado State Rams, who knocked out the Broncos 69-56 in the Mountain West Championship.
This Boise State team is well tested and has some very solid wins on their resume, including a 84-71 win over Clemson, a 67-65 win over St. Mary’s and an 86-78 win over New Mexico.
Senior forward Tyson Degenhart leads the team in scoring, averaging 18.1 PTS on 52.6% field goal percentage.
Boise State would cruise through their first round matchup with George Washington 89-59 and would follow it up with a 100-93 win over Butler to send them to the Semifinals.
For the Huskers, they took control of the Georgetown Hoyas towards the end of the first half and would carry that momentum throughout the second half, winning 81-69.
Sophomore guard Cale Jacobsen would draw his first career start against the Hoyas and did a little bit of everything for the Huskers.
Jacobsen, an Ashland, Nebraska native, scored 7 points to go along with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Players to Watch for Boise State:
Tyson Degenhart:
18.1 PTS 6.1 REB 1.6 AST 52.6% FG
Tyson Degenhart is a veteran for the Broncos, having started in 131 out of the 137 games he’s played in during his college career.
Degenhart is having a special season, having scored 20 or more points in 14 games this season, including a season high 32 points in their win against New Mexico back in February.
Not known for his three point shooting, Degenhart is shooting 70% from behind the arc during his last three games and seems to look more comfortable with each shot attempt, so it will be key for the Huskers to always keep a hand up and close out on Degenhart.
Javan Buchanan:
9.6 PTS 3.7 REB 54.1% FG
Javan Buchanan is coming off a 27 point performance against Butler where the junior forward made 11 of his 13 shot attempts.
Expect Buchanan to see the floor early in the first half coming off the bench, as he played 25 minutes against the Bulldogs.
Buchanan also makes noise on the defensive side of the ball, averaging 2 steals during the Crown Basketball Tournament.
Players to Watch for Nebraska:
Brice Williams:
20.5 PTS 4.0 REB 2.8 AST 1.1 STL
Brice Williams simply can’t be stopped right now, having scored 20 or more points in 11 of his last 13 games and 30 or more points in two of those 13 games.
When Williams is able to get to the free throw line, the Huskers usually find a way to pull out a victory, when he doesn’t, things seem to go bad for Nebraska.
During the Huskers five game losing streak to end the season, Williams attempted a combined 21 free throw attempts, compared to 20 combined free throw attempts against Arizona State and Georgetown.
Juwan Gary:
14.2 PTS 4.9 REB 1.2 STL
Juwan Gary has been playing some special basketball during his last five games, averaging 20.8 PTS and 6.8 REB.
Defensively is where Gary should have a major impact on this game, be the more physical man in both the passing lanes and on the boards.
Prediction:
I personally think this game is must watch TV, whether you have emotions towards either of these two teams or not.
I think Nebraska and Boise State match up really well against each other and both play similar styles of basketball.
Winner goes to the Championship and the loser goes home, but I can’t see Brice Williams playing his last game in a Husker uniform just quite yet.
Saturday April 5th, 2025
12:30 PM CT FOX
Nebraska: 84 Boise State: 80