If the Huskers want any part of playing in the NCAA Tournament in two weeks, they need to put their devastating double overtime loss to Ohio State away and put full focus on the Iowa Hawkeyes in the regular season finale on Senior Day.
The Huskers did everything right against the Buckeyes last Tuesday night.
Brice Williams broke the Nebraska single game scoring record with 43 points and the Huskers we’re once again able to bounce back from a double digit second half deficit.
After some poor officiating and two total overtime periods, the Huskers fell to the Buckeyes 116-114 in one of the craziest games so far in the Big Ten this season.
That loss did a lot of things for the Huskers, knocking Nebraska into the Next Four Out and pinning them in a five way tie for a spot in the Big Ten Conference Tournament.
For the Hawkeyes, it has been a tough road since they lose their starting forward Owen Freeman, who was averaging 16.7 PTS and 6.7 REB.
Since losing Freeman, the Hawkeyes have lost seven of their last nine games and have been taken out of any possible NCAA Tournament talk.
Iowa is still a very dangerous team for the Huskers on Sunday and given what happened the first time these two teams met on January 7th, Nebraska will have to be ready for the Hawkeyes to play with a boost of confidence.
The Hawkeyes are coming off a 91-84 loss to #8 Michigan State on Thursday, where the Hawkeyes held a lead as high as 14 in the first half and 11 in the second half, before the Spartans firepower took over.
Players to Watch for Iowa:
Payton Sandfort:
16.1 PTS 6.2 REB 33% 3PT
Senior forward Payton Sandfort has been the Huskers worst nightmare these past couple of seasons.
Back on January 7th against the Huskers, Sandfort exploded for 30 points and six threes, all of which came in the second half and overtime in what was a heartbreaking loss for Nebraska.
While Sandfort’s three point percentage is not the best, he still attempts around seven threes per game and Nebraska knows far too well that it only takes one to activate him.
Josh Dix:
14.1 PTS 3.2 REB 42.7% 3PT
Payton Sandfort was not the only Hawkeye that reached the 30 point mark against the Huskers in early January.
Junior guard Josh Dix could not be stopped by Nebraska, scoring 31 points on 10/14 shooting from the field and 7/10 shooting from three.
With Dix’s ability to counter Sandfort the way he does, it makes this an incredibly tough matchup for the Huskers on Sunday.
Dix recently scored 18 points on 3/5 shooting from the three in their loss to Michigan State.
Players to Watch for Nebraska:
Brice Williams:
20.4 PTS 4.1 REB 2.8 AST 1.1 STL
After breaking the single game scoring record for the Huskers, scoring 43 points in their crushing double overtime loss to Ohio State, Brice Williams now ranks 13th in the entire country in scoring.
Williams, obviously will be the key for the Huskers on Sunday and luckily for Nebraska, Williams is playing the best basketball he has played ever played in his career right now.
Williams scored 28 when these two first met, including a clutch game-tying three to send it to overtime.
If Williams can get himself on the board early and match it with quick stops on defense, Nebraska will feed off the energy it gets from PBA and should be able to will out a victory.
Juwan Gary:
13.7 PTS 4.7 REB 1.2 STL
After scoring a total of 11 points in previous losses to Penn State and Michigan, Juwan Gary has produced back to back 20+ point performances against Minnesota and Ohio State.
Against the Buckeyes, Gary shot 75% from the field and hit a trio of three pointers, in what was one of the best performances from the senior forward this season.
We can expect Gary to play with strong intensity on Senior Day, but he will play a crucial role on defense.
Nebraska will need to pull out all the stops defensively to make sure Iowa doesn’t put this game away with their shooting.
Prediction:
No win, no NCAA Tournament appearance for the Huskers, simple as that.
The Huskers know how important this game is and Pinnacle Bank does as well, expect a juiced up Pinnacle Bank Arena crowd.
Nebraska will most likely need 2-3 wins in the Big Ten Tournament depending on their matchups, but I don’t think Nebraska will blow this game on Senior Day.
Sunday March 8th, 2025
11:30 AM CT FOX
Nebraska: 82 Iowa: 73