No. 4 seed Nebraska advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament for the first time, holding off No. 5 seed Vanderbilt 74-72 in a second-round game on March 21, 2026, at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The arena is home to the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder.[1]
Nebraska entered the contest with no prior NCAA tournament wins, having lost its opening game or in the second round across eight previous appearances dating back to 1986.[2][3]
The Cornhuskers led 39-32 at halftime and by 10 points in the second half before Vanderbilt rallied to take a five-point lead with 5:34 remaining.
Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner scored 27 points, including a layup that put the Commodores ahead 72-70 with under one minute left.
Nebraska forward Rienk Mast, who transferred from Bradley to Nebraska ahead of the 2024-25 season, tied the game at 72-72 with a putback at 37 seconds.[4] Vanderbilt's Chandler Bing then missed a field-goal attempt.
Pryce Sandfort assisted teammate Braden Frager for a contested layup that gave Nebraska a 74-72 lead with 2.2 seconds remaining.
After a Vanderbilt timeout, Tanner launched a heave from beyond half court. The shot hit the backboard, rimmed in and out, evoking Gordon Hayward's famous miss in Butler's 2010 national championship game loss to Duke.[5]
Sandfort and Frager each scored 15 points for Nebraska, four Cornhuskers players finishing in double figures. Nebraska will face the winner of top seed Florida and No. 9 Iowa in the Sweet 16.
Sources
- Wikipedia. "Paycom Center." Accessed October 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paycom_Center
- Wikipedia. "Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball." Accessed October 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_Cornhuskers_men%27s_basketball#NCAA_Tournament_results
- NCAA.com. "Nebraska Men's Basketball History." Accessed October 2024. https://www.ncaa.com/schools/nebraska/mbball
- Huskers.com. "Rienk Mast Profile." Accessed October 2024. https://huskers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/rienk-mast/20297
- Wikipedia. "2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament." Accessed October 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_NCAA_Division_I_men%27s_basketball_tournament#National_championship
