Late Rally Punches Huskers' Ticket to Sweet 16

Braden Frager hit a layup with 2.2 seconds left to lift the Nebraska basketball team to a thrilling 74-72 victory over Vanderbilt in the second round of the NCAA South Regional at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.

The win continued Nebraska's record-setting season and sent the Huskers to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. NU advances to the South Regional in Houston for a Sweet 16 matchup on Thursday against the winner of Sunday’s Iowa-Florida contest.

NU led for the majority of the game Saturday but faced its largest deficit at 67-62 with just over five minutes remaining. The Huskers then scored six straight points to take the lead with two minutes left.  Vanderbilt hit a clutch 3-pointer to regain the lead at 72-70 and the teams traded baskets on their next possessions. Rienk Mast tied the game at 72-72 before the Huskers got a defensive stop and Pryce Sandfort found Frager for his game-winning layup.

The Commodores had one final chance but Tayler Tanner's half-court heave rolled in and out as Nebraska survived and advanced.

Nebraska continued to increase its school-record victory total and improved to 28-6 on the season. Vanderbilt saw its season end with a 27-9 record.

The Huskers featured a balanced scoring attack and were led in scoring by Frager and Sandfort who each finished the game with 15 points. Mast and Berke Buyuktuncel  also scored in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. For the game, Nebraska shot 56 percent from the floor, and connected on 9-of-19 from the 3-point line. 

Vanderbilt was led by guard Tyler Tanner who scored a game-high 27 points, including 15 in the first half. The Commodores made 13 3-pointers, including 10 in the second half.

Nebraska led by seven at the half, 39-32. But behind the barrage of 3-pointers, Vanderbilt outscored the Huskers by five in the second half.

Vanderbilt immediately sliced Nebraska’s seven-point halftime lead to three by scoring the first four points of the second half. Vandy pulled with one on several occasions, before tying the game at 55 with 9:05 to play and taking its first lead of the game at 58-55 with a 3-pointer with 8:25 remaining. 

Vanderbilt continued to hold the lead until Nebraska's late 6-0 run and took its final lead at 72-70 with less than a minute remaining before the Huskers' late-game heroics.

Nebraska never trailed in the first half, scoring the game’s first eight points and leading 39-32 at intermission. The Huskers connected on 60 percent from the field (15-25) and the 3-point line (6-10) in the game’s first 20 minutes. The Husker defense held Vanderbilt to 37 percent shooting in the first half, and just 3-of-15 from beyond the arc.

Nebraska jumped to an early nine-point lead at 11-2 in the game’s first four minutes behind three 3-pointers, one from Buyuktuncel and a pair from Mast. The Huskers extended the lead to 10 at 14-4 on a Jamarques Lawrence 3-point play, before Vanderbilt rallied to cut the lead to three points at 18-15.

Mast connected on his third 3-pointer of the first half to give the Huskers a 21-15 edge with 8:38 left in the first half. Nebraska rebuilt its lead to 10 points at 31-21 on a Frager layup with 3:59 remaining before intermission.

Vanderbilt twice cut the lead to four points in the final four minutes of the first half, but Sandfort’s two 3-points in the final 3:25 of the first half allowed the Huskers to maintain their seven-point halftime advantage.