Huskers Return Home to Face Purdue in Top-15 Showdown

Huskers Return Home to Face Purdue in Top-15 Showdown
The No. 7/8 (AP/Coaches) Nebraska men's basketball team begins a two-game homestand Tuesday night, as the Huskers welcome No. 13/12 Purdue. Tipoff from a sold-out Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 6 p.m. (central) and the game will be carried on FS1, broadcast on the Huskers Radio Network, as well as on Huskers.com and on the official Huskers app. The game will also be available on the Fox Sports and Fox One apps. 

The Huskers (21-2, 10-2 B1G) come off after an 80-68 road win at Rutgers on Feb. 7. Rienk Mast had 25 points and eight rebounds to lead four Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska took control with a 19-8 run to end the first half and eventually built a 20-point second-half lead and led by double figures the final 27 minutes enroute to its sixth Big Ten road win of the season.  For Mast, it was his fifth 20-point game of the season and first in Big Ten play. Senior guards Jamarques Lawrence and Sam Hoiberg combined for 25 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds as Nebraska broke a two-game losing streak.

Nebraska enters the week in sole possession of third place in the Big Ten race following last weekend's action. With the win at Rutgers, the Huskers posted their sixth Big Ten road win of the season, breaking a school record for most conference road wins in a season. Now, the Huskers begin a stretch with four of the next five at home until late February. 

Purdue (19-4, 9-3 B1G) comes off a 68-64 win over Oregon last Saturday. The Boilermakers trailed 63-62 before Fletcher Loyer's 3-pointer with 51 seconds left gave Purdue the lead for good before Loyer, who had 18 points, went 3-of-4 from the line in the final 20 seconds to stave off Oregon's upset bid. Braden Smith had 13 points and four assists while Trey Kaufman-Renn had 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Numbers to Know
3 - Tuesday's matchup between Nebraska and Purdue will be the third ranked on ranked game at home this season (vs. No. 9 MSU, vs. No. 9 Illinois). Prior to this year, NU had only one home ranked on ranked game in school history.

34 - Fred Hoiberg has 34 wins over ranked opponents, including 12 wins against top-10 teams, in his collegiate coaching career. In addition, his six road wins against ranked opponents is second only to Danny Nee (seven) all-time among NU men's basketball coaches.

.750 - Nebraska is 9-3 in its last 12 Big Ten road games dating back to last season following Saturday's win at Rutgers. The Huskers are also 13-1 away from Pinnacle Bank Arena since March 31, 2025.

22 - In Nebraska's four games against ranked opponents this season, Sam Hoiberg has a 22-to-0 assist-to-turnover raio and is averaging 1.5 steals per game. 

16 - Nebraska's 16-point second-half comeback against Indiana on Jan. 10 tied the Huskers' largest comeback of the season (also vs. Oklahoma). NU has a trio of double-digit comebacks this season and seven over the past two seasons.

54.8 - Nebraska's top four scorers (Rienk Mast, Pryce Sandfort, Braden Frager and Jamarques Lawrence) are combining for 54.8 points per game. None of them were in the Husker lineup last season.

80+ - Nebraska is 50-10 (.833) under Fred Hoiberg when scoring 80 or more points, including a 41-7 mark over the last three-plus seasons. Of those seven losses since the start of 2022-23, four came in overtime.

1,030 - Rienk Mast now has 1,030 career rebounds and is one of only three active players with at least 1,000 career rebounds, joining Notre Dame's Carson Towt and Gonzaga's Graham Ike.

10 - Pryce Sandfort is just the eighth Husker player to have at least 10 20-point efforts in a season since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011-12.

1- Over the last decade, only seven Big Ten players have shot over 40 percent from 3-point range and averaged 3.0 3-pointers per game. Pryce Sandfort is the only Big Ten player above those marks as of Feb. 9.

4 - According to Stathead, Sam Hoiberg is one of four players - and the only power conference player - nationally at 6-0 or under averaging at least five rebounds per game this season.

Tuesday's Game Is Nebraska's Heart Association Game
Nebraska men's basketball has partnered with the American Heart Association to help spread awareness of cardiovascular health for Tuesday's game against Purdue. February is also American Heart Month, as heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg's playing career ended in 2005 because of an aneurysm in his aortic root and has benefited by the advances in cardiovascular health over the past two decades. Some of the activations for Tuesday's game include:

• Pregame will feature a CPR demonstration with Lincoln Fire Department on the concourse above section 103.

• The Husker basketball program will recognize a member of the Lincoln community for their work during the first timeout.

• Both Nebraska and Purdue's coaching staffs will be wearing pins on Tuesday to raise awareness.
For more information on Heart Health Month, visit Heart.org.

Huskers Stay in Top 10 for Sixth Straight Week
Nebraska continued it run in the AP Top 10 on Monday, checking in at No. 7. The Huskers are also No. 8 in the Coaches poll.

• Nebraska has now been in the top 10 for six straight weeks, the longest stretch in school history. The previous best was four weeks from Feb. 7-28, 1966.  The Huskers have now been ranked for nine straight weeks dating back to Dec. 8.

• On Jan. 26, Nebraska earned its highest ranking in school history, moving to No. 5 in both the AP and Coaches polls. It topped NU's previous best of seventh on Jan. 19.

• The Huskers are now 50-24 (.675) all-time when ranked in the AP poll following Saturday's win at Rutgers.

• Prior to this season, the 1965-66 season was the only other season where Nebraska was ranked in the top 10. NU spent four straight weeks in the poll (Feb. 7-28) in 1965-66, reaching as high as eighth on Feb. 21, 1966. That season, the Huskers went 20-5, including 12-2 in the Big Eight to finish second to Kansas, but did not advance to postseason play. That Kansas team that won the Big Eight lost to eventual NCAA Champion Texas Western, 81-80, in double overtime in the Midwest Regional Final.

• Prior to its 2025-26 poll debut on Dec. 8, the Huskers had not been ranked in the AP poll since Dec. 31, 2018.