No. 7 Nebraska overcame a sluggish first half to dominate Minnesota 76-57 on the road, improving to 20-0 overall and 9-0 in Big Ten play. Pryce Sandfort led the comeback with 22 points, mostly in the second half, while the Golden Gophers struggled after halftime. The win extends Nebraska's program-record winning streak to 24 games.
The game at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, known as The Barn, showcased a stark contrast between halves. Nebraska trailed 36-30 at halftime after shooting poorly from three-point range (2-of-11) and missing freshman forward Braden Frager, who sat out with an ankle injury from the previous game against Washington. Minnesota capitalized early, hitting 9-of-20 threes to build an eight-point lead midway through the second half.
Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg was critical of his team's start: "I didn't like our first half. I thought we were a little bit slow on our closeouts. We just didn't have the urgency that we needed. I thought we played a little bit soft. Second half, we really flipped it. I thought our defense was unbelievable."
The Huskers responded with a 21-4 run, fueled by seven points each from Sandfort and Jamarques Lawrence, to take a nine-point lead with 10 minutes remaining. Minnesota narrowed the gap to five points, but Nebraska sealed the victory with another 14-0 spurt, including three threes from Sandfort, extending the margin to 19 points with 5:51 left.
Sandfort, who scored just two points before the break, finished with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-10 from deep, plus 10 rebounds and a career-high four blocks for his second double-double. Lawrence added 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists, while Sam Hoiberg contributed 14 points, seven assists, and four rebounds. Nebraska shot 53% from the field and 7-of-17 from three in the second half, finishing the game at 47.5% overall. They were perfect from the free-throw line at 9-of-9 and recorded 24 assists.
For Minnesota, Bobby Durkin led with 16 points, but the Gophers went 0-of-11 from three after halftime and shot 39.6% overall, falling to 10-10 overall and 3-6 in conference play. This marked only their third home loss of the season.
Nebraska's 20-0 start is the best in program history, with 12 straight road wins dating back to last season. The Huskers, who have now won five straight Big Ten road games for the first time since 1965-66, next face No. 3 Michigan in Ann Arbor on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CST.
