Husker Men Get Road Win At Illinois

Pryce Sandfort scored a career-high 32 points and Jamarques Lawrence drained a last-second three pointer to propel the No. 23 Nebraska men’s basketball team to victory over No. 13 Illinois on Saturday.

NU moved to 11-0 (2-0 Big Ten) on the season to remain undefeated and log the best start in program history. The Big Red also extended its nation-leading and school-record win streak to 15 games, dating back to last season.

Sandfort scored 26 of his points in the first half, including the Huskers’ first 15 of the game. Rienk Mast added 17 points, while Lawrence had 14, capped by his buzzer beater to claim the victory. Jared Garcia added 10 points, all of which came in the second half. 

Mast contributed seven rebounds and Sam Hoiberg pulled down five. Hoiberg and Lawrence tied for a team-high six assists apiece and Berke Buyuktuncel had three steals.

As a team, NU shot 51.6 percent (32-of-62) from the field with a 46.2 percent (12-of-26) mark from three. The Huskers’ three-point percentage was their second-highest this season. 

Nebraska took an 11-4 lead into the first media timeout with all 11 points from Sandfort. The Big Red extended the advantage to double digits and kept it until Illinois ended the first half on an 13-0 run to tie the game at 37-37 going into the break.

NU started the second half strong, going on a 6-2 run powered by four points from Lawrence. The two teams went back and forth before the Huskers grabbed a 61-51 lead behind five points from Mast. The Illini continued to fight, cutting the NU edge to one at 78-77 with just over a minute left in the game. Garcia put the Huskers up three before Tomislav Ivisic tied it at 80 apiece. Lawrence put the nail in the coffin for Nebraska and secured the 83-80 win.

The No. 23 Huskers will return to Pinnacle Bank Arena for a matchup with North Dakota on Sunday, Dec. 21. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. (CT) and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. The game can also be heard across the Huskers Radio Network and fans can purchase tickets at huskers.com/tickets. 
 
Re