Huskers to Battle Lobos at Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City

The Nebraska men's basketball team continues its road trip Thursday evening, as the Huskers head to Kansas City for the Hall of Fame Classic. The Huskers face New Mexico at the T-Mobile Center with tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (central). The game will be carried online at Peacock and carried on the Huskers Radio Network, as well as Huskers.com and on the Huskers app.

The four-team event also features Kansas State and Mississippi State, which will square off in Thursday's second game which is set for 8:30 p.m. Thursday's winners will meet in the championship Friday night at 8:30 p.m. while the third-place game will take place at 6 p.m. All-session and daily tickets for the Hall of Fame Classic are available at https://www.t-mobilecenter.com/.

Highest Points Per Possession (Big Ten era)
No.	Opponent	PPP	Date
1.	vs. Oklahoma	1.52	11/15/2025
2.	UTSA	1.43	12/20/2017
t3.	Duquesne	1.42	11/22/2023
t3.	Iowa	1.42	1/27/2018
5.	Creighton	1.39	12/8/2018

The Huskers (4-0) come off one of their best offensive performances in years, rallying from 16 points down to defeat Oklahoma, 105-99, last Saturday. The Huskers overwhelmed Oklahoma by shooting 64 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, including 9-of-14 from 3-point range. The 61 second-half points marked NU's highest single-half total in more than two decades while the 105 points was the Huskers' highest total in regulation against a Division I team since 2018.

Pryce Sandfort led five Huskers in double figures with career highs in both points (28) and assists (seven), while Rienk Mast added 26 markers, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range and six rebounds. It marked just the fifth time in the Big Ten era (2011-12 to present) and first time since 2021 that multiple Huskers had 25-point games.

The Huskers face a New Mexico team that is 3-1 on the season following a 76-68 loss at New Mexico State last Saturday. Deyton Albury led the Lobos with 18 points as NMSU outscored UNM, 49-41 in the second half.  New Mexico features a balanced attack with five players averaging between 9.5 and 13.0 points per game.

Numbers to Know

8 - Nebraska has won eight straight games dating back to last season's College Basketball Crown. It is the nation's longest active winning streak and NU's longest win streak since winning 11 straight games during the 2010-11 season..

12.0 - Nebraska is averaging 12.0 3-pointers per game to lead the Big Ten and rank 16th nationally as of Nov. 17. Last year, NU had just 22 3-pointers through the first four contests.

3.6 - Over the last eight games dating back to the College Basketball Crown, Sam Hoiberg is averaging 3.6 assists per game with a 3.6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Hoiberg has double the number of steals (16) than turnovers (eight) in that stretch.

3- For just the third time in the Big Ten era (2011-12 to present), Nebraska returns multiple double-figure scorers with Rienk Mast (12.3 ppg in 2023-24) and Connor Essegian (10.7 ppg). In both previous instances (2018-19 and 2024-25), Nebraska has advanced to postseason play. \

.933 - Over the last three-plus seasons, NU is 42-3 when holding foes to under 1.00 PPP and 44-5 when holding opponents to under 70 points. Nebraska has improved its KenPom defensive efficiency in each of the past three seasons.

.957 - Nebraska is 22-1 at home in non-conference play over the last three-plus seasons and is 35-9 (.795) at home in non-conference action in Fred Hoiberg's tenure at Nebraska.

.804 - Nebraska is 41-10 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring 80 or more points, including a 32-7 mark over the last three-plus seasons. Of those seven losses since the start of 2022-23, four were in overtime.

Worth Noting
• Nebraska's eight-game win streak is the longest for the Huskers under Fred Hoiberg, bettering the seven-game win streak to start the 2023-24 season. Nebraska is averaging 84.8 ppg on 49 percent shooting during its eight-game win streak and has scored at least 1.00 points per possession in all eight contests.  

• Nebraska is averaging 20.8 assists per game over the first four contests, which is well above NU's first four games totals for each season under Fred Hoiberg. Last year, NU averaged 14.7 assists per game for the season. The Huskers have recorded 20-or-more assists in three of the first four contests.

• NU's team 2.32-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio is also well above NU's early-season pace after four games. In Saturday's win over Oklahoma, Nebraska had 20 assists and just five turnovers, its lowest total since having a school-record two turnovers against Duquesne in 2023. That helped NU set a 4.0 assist-to-turnover ratio, its second-best performance since the start of the 2011-12 season. 

Highest Assist-to-Turnover Ratio (Big Ten era)
No.	Opponent	A-to-T	Date
1.	Duquesne	9.00	11/22/2023
2.	vs Oklahoma	4.00	11/15/2025
3.	North Florida	3.67	12/1/2024
4.	Purdue	3.50	1/16/2013
5	Ohio State	3.17	1/23/2024

• Nebraska has now won its last 15 non-conference games dating back to Nov. 22, 2024. It is the longest streak in the nation, ahead of Loyola Marymount (11) and South Carolina (10) thru Monday's games.

• Junior guard Cale Jacobsen became the eighth different Husker to reach double figures this season with his 10-point performance against Oklahoma. He set a career high with 10 points and matched his career high with six rebounds.  Of the eight players who have reached double figures, five have had at least one game of at least 18 points, including four 20-point efforts (Pryce Sandfort-2; Rienk Mast-1; Braden Frager-1).

• Over the last three games, Pryce Sandfort is averaging 22.3 ppg on 60 percent shooting, including 13-of-26 from 3-point range. The junior wing also has 11 assists and no turnovers in that span. 

• Nebraska has had eight double-digit scoring runs over the first four contests, including three each against West Georgia and FIU.

• Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg won a pair of conference tournament titles in the T-Mobile Center during his tenure at Iowa State (2014-15). 

• This is NU's second Hall of Fame Classic appearance and first since a runner-up finish in 2018. NU last played in the arena against Kansas State on Dec. 17, 2022, a 71-56 loss to the Wildcats.

• Nebraska's signing class of Colin Rice and Jacob Lanier is ranked by ESPN as the No. 24 signing class nationally during the early signing period.

Scouting New Mexico
New Mexico comes to Kansas City with a 3-1 record, posting wins against East Texas A&M, UT Arlington and UC Riverside before falling at New Mexico State last Saturday. The Lobos are coming off a year where they went 27-8 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament under Richard Pitino, who took the Xavier job after the season. That started an overhaul in Albuquerque as the roster is completely retooled from a year ago with nine transfers and five freshmen. Even with the changes, the Lobos were picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West preseason poll. Fifth-year senior Deyton Albury leads UMN in scoring with 13.0 ppg in three games and has shown a proficiency to get to the foul line, averaging eight free throw attempts per game. Freshman Tomislav Buljan is averaging 11.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and has three double-doubles in the Lobos first four contests. 

Eric Olen is in his first season at New Mexico after spending the last 12 seasons at UC San Diego. During his tenure, he guided the Tritons to five straight NCAA Division II Tournaments before the school made the jump to Division I. Last season, the Tritons went 30-5, won the Big West title and reached the NCAA Tournament in its first season of tournament eligibility. 

Series history: Thursday's meeting is only the second between the two programs and first since an 83-71 Lobo win in the first round of the 2009 NIT Tournament. Daniel Faris led the way for New Mexico, scoring 28 points to go with 13 rebounds while Sek Henry had 13 points and Steve Harley added 11 in a losing effort. Nebraska is 39-21 against the current members of the Mountain West following last year's win over Boise State in the 2025 College Basketball Crown semifinals.

Oklahoma Recap
Pryce Sandfort had a career-high 27 points to lead five Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska rallied from a 16-point deficit to defeat Oklahoma, 105-99, at the Sanford Pentagon on Nov. 8. 

Sandfort hit 10-of-18 shots from the field and added a career-high seven assists as Nebraska (4-0) shot 64.3 percent from both the field and 3-point line in the second half to overcome a 51-44 halftime deficit. Rienk Mast added 26 points, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range, to give NU multiple 25-point scorers for the first time since 2021, while Berke Büyüktuncel (16), Jamarques Lawrence (14) and Cale Jacobsen (10) all finished in double figures. 

Nebraska’s 105 points was its highest total in regulation against a Division I opponent since 2018, as the Huskers finished the night shooting 57.6 percent from the field, including 15 3-pointers, in posting its eighth straight win dating back to last season. 

Nebraska trailed 63-53 after a Nijel Pack jumper with 14:37 left before taking control of the contest behind Lawrence, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half. The Huskers ran off eight straight points, including consecutive 3-pointers from the senior guard to pull within 63-61 to force an Oklahoma timeout. On NU’s next possession, Jacobsen’s 3-point play with 12:40 left gave the Huskers their first lead of the night at 64-63. The Huskers continued to roll as a Lawrence basket and a Sandfort 3-pointer pushed the Husker advantage to 72-67. 

The Sooners pulled to within 80-78 on a Pack 3-pointer with 7:25 left, but 3-pointers from Jacobsen, Lawrence and Mast keyed a 9-2 run that made it 89-80 with 5:55 left. NU eventually built an 11-point lead with 2:43 left and withstood OU’s comeback by going 8-of-8 from the line in the final minute. 

Notes from the Oklahoma Win
• Nebraska picked up its first win over Oklahoma since the 2010-11 season and its first win over a current Southeastern Conference member since an 82-71 win over Tennessee in the 2015 Barclays Classic.

• Nebraska scored over 100 points in regulation for the first time since scoring 110 points against Doane on Dec. 17, 2020. It was also NU's first 100-point effort in regulation against a Division I opponent since Nov. 6, 2018.

• Saturday's win over Oklahoma marked only the seventh time in the last 20 seasons that a Big Ten team had 15 3-pointers, 20 assists and five turnovers or less in a game. 

• Nebraska's 61 second-half points against the Sooners was its highest total since scoring 61 against App State on Dec. 31, 1994. 

• Nebraska overcame a 16-point deficit, the 10th time the Huskers have overcome a double-figure deficit under Hoiberg. The 16-point deficit was NU’s largest comeback since a 20-point comeback at Northwestern last

season. Nebraska has three double-figure comebacks during its eight-game win streak (Arizona State, UCF, Oklahoma).