Three keys for Northwestern vs. Nebraska

On Thursday night, Northwestern (10-15, 2-12 B1G) heads to Lincoln to face the No. 7 Nebraska Cornhuskers (21-3, 10-3 B1G), just three days after its brutal 87-75 loss to No. 2 Michigan. On Wednesday, the ‘Cats led for most of the game until Michigan went on a 45-17 run starting at 14:03 in the second half, coming back from down 16 to win at Welsh-Ryan.

At Nebraska, Northwestern will look to avenge its January loss to the Cornhuskers and snap its four-game losing streak. Here are three keys for Northwestern against Nebraska:

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When the ‘Cats faced off against Nebraska earlier this year, the Cornhuskers ran them off the floor, shooting 51% from the field and 42% from the perimeter to turn in 77 points.

For much of the game, Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg played a brand of hybrid small-ball that has made Nebraska so lethal this season, with European bigs Rienk Mast and Berke Buyuktuncel playing for only a combined 48 minutes. Cornhusker small ball centers around four key players: coach’s son Sam Hoiberg, Pryce Sandfort, Jamarques Lawrence and Braden Frager.

Really, with the core four on the floor alongside Mast or Buyuktuncel, the Cornhuskers aren’t actually “small,” with Sandfort standing at 6-foot-7 and the Euro bigs both being a tall 6-foot-10. Rather, I use the term “small-ball” as a way to indicate how Nebraska attacks teams when its core four is on the floor.

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Hoiberg, Sandfort, Lawrence and Fraser are all quick and can beat you to the basket. Yet, on top of that, they all shoot the three-ball well, with each player averaging over 36.5% from deep. With those guards on the floor, Nebraska becomes extremely versatile offensively, playing five guys out on the perimeter and trusting that every player can win off the dribble, is smart enough to be a playmaker and can hit a three-point shot if left open behind the arc.

In January, Northwestern was overwhelmed by the quickness of Nebraska’s core four. Wildcat coach Chris Collins…

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Publish date : 2026-02-13 18:39:00

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