Three Things We Learned in Nebraska Basketball’s 88-84 Exhibition Win Over Kansas State

This time, Nebraska didn’t play with their food.

Though the Huskers finished their exhibition slate with a 1-2 record, fans of the Big Red have got to be feeling pretty good after what we saw Monday night. More importantly, Nebraska had one final opportunity to work through some issues before the games start counting for real.

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In a neutral-site matchup with Kansas State in Grand Island, the Big Red looked the best they have since the end of their magical 2025-26 campaign. With the regular season set to begin next week, here are three things we learned about this year’s Nebrasketball team.

1. NU’s Offense is Significantly Better When its Stars are Involved

Pryce Sandfort runs onto the court while being greeted by alumni players before the game against the Northwestern Wildcats. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Though it may sound self-explanatory, this is an important takeaway, considering the Huskers’ two biggest stars had yet to truly shine during the exhibition slate. That changed against Kansas State.

Senior forward Pryce Sandfort, who averaged 18.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in 2025-26, scored just 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting across NU’s first two exhibition games. In game three, the unanimous preseason All-Big Ten selection finished with 23 points on 6-of-16 shooting, adding three rebounds and two assists.

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His counterpart, Braden Frager, had combined for just 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting in those first two games. Against the Wildcats, he scored what would have been a career-high 28 points on 9-of-19 shooting.

Following Nebraska’s exhibition loss to BYU, I wrote that “Nebraska’s Sports Cars (Frager and Sandfort) Need to Be Used.” Whether they saw it or not, the two responded in a big way, arguably becoming the biggest reason for the Huskers’ win over Kansas State.

Both should now have added confidence heading into the season opener against Le Moyne after seeing shots fall at a high level in Monday’s win. That’s important…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/three-things-learned-nebraska-basketballs-035748648.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-27 03:57:00

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