No.15 Nebraska stayed perfect with a 78-55 win over North Dakota on Sunday night to bring its record to 12-0. The Huskers finished the game shooting 45 percent from the field after a 28 percent first half, while the Fighting Hawks shot 33 percent.
Junior forward Berke Buyuktuncel made history, earning the fourth triple-double in school history and the team’s second of the year. Buyuktuncel’s impactful performance carries Nebraska into its last non-conference game of the season.
Buyuktuncel’s final stat line came out to be 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
“I thought (Buyuktuncel) was unbelievable,” head coach Fred Hoiberg said postgame. “He got a couple of tip-ins for us that really got us going.”
Here are three takeaways from the win.
Sloppy first half
The Huskers had arguably their worst first half of the season, trailing the Fighting Hawks 26-24 after the first 20 minutes.
It was nearly impossible for a shot to go through. Senior forward Jared Garcia sank the first 3-pointer of the game after an 0-for-10 start for Nebraska with 8:58 left in the first. The team ended the half 2-for-18 from deep and 28 percent from the field.
Lucky for Hoiberg’s squad, North Dakota also had shooting struggles early and only mustered 26 points on 31 percent shooting.
“I thought we took some contested (shots),” Hoiberg said postgame. “We just didn’t ever get the ball in the paint.”
The theme for the Huskers’ non-conference games has been their slow starts. Nebraska has played down to its opponent’s level rather than putting the game away early.
Sandfort not on his game
After an incredible performance against Illinois, where he put up 32 points, junior forward Pryce Sandfort put up a goose egg in the points column for the first 32 minutes of the game. He found his first points on a 3-pointer from the elbow. However, the 6-foot-7 forward shot an underwhelming 30 percent from the floor and 20 percent from beyond the arc.
Sandfort was able to contribute four more points after his first points, all four from layups in the final four minutes.
Despite the shooting woes, the team was +18 with Sandfort on the court.
Frager relentless to the hoop
Freshman forward Braden Frager made moves to the hoop all night, unafraid to draw contact. The freshman sixth-man reached the free throw line eight times, two of which came as and-one opportunities.
“I had to find other ways to impact the game,” Frager said postgame. “Getting downhill, getting to the line, was one of them.”
In his first true road game in his collegiate career against Illinois on Dec. 13, Frager didn’t score any points through his 13 minutes of action. However, the freshman took advantage of the gaps in the defense and exploded through them on Sunday night.
Frager’s sixth-man role has benefited the Huskers tremendously. Nebraska was +20 with him on the court, and the freshman contributed the fourth-most minutes on the team with 27.
The Huskers are back in action on Dec. 30 against New Hampshire. The game will be televised on BTN.