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The first half was weirder than it should’ve been, which led to a one-possession game at the break. But Nebraska eventually got going, pulled away and recorded an 86-55 win over New Hampshire on Tuesday that pushed the Cornhuskers to 13-0 on the season and left them as one of only six undefeated teams remaining in the sport.
“Of the 13 games, the thing I’ve been most impressed with [with] this group is how they’ve handled adversity and how they’ve been coachable,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said, according to HuskerOnline’s Robin Washut. “We chewed them out pretty good at halftime today — and they responded in a big way.”
Nebraska is No. 13 in Wednesday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Michigan remains No. 1 for the 22nd consecutive day. Tuesday’s victory means the Cornhuskers have finished the non-league portion of their schedule undefeated for the first time since the 1928-29 season. Next up, on Friday, they’ll hop back into Big Ten play with a showdown against Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans that’s scheduled to tip at 9 p.m. ET inside Pinnacle Bank Arena.
MSU is No. 9 in the Top 25 And 1.
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Isaac Trotter
It’ll be a huge game, obviously, in part because it will only be Nebraska’s second game this season against a top-40 team at KenPom.com. The first was a victory over Illinois three Saturdays ago in which Pryce Sandfort got 32 points. He was also the Cornhuskers’ leading scorer Tuesday, finishing with 19 points on 15 shots. So the 6-foot-7 forward is now averaging a career-high 16.5 points, a career-high 5.0 rebounds and a career-high 2.5 assists in 30.2 minutes per game. He’s one of the sport’s breakout stars after spending the previous two years averaging single-digits in points at Iowa.
If you’re curious, Nebraska and Iowa will play twice in the regular season. The first meeting is scheduled for Feb. 17 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The second is set for March 8 at Pinnacle Bank.
