Historic Husker basketball team ends 87-year drought with first-ever March Madness win

The NCAA has put on a Division 1 men’s basketball tournament for 87 years.

And for 87 years, only one major conference team – Nebraska – has failed to win a game.

But that streak is over.

On Thursday, decades of agonizing defeat came to an end. The Nebraska men’s basketball program got its first NCAA Tournament win, ending the pesky moniker of being the only power conference team without a tournament victory. The No. 4 seed Huskers toppled the No. 13 seed Troy in the first round in Oklahoma City, 76-47.

"This is the most emotional of all of them," Husker head coach Fred Hoiberg said. "I think of my dad, who's in a home right now. I hope he got a chance to watch this one. I can't wait to talk to him, just because of what it means for our family."

His dad coached earned a PhD from Nebraska. Two of Coach Hoiberg's grandparents were faculty members at the university, including his grandfather who coached the Huskers.

Coach's son and team spark plug Sam Hoiberg said toward the end of the game he started soaking in the historic moment. He said he learned from his previous tournament experience in 2024 when Nebraska lost in the first round.

"I think two years ago, that was one of the issues, is I was trying to soak in everything the entire time, and I think I lost focus," Sam Hoiberg said.

For the game and around the arena, Husker nation came out in droves.

A sea of red flooded the streets of Oklahoma City prior to tip off and filled the Paycom Center to the brim. It’s safe to say about 99% of people in the stands were wearing Nebraska red.

After the game, Coach Hoiberg said the Husker turnout was second to none.

“That was as loud and vocal of a neutral site game as I have ever played in," the coach said. "And it's amazing. When we went out for the anthem, we had a little monitor in the coaches room [and could] kind of see it filling in, filling in. When I went for the anthem, I got goosebumps and I got a little emotional just seeing how the fans showed up for us."

The fans were a "huge factor" in the game and Hoiberg said he was thankful to share the historic moment with them.

Their beloved Huskers gave them plenty to cheer about, although it took a little while.

Rienk Mast got the Huskers their first points on a layup. That shot caused the strong Nebraska contingent to erupt.

But it was the Troy Trojans that claimed an early 9-4 advantage. The Trojans started 3-for-3 from long distance, including two makes from junior forward Victor Valdes.

Troy was still ahead 15-12 nearly 10 minutes in when the Pryce Sandfort show started.

The junior hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Huskers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Sandfort would hit three more three-pointers as NU ended the first half on a 29-10 run, giving them a comfortable 41-25 lead going into the locker room.

“We got an offensive rebound three to start, and then my teammates just kept finding me in transition,” Sandfort said during halftime. “Got some good looks out of our flow plays. We really just started hitting shots, getting a lot of stops on the defensive end, being scrappy like we wanted to.”

The junior forward poured in 17 points on 5 of 8 shooting from three-point range in the first 20 minutes.

A scrappy defensive effort also propelled the Huskers early. The NU defense forced 10 turnovers in the opening period, leading to a 15-3 advantage in points off turnovers. Another large disparity came in the form of offensive rebounding. The Big Red grabbed 11 in the first half to Troy’s five, totaling 17 second chance points in the first half.

The Trojans came out in the second half with some life, narrowing the score to 41-30.

But that was as close as they would get. Sandfort hit another triple, and the Huskers quickly stretched the lead to 19 points. Troy would get no closer than 17 points the rest of the game

Sandfort finished the game with 23 points, going 7-12 on three-pointers.

“I hit a couple early, felt really locked in in warm ups," Sandfort said postgame. He added that his teammates and coaches did a great job of finding him and putting him in the right spots.

Sandfort's older brother Peyton plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the site of Thursday's tournament game. The Thunder played in Brooklyn Wednesday. Hours later the elder Sandfort brother made it back to Oklahoma to watch his brother compete on the big stage.

"It was unreal seeing him up there," Sandfort said.

Others stepped in the second half, like Jamarques Lawrence, Mast and Braden Frager who all finished with more than ten points for the game.

The Big Red’s lead peaked at 30 points, with just under seven minutes remaining in the game.

The Huskers knocked home a total of 14 threes for the game.

Sandfort added that he was amazed by the environment in the arena, which was echoed by his teammates.

Sam Hoiberg said "you could tell it was a desperate crowd, desperate for a tournament win."

The win was "kind of felt like the last thing that we needed to do to get this program on top," Hoiberg said.

Nebraska improved their season record to 27-6. With the win, Nebraska will play No. 5 seed Vanderbilt, which defeated No. 12 seed McNeese, 78-68, on Thursday. The second round matchup will tip off at 7:45 p.m. CT in at the Paycom Center and will be televised by TNT.

Coach Hoiberg said the team isn't done "fighting and swinging."

"These guys, all year long, have moved on. They've been so resilient," Hoiberg said. "They've gotten over big wins. They've gotten over tough losses, and I'm confident that they're going to do that again and be locked in."

With that in mind, the Huskers are playing with house money and a chance to advance to the school's first Sweet 16 on Saturday.