Nebraska men's basketball coach says Rienk Mast needed two IV bags Wednesday, but could play in top 10 tussle

Following the team’s first loss of the season in a three-point heartbreaker to No. 3 Michigan, Nebraska men's basketball head coach Fred Hoiberg said standout senior Rienk Mast, who missed the game with a stomach bug, got worse after the game.

“Wednesday, Rienk had to go to the ER with severe dehydration, still battling it, ended up getting home at about 2:30 in the morning after a couple bags of IV fluids, felt better this morning and was able to come in and watch film with us,” Hoiberg said about his senior forward. “And then, we took him through the very early non-contact portion of our practice.”

The coach didn’t rule out Mast for the team’s upcoming matchup with No. 9 Illinois on Sunday, the second top 10 matchup of the week for the No. 5 ranked Cornhuskers.

“If he responds well the rest of the day and has a good day tomorrow, we anticipate him being out there on Sunday, not knowing exactly what he's gonna be able to give us,” Hoiberg said. “Obviously, he's lost a ton of weight. He's still very weak, but it was good to see him back in the gym today.”

Initially, Hoiberg thought freshman sixth man Braden Frager could miss two to four weeks, but he was back at practice just eight days following his ankle injury against Washington last week.

“He was back on the floor today for a portion of the contact drills,” Hoiberg said. “He went through stations yesterday and did a little bit of work on the floor today. We got him out about halfway through, but it was good to get him some live reps. We'll see how he responds to it.”

Depending on how the two key contributors feel after Saturday’s practice, the trainers and Hoiberg will make a call on their availability Sunday.

“Rienk's a warrior,” the coach said. “The fact that he even was out there, two days later (after) being in the emergency room shows you the type of character and the type of player that he is, to even give it a go.”

Junior guard Cale Jacobsen, who started Tuesday in place of Mast, said this team is tough. He said Mast desperately wanted to play against Michigan but was held out because of the stomach virus.

“He's an awesome person, an awesome leader for us to look at, and he was probably the most heartbroken (out of) anybody about that loss, just the way that he looked in the locker room,” Jacobsen said. “But he just knew there was no way for him to go. He was hurting pretty bad.”

With Frager back on the practice floor sooner than expected and multiple people battling illnesses, Jacobsen said it shows the toughness of his team.

“I think that's kind of the highlight of our group, it's just a group that loves to play for each other and loves to compete together,” the junior from Ashland said. “There's a lot of great dudes in that locker room.”

How the Huskers balance being proud of how they fought against Michigan while also knowing they could have won is “the million dollar question,” Jacobsen said.

“We don't listen, try not to listen to the outside and what's going on around college basketball, what people are saying,” Jacobsen said. “Because when you're good, people make you better than you are. And when you're struggling, they don't always see what's going on. So, we try to block that out and really just watch the film and watch what's true about our group.”

With Mast potentially out against Illinois, senior guard Jamarques Lawrence said the Huskers will have to have the next man up mentality.

“Just trying to find different ways to get the ball in the paint, running different actions from there,” Lawrence said.

Looking ahead to Illinois on Sunday, physicality and rebounding will be key, even though the Huskers will have another size disadvantage.

“It's all about your mentality,” Lawrence said. “You just have to go out, even though you're bigger than me, but I'm going to be physical with you. It's really this mentality, effort.”

The senior from New Jersey said his team will have to prepare to guard dynamic freshman Keaton Wagler, who recently scored 46 points in a game against No. 12 Purdue.

“He's just been hooping,” Lawrence said. “It's great to see. You know, hopefully he doesn’t do that Sunday.”

The Husker defense and rebounding efforts are going to be challenged by Illinois.

“We're going to have our hands full,” Hoiberg said. “We're going to have to come out and get off to a good start. I know it's going to be an unbelievable atmosphere in PBA (Pinnacle Bank Arena). We're excited to get back in our building. It seems like we haven't been here in a while and we have to continue to protect it. We get six of our last 10 at home, and we have to take advantage of that.”

The Big Red defense will have to continue to force mistakes, but capitalize on turnovers better than his team did against Michigan, Hoiberg said.

He hopes his team will respond well to its first loss of the season.

“I give our guys a lot of credit for competing the way we did, but there were still mistakes that we need to improve on if we want to stay at the top of this league, especially with the schedule that we've got coming up,” Hoiberg said. “These last 10 are going to be a monster, starting with this game on Sunday against Illinois.”

Tipoff Sunday is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT with Fox Sports One broadcasting the matchup. Both teams are involved in a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten, joining Michigan and Michigan State with 9-1 records, although that will change after Friday night, with the Wolverines traveling to play the Spartans.