Nebraska men’s basketball team comes back in OT to polish off historic regular season run

The No. 9 Nebraska men’s basketball team on Sunday revived itself in overtime against Iowa at home, beating their rivals 84-75. The Huskers met Iowa in February in Iowa City, where they fell to the Hawkeyes 57-52.

“All the seniors today were saying, ‘We’re not losing today. We can’t go out in a bad way,’” Head coach Fred Hoiberg said after the game.

On Senior Day at Lincoln’s Pinnacle Bank Arena, the Huskers blew a double-digit lead in the second half against their Big Ten rivals. The team led by 11 points with eight minutes to go, but the Hawkeyes rallied in the remaining minutes to outscore the Huskers 44-40 after halftime. The Iowa comeback pushed the game into overtime, but the Huskers made several three-pointers to outlast the Hawkeyes.

The victory caps off a historic regular season for the Huskers. Hoiberg and the team have recorded 26 wins this season, which is the most regular season wins ever for the program and ties the 1990-91 team for the most total wins. The Huskers also broke a school ranking record in February when they debuted in the AP Top 25 poll at No. 7. Nebraska later rose to No.5 for the team's highest ranking in the AP poll. The previous highest ranking was No. 8, which was set by the 1965-66 team.

With the win on Sunday, Nebraska secured a No. 2 seed for the upcoming Big Ten conference tournament that tips off Tuesday in Chicago. Nebraska won’t play until Friday.

The win against Iowa also puts Nebraska in a good position for Selection Sunday, the NCAA tournament and seeding unveiling.