The Nebraska basketball team continued to show that this year is different than any other under Fred Hoiberg. Saturday’s 81-79 win over Minnesota. That might have been demonstrated just in the fact that it was the first time the Huskers won at Minnesota since 2018.
The game was one of runs and at any one time, it appeared that both teams had the game in hand. Then the other squad would suddenly go off on a spurt and look like they had taken control.
That included an 11-2 run by Minnesota to close out the first half. As has been the case many times over the course of the Fred Hoiberg era, when the Nebraska basketball team goes cold, they go very cold. However, when they get hot, they can look like one of the best teams in the Big Ten
Nebraska basketball streaky again
The Huskers came out of the half, as they have done many times this season, looking like a completely different squad. They then used a 21-8 run to take a seven point lead with just under 13 minutes to go in the game.
However, Minny then went on a 12-4 run to take a one-point advantage with a little over 7 minutes to go in the game. The two teams then battled back and forth for the rest of the period, though the Nebraska basketball team did look like it was going to have a chance to seal the victory in regulation.
That was until Taurus Samuels banged home the tying 3-point shot with just four seconds to go in the game to send it to OT.
At the time, I mentioned on Twitter that it felt as though the Huskers needed to win in regulation in order to win at all. I didn’t realize how right I was until looking a bit deeper into it.
When the Huskers managed to take control and then win in overtime, it marked the first Big Ten road win in OT. Not of the Hoiberg era. Since the team joined the conference.
The win puts the Nebraska basketball team at 9-7 on the season and 2-3 in the conference. Both of those marks are easily the best start for the Huskers in the Fred Hoiberg era. Next up is a matchup against an Illinios team that was considered a lock for a deep run in the NCAA tournament at the start of the year. However, the Illini are currently 0-3 in the Big Ten.