Fred Hoiberg throws himself in front of players to take blame for Nebraska’s 4-player mistake

In the biggest moment of Nebraska’s 77-71 Sweet 16 loss to Iowa on Thursday night in Houston, the Huskers were a man short. Coming out of a timeout, Fred Hoiberg’s team had just four players on the floor with 58 seconds remaining. The blunder allowed Iowa to extend the lead to six and all but put it out of reach. 

Rienk Mast appeared to be the player who was supposed to be on the floor as he ran to join Cale Jacobsen, Pryce Sandfort, Sam Hoiberg, and Berke Buyuktuncel, but didn’t make it to the scorer’s table by the time Iowa inbounded to Alvaro Folgueiras down the floor to set up his and-one layup. 

In the postgame press conference, Mast was understandably asked about the miscue, but he never got a chance to answer. 

“I'll answer that one, put that on me,” Hoiberg interjected. “It was a miscommunication, and I'm the head coach. Put that on me."

Fred Hoiberg shoulders blame for costly miscommunication

Huskers fans have been sure to do just that, lighting up Hoiberg, the Big Ten Coach of the Year, on social media following the loss. Not only did the Huskers take the floor a man short within the final minute of the biggest game in program history, but they led for 32 minutes and failed to close out the ninth-seeded Hawkeyes for a trip to the South Regional Final on Saturday. 

Hoiberg is responsible for leading the Huskers to their greatest season in program history and their first-ever NCAA Tournament win last week. That will make it difficult for the fanbase to reconcile that greatness with this blunder. With time, the frustration will likely subside, but Folgueiras’s and-one will forever taint the memory of this trip to the Regional semifinal. 

It helps, though, that Hoiberg handled it well in the postgame press conference. There’s no reason to hang your players out to dry or put them in the difficult situation of answering that question. Still, not every coach would have jumped in so readily. 

Hoiberg was later asked for clarification about whether or not the referees were supposed to hold the play until Nebraska had its fifth player on the floor, but he was unable to provide it. 

 “I’ve never been in a situation like that. I know they always count to make sure there’s not six. I don’t know the rule on that with four,” Hoiberg responded. “Again, it was a miscommunication, and unfortunately, it happened. As far as the rule, I’ve never been a part of anything like that.” 

Hopefully for Huskers fans’ sake, he never will be again.