For the 20th straight game, the Nebraska basketball team went out and proved any remaining doubters wrong. For the 9th straight game, the Huskers beat down a Big Ten rival, this time the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 76-57.
On Saturday, Fred Hoiberg's squad was far from perfect. However, national analysts are noticing just how good they look when it matters the most. ESPN's Myron Medcalf was the latest, even going so far as to compare the Cornhuskers to the 1980's "Showtime" Los Angeles Lakers.
Nebraska finished the first half in a spot of trouble, trailing Minnesota 36-30 at the break. Was this going to be the first loss of the season, to a mediocre Gophers team that was just 10-9 coming into the game? Nope, and that's where the Lakers comparison comes in.
Not sure if people believe in Nebraska yet, but they were basically the 80s Lakers in the second half of this game. Haven’t seen many teams shift gears the way that they can. https://t.co/VOLLRPoJoj
— Myron Medcalf (@MedcalfByESPN) January 24, 2026
Why Nebraska’s second-half gear shift is breaking the Big Ten
Once the second half started, it was all Huskers all the time. They managed to outscore Minnesota 46-21, hence the eventual 19-point win. But the score differential was only part of the story.
At one point, Nebraska was so red-hot, they were on a 37-10 scoring run that shifted the game from an 8-point Minny lead, to a 19-point Husker advantage. Inside that run, NU scored 14 unanswered, more than Minnesota scored in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
This was a big reason why Medcalf was thoroughly impressed by the way the Cornhuskers played, taking to social media to make it clear that more people needed to understand what they were seeing in the 20-0 Big Ten-leading team.
"Not sure if people believe in Nebraska yet, but they were basically the 80s Lakers in the second half of this game," the analyst wrote on Twitter. "Haven’t seen many teams shift gears the way that they can."
It's not the first time they've done this particular kind of gear shifting, either. In their game against Indiana on January 10, the Huskers trailed 39-30 at the break. They then outscored the Hoosiers 53-38 in the second half.
It wasn't as pronounced at Northwestern, but once again, Nebraska went into the half with just a five-point (34-29) lead over the Wildcats and outscored them 43-29 in the second period.
That Hoiberg's squad tends to do this on the road shows a strength that few Big Ten teams have shown, not just this year but in the last decade. The conference is one where even the best teams in the country can lose to an "also-ran" on the road.
Nebraska, however, looks like one of the best of the best. So good they're drawing comparisons to the best teams in the history of basketball. Sooner or later, this ride will come to an end, but it's mighty enjoyable so far.