By: Hayden Coker, Sports Director
Last night, The Huskers rendezvous with the Kansas State Wildcats came to a close with Nebraska securing an 88-84 victory. Braden Frager added a double double to his resume with 28 points and 10 boards. It's safe to say Coach Hoiberg was pleased. "Fragers line is great, but the thing I like is the 10 rebounds", Hoiberg stated.
Frager wasn't the only star of the night for the Huskers. Pryce Sandfort impressed as well with his quick release. Sandfort added 23 points to the board for the 'Skers with 12 coming from beyond the arc. Pryce was 4/13 from three point range with 3 of the 4 connections coming in the first half. Most importantly, though, was Sandfort's efficiency at the charity stripe. Sandfort made 7 of his 8 free throw attempts with his only miss coming in the 1st half. Pryce was a perfect 4/4 from the line in the 2nd half, playing a crucial role in the four point victory for the Huskers.
In postgame, Hoiberg emphasized the importance of closing out going forward. "They (K State) did a get job of getting the ball in, and I thought we were just a hair short on some closeouts, and then at the end we have to do a much better job of keeping the ball in front of us." This came after Kansas State was able to secure penetration down low from freshman, Jaylen Alexander. Alexander, a twitchy 6'2 guard, was all over the floor and scored 6 points in the paint within 30 seconds to bring K State within 2 in the final minute. This came before Jacob Lanier secured the win for the Big Red with two free throws to put it out of reach.
Nebraska will return to the court to begin the regular season on November 2nd, where the Cornhuskers will take on Le Moyne at 6:30 in PBA.
Kansas State will return to Manhatten, Kansas with their first game of the regular season on November 3rd against South Dakota State at 7:00.