The Pryce was right for Nebraska’s first ever NCAA Tournament victory on Thursday in the opening game in the South Region in Oklahoma City.
Pryce Sandfort sank seven 3s and scored a game-high 23 points, leading the fourth-seeded Cornhuskers’ lopsided first-round win over Troy, 76-47.
“We’re not satisfied, I can promise you that,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. “But this is emotional.”
Jamarques Lawrence and Braden Frager had 13 apiece for Nebraska, which had 20 assists on 28 field goals and just six turnovers
Nebraska’s 27th victory of the season sets a new program record and ends an 0-for-8 drought in the NCAA Tournament. The Cornhuskers (27-7) will play No. 5 Vanderbilt or No. 12 McNeese State on Saturday.
Troy (22-12) was led by Victor Valdes with 14 points. Troy averaged 80.3 points per game entering Thursday but shot 13 of 46 (28.3 percent) in the game and just 24 percent (6 of 25) in the second half.
The Cornhuskers frustrated the 13th-seeded Trojans by easily finding open looks with spacing and ball movement.
Every Nebraska player touched the ball before it ended up in the hands of Cale Jacobsen for a 3-pointer with 7:43 left. It was the Huskers’ biggest lead of the game until they pushed it to 70-40 on the ensuing possession.
Troy trailed the final 29:57. The Trojans couldn’t buy a 3 and Nebraska couldn’t miss.
Sandfort stuck a corner 3 and Lawrence nailed one from the right wing the next time down for a 50-32 lead. Another Troy miss from deep pushed its field-goal drought to more than four minutes until Valdes got a long one to fall and keep the deficit to 20.
Troy had Nebraska nervous early, but the Cornhuskers went on a 20-4 run propelled by a barrage of Sandfort 3s to build a lead of 16 (41-25) at halftime. Sandfort had 17 with five triples at the half.
