For a split second, it looked like Nebraska’s biggest moment in program history was about to get erased by a shot that had no business being anything other than a handshake at midcourt.
Instead, it turned into the kind of ending March serves up when it wants a building to lose its mind.
No. 4 seed Nebraska beat No. 5 seed Vanderbilt 74-72 on Friday night at Paycom Center, punching the program’s first Sweet 16 ticket after Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner launched a half court heave that dropped into the cylinder at 0.0 and then ricocheted out.
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The final sequence came fast. With the game tied and nine seconds left, Nebraska forward Braden Frager took a pass from guard Pryce Sandfort, drove the lane and finished a left handed layup off the glass to put the Cornhuskers up 74-72 with 2.2 seconds remaining. Vanderbilt called timeout, advanced the ball, and Tanner caught the inbound, took a dribble and launched from the half court line. The shot hit the front rim, dropped in, and then spun out as the horn sounded.
“I thought it went in,” Frager said. “I didn’t know how to react, and I was just — everybody started celebrating. I was like, “Yeah, he actually missed it, so …”
Sandfort, sitting next to Frager postgame, described his own view of the shot. “I just about died,” Sandfort said. “I was on the side, so I didn’t know the angle it was on. But man, I just want to thank the good Lord Jesus Christ for that one.”
Nebraska guard Sam Hoiberg said he thought it was over when the ball first dropped. “My heart sank as that ball went in the hoop, and then it went out,” said Hoiberg, who had eight points and six assists. “And I think it took me half a second to register it didn’t go in, and then I just screamed in elation. I thought it was in.”
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Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg framed it the same way from the sideline. “That last shot, man, it just took my breath away,” Hoiberg said. “That kid [Tanner] is an unbelievable player, and when that thing was up in the air, I was like, ‘Man, that’s going in.’ It hit every part of the rim. Thankfully, it bounced out.”
Tanner finished with a game high 27 points in the loss. Frager and Sandfort led Nebraska with 15 points a piece, with Rienk Mast adding 13 and Berke Buyuktuncel scoring 12 as the Cornhuskers improved to 28-6 and moved on to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time.
The atmosphere looked nothing like a neutral site. Nebraska fans packed the lower bowl, stayed standing for long stretches, and made the building sound like a Lincoln home game relocated to Oklahoma. Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington credited the crowd for the energy level.
“I know it had to be incredible on TV,” Byington said of the atmosphere. “It was an incredible game. I mean, it sucks that we were on the side that we were on. But, I mean, a high-level game, and I’m sure the crowd lifted them up and had them playing — they played so hard…That’s one of the best environments or toughest environments that I’ve ever coached in. The fans were incredible for them, incredibly supportive and wild.”
Next up, Nebraska will face the winner of Florida vs Iowa, with game day and time to be determined. Hoiberg said the team would return home, regroup, and start building the plan as soon as the next opponent is set.
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