The Big Ten’s last undefeated team will try to extend the best start in school history when No. 8 Nebraska hosts Oregon in conference play Tuesday night in Lincoln, Neb.
The Cornhuskers (16-0, 5-0 Big Ten) have won 20 in a row, including their four-game sweep to win the College Basketball Crown playoff tournament in Las Vegas last March and April. There have been plenty of close games since then, most recently in Saturday’s 83-77 win over Indiana, in which they trailed by 16 in the second half.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. “There’s just no panic with this group, that’s where I was most impressed. Their emotions are the same, their body language doesn’t change.”
Oregon (8-8, 1-4) comes to town after two games, most recently losing by 10 at home to Ohio State on Thursday. The Ducks were down three early in the second half before going on a 21-0 run.
“We had some really bad offensive possessions,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said.
Nebraska received a career-high performance at Indiana from senior guard Jamarques Lawrence, who scored 27 points on 8-of-13 shooting despite dealing with an ankle injury. Hoiberg said how Lawrence handles treatment between games will determine whether the injury will impact his play Tuesday.
The Cornhuskers’ mainstay, however, is seventh-year senior Rienk Mast. The 6-foot-9 forward, who had a triple-double against FIU on Nov. 8, leads the team in scoring (16.1 points per game) and rebounds (6.6) and ranks third in assists (2.9). He missed the 2024-25 season while recovering from knee surgery.
“We missed this a year ago with Rienk not being on the field with us,” Hoiberg said. “Not only what you see him do on the field, but also his leadership.”
Oregon, which made the NCAA Tournament in its first season in the Big Ten in 2024-25, is off to its worst conference start since a 1-5 start in the Pac-12 in 2013-14. The Ducks’ problems were compounded by the absence of junior point guard Jackson Shelstad (15.6 ppg, 4.9 apg). He has missed the last three games with a hand injury.
“I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs in 46 years,” said Altman, in his 16th season with Oregon. “I’m disappointed, our team is disappointed. But if we don’t work, play harder and play a lot smarter, we’re going to struggle.”
Although guard play has been an issue with Shelstad’s absence, Oregon does not lack size up front. Hoiberg considers the Ducks the “longest” team in the league thanks to their ability to start 7-foot center Nate Bittle alongside 6-9 forwards Kwame Evans Jr. and Sean Stewart.
It will be a homecoming of sorts in Lincoln for Altman, who from 1994 to 2010 was head coach at nearby Creighton. He was 10-7 against Nebraska with the Bluejays, including three wins at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
In addition to a perfect overall record, Nebraska is off to its best start in the Big Ten since arriving in 2010-11. Two more wins and it will tie the school record for best conference start which occurred when it started 7-0 in the Big Eight in 1965-66.
Coincidentally, this is the only other season where Nebraska appears in the top 10 in the Associated Press national poll. The Cornhuskers moved up to No. 8 on February 21, 1966.
“I’m not going to downplay what our guys did with the start, but at the same time, we’re not going to let them get comfortable with that,” Hoiberg said. “We’re just halfway through our season and we haven’t had a problem yet.”
–Field level media
