3 thoughts on Nebraska basketball’s win over New Mexico

The longest winning streak in college basketball continued on Thursday night as the Nebraska basketball team defeated New Mexico 84-72 in Kansas City.

The Huskers covered the spread and beat a solid New Mexico squad by double digits. The Lobos made a run in the second half after Nebraska basketball built an 18-point halftime lead (43-25), and at one point, the lead was down to five points, but Braden Frager came up with a critical bucket. Pryce Sandfort canned a 3-pointer soon after, one of 13 for the Huskers, and soon enough, Nebraska was back in control.

Frager came off the bench to score 20 points. He made four triples and grabbed eight rebounds, too. Jamarques Lawrence led all scorers with 21 points, including a 4-of-7 effort from deep as Nebraska improved to 5-0 on the season, winning their ninth consecutive game.

Here are three thoughts on the win.

Nebraska won this game inside

The Huskers hit 13 3-pointers. This is a stellar shooting team, and they lived up to that on Thursday night. However, Nebraska is also good inside the arc. Nebraska made 14-of-22 attempts on 2-pointers (63 percent). New Mexico shot 55 percent on 2-pointers, but Nebraska also had a 10-point advantage at free free-throw line.

Both teams shot the ball fairly well, except New Mexico shot 30 percent from deep compared to 37 percent for Nebraska. The Lobos shot just 39 percent overall and settled for 30 percent shots 44 times.

That’s a great defensive effort and exactly how the Huskers draw it up. The 3-pointers allowed might be frustrating, but when teams can’t score inside the arc or at the line, this is why it works.

Braden Frager provides a spark

There was buzz about Frager last season, but it’s hard to believe it. You just never know how production during practice will translate to the games.

So far, Frager, the in-state kid, has proven he deserves the minutes he’s getting. Frager could have pouted when Fred Hoiberg brought in others to probably play over him. Yet, the kid kept working and earned his way into the rotation.

The 6-foot-7 wing will stay there as long as he’s knocking down 3-pointers and playing as scrappy as he did on Thursday. His attack that got a hoop and harm was a spark. He was also intense on defense.

This Nebraska team has limited athleticism. But they have a lot of heart, too, especially with guys like Frager are out there.

The rotation seems set

We are only five games into the 2025-26 season, but Fred Hoiberg also seems to have an eight-man rotation that he feels good about.

Beyond the five starters: Rienk Mast, Berke, Pryce Sandfort, Sam Hoiberg, and Lawrence, the Huskers have only been playing Frager, Cale Jacobsen, and Connor Essegian off the bench. That’s more than enough shooting and ball-handling.

Jared Garcia and Kendall Blue haven’t had a role, although they could. Some injuries have been a factor in the frontcourt, but so far at least, this team seems to have come together quickly. The sum is better than all of its parts, although Mast has played at an All-Big Ten level.

It feels like Fred Hoiberg did a nice job assembling a team that fits well together.

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