Nebraska basketball double bye scenarios, plus women win at Big Ten tourney

I’m not sure the last time both Nebraska basketball teams won 20 games in a season, but the Cornhuskers clinched that on Thursday night thanks to a 64-56 win over Purdue in the second round of the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament on Friday.

The fifth-seeded Huskers just missed the double bye in the women’s Big Ten tournament but they got their 20th win thanks to 19 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists from Jaz Shelley. Callin Hake tacked on 15 points for Nebraska women’s basketball, which also got 12 points and seven rebounds from Alexis Markowski.

Shelley made four 3-pointers in the win and she’ll lead the Huskers into Friday’s quarterfinal matchup against Michigan State (2 PM CST, BTN). The 20-10 Huskers are projected to make the NCAA tournament. They also beat MSU in their only matchup during the regular season in December.

Nebraska basketball double-bye scenarios

The Nebraska basketball men’s team has a light week with just one road game on Sunday (at Michigan) to close out the regular season.

At 22-8, Nebraska will make the NCAA tournament. There’s no need to worry about that. However, the Huskers can improve their seeding, and getting a double bye for the Big Ten tournament wouldn’t hurt.

The Michigan State men’s team actually did the Huskers a huge favor this week, knocking off Northwestern 53-49 on Wednesday. That means that if Nebraska wins on Sunday, it’s guaranteed a top-four seed and a double bye into the quarterfinals for next week’s Big Ten tournament.

Wisconsin would need to lose one of its last two games, but that combined with a Nebraska win would give the Huskers the No. 3 seed, which would be pretty incredible after they were picked to finish 12th. Fred Hoiberg should be Big Ten Coach of the Year and if he’s not, it will be highway robbery.

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