Frager, Sandfort Shine in 88-84 Exhibition Victory
Braden Frager and Pryce Sandfort combined for 51 points and the Nebraska men’s basketball team defeated Kansas State, 88-84, in front of a sellout crowd at the BigIron Events Center Monday night.
Nebraska withstood a frantic Kansas State comeback, as the Wildcats cut a 13-point deficit to two points three times in the final 30 seconds, but the Huskers, who went 21-of-27 from the line, went a perfect 6-of-6 in the final 30 seconds, the last coming from freshman Jacob Lanier, who sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 3.1 seconds left.
Frager had a game-high 28 points, along with 10 rebounds, which would have set career bests in both categories, while Sandfort added 23 points and Damon Wilkinson came off the bench and added 12 points. NU got 29 points from its bench as Taj DeGourville and Lanier added nine and eight points, respectively.
Brandon Rechsteiner paced KSU with 21 points, including five 3-pointers, while Jaden Schutt added 16 markers.
In the first half, Nebraska started slowly but got rolling, shooting 46 percent in the first half and getting a combined 28 points from Frager and Sandfort to take a 43-38 lead into the locker room.
Frager had 16 points and three rebounds, while Sandfort added 12 points, as the duo combined for six of the Huskers’ seven 3-pointers in the half.
Nebraska trailed 30-25 before regaining the lead on a 12-2 run behind Frager and Sandfort. The pair combined for 10 Husker points in the run, taking a 37-32 lead on a trio of Sandfort free throws at the 2:55 mark. KSU cut the deficit to 42-40 before Sandfort closed the half with his third 3-pointer of the stanza to give NU a five-point halftime lead.
NU withstood a blistering KSU attack from 3-point range, as the Wildcats went 10-21 from beyond the arc, including a 3-of-3 effort from Rechsteiner and shot 48 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
Kansas State scored the first six points coming out of the locker room, taking a 44-43 lead on a 3-point play from Dez Lindsay with 19:06 left, but the Huskers would respond. Sandfort scored eight ponts in a 10-3 run that stretched the Husker led to 53-46 with 15:28 remaining.
Nebraska built a nine-point lead at 68-59 after a Damon Wilkinson free throw with 7:23 remaining. Kansas State cut the advantage to 68-62 with six minutes to go but two Wilkinson baskets and a Frager 3-pointer stretched the lead back to 13 with 4:15 to go.
The Wildcats clawed back and got within five at 75-70 with just under three minutes remaining, but NU stretched the score to 80-72 on a Sandfort 3-pont play with 1:45 left. K-State rattled off six straight points to make the Husker lead 82-80 before DeGourville hit a pair of crucial free throws to make it a two-possession game.
The Wildcats hit another two-point shot to cut the lead to two with 11 seconds left before a pair of Frager free throws extended the NU advantage back to four. Lanier scored the final points of the contest to seal the 88-84 victory for the Big Red.
The Huskers open the regular season next Monday, Nov. 2, as Nebraska plays host to Le Moyne. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be carried on the Huskers Radio Network and B1G+. A limited number of tickets are available by visiting Huskers.com/tickets.