Sam Hoiberg sank a free throw with less than a second left to help Nebraska win the championship of the Hall of Fame Classic 86-85 over Kansas State on Friday in Kansas City, Mo.
With the game tied 85-85, Hoiberg collected a miss of a desperation 3-pointer and missed his put-back, but a foul was whistled on David Castillo, allowing Hoiberg to give his team the win at the line.
He intentionally missed the second attempt.
Four players reached double-figure scoring for Nebraska (6-0), paced by Pryce Sandfort with 21 points. Rienk Mast had 20 and Braden Frager scored 16. Hoiberg had 13.
PJ Haggerty, who came into the game leading the nation in scoring at 28.2 points per game, scored 27 and added seven assists and six rebounds for Kansas State (5-1). Abdi Bashir Jr. scored 26 points, canning seven 3-pointers. Nate Johnson had 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Castillo sank a pair of free throws with 2:39 to play to give Kansas State an 80-78 lead. Sandfort answered with a 3-pointer, and then Haggerty responded with a three-point play to put the Wildcats back in front 83-81 with 2:09 left.
Hoiberg drove the lane to tie the game with 1:36 remaining.
Neither team could score over the next minute until Mast broke the tie by sinking a layup with 35 seconds left. Haggerty responded with a quick layup to make it 85-85.
Nebraska used a 15-0 run early in the first half to create space, keyed by 11 points from Sandfort. A layup from Hoiberg closed the run and gave the Cornhuskers a 19-7 lead at the 13:38 mark.
Kansas State was haunted by nine turnovers in the opening frame, as Nebraska scored 17 points off those giveaways en route to a 45-35 lead at the break.
Sandfort led all scorers with 13 first-half points. Haggerty had 12 for Kansas State.
The Wildcats quickly erased the Huskers’ advantage to open the second half, going on an 11-0 run capped by Bashir’s back-to-back 3-pointers to go up 46-45 in less than three minutes. The game was close the rest of the way.
New Mexico defeated Mississippi State 80-78 in the consolation game earlier Friday.
–Field Level Media
