Rienk Mast made six 3-pointers, including the tiebreaking one with 1:54 remaining, and No. 13 Nebraska remained unbeaten with a 58-56 victory over No. 9 Michigan State on Friday night in a Big Ten showdown in Lincoln, Neb.
Mast had 19 points and seven rebounds as the Cornhuskers (14-0, 3-0) extended their school-record start as well as increased their program-long winning streak to 18 dating to last season.
Michigan State had a chance to force overtime when Carson Cooper was fouled with 0.7 seconds remaining. Cooper missed the first shot and then was called for a lane violation while missing the second on purpose as Nebraska held on.
Jaxon Kohler had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Spartans (12-2, 2-1), who had a four-game winning streak snapped.
Nebraska prevailed despite shooting just 31.6% and making 13 of 37 (35.1%) from behind the arc. Mast was 6 of 13 from distance.
Pryce Sandfort added 13 points and Jamarques Lawrence added 12 for the Cornhuskers.
Jeremy Fears Jr. tallied 14 points and seven assists and Kur Teng scored 12 points on four 3-pointers for Michigan State.
Cooper collected 13 rebounds but was just 2 of 6 from the free-throw line while scoring six points.
Michigan State shot just 34.0% from the field, including 10 of 28 (35.7%) from 3-point range.
The Spartans led 38-37 after Cooper’s basket with 15:22 remaining in the game but wouldn’t make another field goal for more than seven minutes.
Meanwhile, the Cornhuskers scored 10 straight points as Sandford made two 3-pointers and Braden Frager connected on one to give Nebraska a 47-38 lead with 9:31 left in the contest.
However, Fragen was called for a technical for taunting Fears after making the 3-pointer and the Spartans responded with a 17-5 burst.
Fears made both technical shots and added four free throws in a span of 27 seconds as Michigan State pulled within 47-44 with 8:46 left.
Fragen nailed a 3-pointer 18 seconds later to give Nebraska a six-point advantage. Kohler then buried a trey with 8:18 left to end the field-goal drought and Teng drilled a 3-pointer to tie it at 50 with 7:50 left.
Teng later hit another 3-pointer to give the Spartans a 53-52 edge with 5:38 remaining. Fears followed with a jumper for a three-point lead with 4:41 left.
Sam Hoiberg made two free throws with 3:29 left and Mast split two free throws with 2:34 left to tie it at 55.
After Mast swished his tiebreaking 3-pointer, Cooper split two free throws with 1:19 left for the Spartans.
The contest was tied at 33 at halftime. Mast scored 15 points on five first-half treys for the Cornhuskers, while Kohler scored 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting, including four 3-pointers, for the Spartans.
–Field Level Media
