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Final Score: Iowa 77, Nebraska 71.
As expected, Iowa takes the game late. The Hawkeyes get 39 points off the bench. Alvaro Folgueiras finishes with a layup and dunk in the final minute as Nebraska fell asleep on one possession (with only four guys on the court) and did not foul early enough on another. Iowa leads for only 2:08 seconds tonight. The Hawkeyes finish on a 15-6 run. Illinois or Houston does not want to play this team as Ben McCollum is a coaching genius! Iowa won this game with its defense the last five minutes. The Hawkeyes matched Nebraska with 13 made threes. Nebraska needed to hit more threes than the Hawkeyes, and didn't. Nebraska's great season ends in heartbreak while Iowa's incredible tourney run continues. Bennett Stirtz leads Iowa with 20 points while Tate Sage and Folgueiras add 19 and 16 points. Cooper Koch's impact went well beyond his 11 points and 5 rebounds for the Hawkeyes. Nebraska was led by Pryce Sandfort, who scored 25 points and was the only offense for the Cornhuskers in the second half. Make the jump to see the game's final stats and read my live running reactions of the second half of Iowa's victory against Nebraska. Note: Purdue has just survived Texas, 79-77, on a Trey Kaufman-Renn tip in off a missed Braden Smith layup with 0.7 seconds left. The Boilermakers get some sweet Sweet Sixteen karma after losing to Houston on a last-second layup in the same round last year.
Second Half, Final Four Minutes Live Reactions
Nebraska falls asleep out of the timeout as Combs hits Folgueiras deep for a layup plus the foul. Nebraska only had four players on the floor. Folguerias makes the free throw with 56.9 seconds left.
Iowa leads 71-68 with 58.4 seconds remaining. Stirtz buries a three with 2:10 remaining for Iowa's first lead. Iowa's defense has been incredible during this stretch, limiting Iowa to one shot and holding the Cornhuskers scoreless for 5 minutes. Sage hit a three to put Iowa up six before Frager hit a three off an offensive rebound. Timeout Nebraska. Expect Iowa to run the shot clock down here with Stirtz taking a three.
Second Half, Under-4 Timeout Live Reactions
The game is tied at 65 with 3:11 going. Timeout Nebraska. Iowa got two big threes from Koch and Folgueiras to tie the game. However, the Hawkeyes have missed three threes to take the lead and still haven't led tonight. Hoiberg just called a timeout and is one of the best coaches designing plays out of the timeout. Expect a three for Sandfort here, who is carrying Nebraska this half. He has a game-high 22 points on 7-for-9 shooting against his former school. This game has been played at Iowa's pace in the second half.
Second Half, Under-8 Timeout Live Reactions
Nebraska leads 62-59 with 7:48 remaining. Nebraska's defense picked up the intensity forcing a shot-clock violation and then blocking a Koch three on back-to-back possessions. Sandfort hit another three during this stretch. Just when Iowa seemed in trouble, the Hawkeyes forced a steal, which led to two Sage free throws. Iowa just forced a turnover off of a driving Rienk Mast and will have the ball out of the break. This Iowa team is hard to kill! It feels like Nebraska should be up more. Sandfort has 19 poitns, Stirtz has 17.
Nebraska leads 58-57 with 9:43 remaining. Stirtz just made a tough layup and has 17 points for the game. Iowa just got a tough foul call on a Frager drive. Points in the paint are tied at 20 apiece. Give credit to Nebraska for getting Sandfort more shots this half. He has four shots this half after just three shots in the first half. This game is going down to the wire. Koch is playing a great game for Iowa, with great activity on the defensive board. Folgueiras has been quiet for the Hawkeyes after a huge game against Florida in the second round. Iowa still has not led this game, which is worrisome for Nebraska. The Hawkeyes are hanging around.
Second Half, Under-12 Timeout Live Reactions
Nebraska leads 58-55 at the under-12. Nebraska has gotten two threes from Sandfort and Braden Frager. Iowa made a big mistake going under a screen, leading to the open Frager three. Sandfort also has a nice two off a curl. Iowa's Cooper Koch hit a big corner three. Both teams have hit nine threes. Kael Combs just had a great cut to the basket to cut Nebraska's lead to three points. Nebraska needs to keep running Sandfort off of screens. The former Hawkeye Sandfort is a sizzling 5/6 from the field for the game. Of course, Sandfort transferred from Iowa after the school moved on from Head Coach Fran McCaffery at the end of last season.
Second Half, Under-16 Timeout Live Reactions
The game is tied at 50 with 14:45 remaining. Uh-oh. Nebraska is 0-for-5 from three this half, though the Cornhuskers have four points in the paint. Stirtz is starting to cook, hitting a three and a tough fadeaway two on the baseline. Iowa's defense is picking up, with Nebraska having two turnovers in this stretch and seven for the game. Great point by analyst Robbie Hummel. Iowa is getting Stirtz going by playing him off the ball. This game is definitely swinging toward the Hawkeyes. Nebraska had the right idea out of the break, getting Sandfort a three. However, Sandfort air balled the shot.
Halftime Thoughts
Both teams are shooting the lights out (60% for Iowa, 57.7% for Nebraska). Both teams have 7 threes (Iowa is shooting 63.6% on 11 attempts, Nebraska is shooting 50% on 14 attempts). Nebraska has a +5 advantage on the boards (13 to 8). The shooting percentages are bound to go down, so rebounding will be huge. Iowa has a 11-5 advantage with points off turnovers. Iowa has to be feeling really good, considering the Hawkeyes have never led. Nebraska needs to feel a little apprehensive as the game seems to be turning after a 10-point lead. Nebraska needs to get Pryce Sandfort more shots (he has 11 points and is 3/3 from the field) and find some quicker threes out of its offense. If Iowa is able to match three-point makes, the Cornhuskers are in trouble. Much quicker ball movement and cutting will be huge for Nebraska. Ben McCollum shouldn't change much as this game is playing into Iowa's hands. Tate Sage was huge for Iowa, with 12 points on 3-for-4 from three, off the bench. Fred Hoiberg's team needs to come out of the gates, shooting and hitting shots, as the longer this game is close, the greater the advantage goes to Iowa.
Halftime Score: Nebraska 46, Iowa 43.
Iowa's Tate Sage hits a big three at the halftime buzzer. That was horrible defense by Nebraska in the 1-3-1 zone. Nebraska got six points from Jamarques Lawrence during this stretch, including a three that broke a four-minute scoring drought. Iowa has this game right where the Hawkeyes want it. The Hawkeyes were down 10 but went on an 8-0 run. Here are the halftime stats.
First Half, Under-4 Timeout Live Reactions
Nebraska leads 40-35 with 3:32 remaining. Bennett Stirtz just hit a big three for the Hawkeyes. Nebraska is getting to the rim at will, running great offense and scoring 8 points on layups this spurt. Sam Hoiberg has three baskets at the rim during this stretch. The Cornhuskers were up 10 at one point, but Iowa is hanging in. The Cornhuskers were even throwing a little 1-3-1 zone at points. This game seems to be at a scoring pace Nebraska prefers. Both teams are getting way-to-easy straight-line drives to the hoop. Both teams are shooting great from three. Iowa is 5/7 while Nebraska is 6/13. The Cornhuskers have 11 assists on their made baskets.
First Half, Under-8 Timeout Live Reactions
Nebraska leads 32-24 at the under-8 timeout. I am just sitting down to watch. I am not surprised by the score. I expected Nebraska to get out to an early lead. Iowa needs to maintain striking distance, as this was the recipe for the second game between the teams this season. Iowa is shooting 60%; Nebraska 59%.
Prediction: Iowa
Well, it's the Sweet Sixteen game no one saw coming, Big Ten brethren Iowa versus Nebraska. The Hawkeyes and Cornhuskers are riding emotional highs following amazing second-round victories. Last Sunday evening, Iowa stunned #1 Florida late on a beautifully-designed three-pointer from big man Alvaro Folgueiras. Late last Saturday night, Nebraska outlasted #5 Vanderbilt, getting a go-ahead layup from Braden Frager before watching a potential game-winning three from the Commodores' Tyler Tanner go down and out at the horn. Iowa and Nebraska split two games this season, with Iowa winning by five points in Iowa City and Nebraska winning by nine points in overtime during the Big Ten regular season finale in Lincoln. It's safe to say that familiarity will breed a very tight game that will go down to the wire. There is no doubt that Iowa will get the game to its methodical style, and that Nebraska will hit some threes and even look like it might pull away for a moment. However, at the end of the day, I am trusting Iowa Head Coach Ben McCollum and his point guard Bennett Stirtz to get it done and keep this Iowa miracle moving forward, though I have been a big fan of Fred Hoiberg's Nebraska team since the Cornhuskers controlled and defeated Illinois during a buzzer-beating victory in Champaign in early December. Ultimately, I made the mistake of not giving Iowa a chance against Florida, and I have learned my lesson. Honestly, I am happy to see both programs in this spot. If Illinois weren't in the same region, I'd be pulling for both teams more seriously! * Note: Today is my Dad's birthday so I will be joining him for dinner. I will likely miss the first half of this game, though I hope to pick up with some live running reactions during the second half.
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