Vanderbilt’s half-court heave rims out, sending Nebraska to Sweet 16

OKLAHOMA CITY – Braden Frager froze.

Seconds earlier, the Nebraska forward and Lincoln native had seemingly etched his name into the annals of his hometown program.

Facing a tie game with nine seconds left, Frager collected a pass from guard Pryce Sandfort, drove the lane and kissed the ball off the glass with his left hand for the bucket that gave the Cornhuskers a 74-72 lead with 2.2 seconds left and seemed destined to send Nebraska to its first Sweet 16.

Then, after a final timeout, Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner caught the inside pass, took a dribble and threw the ball from the half-court line. With the clock reading 0.0, the ball fell into the cylinder.

But as soon as he fell, the ball ricocheted and the crowd exploded. Frager and his teammates too.

“I thought it went in,” Frager said. “I didn’t know how to react, and I was just… everyone started celebrating. I was like, ‘Yeah, actually, he missed it, so…’

Sitting next to Frager as he described that moment on the postgame dais, Sandfort added his own memories as his teammate shook his head, still in disbelief.

“I’m about to die,” Sandfort said. “I was on the sideline, so I didn’t know what angle it was. But man, I just want to thank the good Lord Jesus Christ for that one.”

When Nebraska goalie Sam Hoiberg saw the ball go out of the cylinder, he let out a guttural scream — although no one could hear him over the roar of the crowd.

“My heart sank when the ball went in the hoop and then it came out,” said Hoiberg, who had eight points and six assists. “And I think it took me half a second to realize that it hadn’t gone in, and then I just screamed with joy. I thought it had.”

Inches from heartbreak, Nebraska instead survived to earn the program’s second NCAA Tournament victory, just two days after notching its first.

“That last shot, man, took my breath away,” Huskers coach Fred Hoiberg said. “This child [Tanner] is an incredible player, and when that thing was in the air, I was like, “Man, it’s going in.” » He hit every part of the rim. Fortunately, it bounced back. »

As Nebraska players emptied the bench, jumping and bounding across the hardwood as they ran to hug each other and their coaches, fans threw popcorn like confetti into the stands and waved handmade signs reading “Sweet 16 Corn Season” and “GBR” (for “Go Big Red”).

For 40 minutes, the mostly pro-Nebraska crowd never left its feet and kept the din at a constant fever level throughout the back-and-forth.

“I know it must have been amazing on TV,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said of the atmosphere. “It was an incredible match. I mean, it’s a shame we were on the same side. But, I mean, a top match, and I’m sure the crowd lifted them up and made them play – they played so hard.

“It’s one of the best or toughest environments I’ve ever coached in. The fans have been amazing to them, incredibly supportive and wild.”

On the court, the Huskers gathered around forward Berke Buyuktuncel as he held up a giant Sweet 16 flag and waved it toward the crowd. Meanwhile, Frager and a few others ran across the court to embrace and celebrate Kent Pavelka, the radio voice of Nebraska basketball for more than 50 years.

Then, while Frager and Sandfort conducted a postgame interview with Pavelka, the rest of the team took a giant lap around the arena in front of the spectators and showed their appreciation to the fans who spent two games on their feet, helping the Huskers to two historic victories. As the team marched through the Paycom Center, a loud cheer accompanied its loop like a verbal wave rippling through the arena.

Once their media obligations were over, Frager and Sandfort took their own spin, sparking another wave of jubilation.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Frager said. “It couldn’t be done without all these guys here, all these guys on the team. We had a great crowd. I feel like they helped us a lot through all of this, and that was a big part of it.”

Even as the team left the field to yet another ovation, the celebration did not stop. As the arena DJ played “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas, Nebraska cheerleaders formed a conga line and pranced across the baseline while the band danced and took photos. Still wearing his helmet, Pavelka stood up from his courtside seat, turned to face the cheering fans behind him, stretched out his arms and jumped to the music with them.

It was a celebration worthy of a national championship, but it was only a second-round victory.

But for a program without an NCAA Tournament win just a few days ago, it was an occasion worth celebrating — but not for too long.

“We’re going home tomorrow at 11 o’clock,” Fred Hoiberg said. “We’ll come back. We’ll regroup. We’ll find out who we’re going to play after tomorrow’s game – if I’m not mistaken, Iowa and Florida – and then start working right away, putting a game plan together. I don’t know if we play Thursday or Friday. And then we’ll go from there.”