March 21, 2026 — Braden Frager’s driving layup with 2.2 seconds left lifted No. 4 Nebraska past No. 5 Vanderbilt 74-72 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, sending the Cornhuskers to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. Tyler Tanner’s desperation heave from beyond half court rimmed out at the buzzer, ending the Commodores’ season at 27-9.
First half
Nebraska came out firing, jumping to an 8-0 lead behind a pair of three-pointers from Rienk Mast. The Cornhuskers stretched their advantage to 10 at 14-4 before Vanderbilt began chipping away. Tanner scored 15 first-half points, including a pair of dunks in transition off turnovers, but the Commodores shot just 37% from the field and trailed 39-32 at the break. Nebraska shot 60% in the first half and got contributions across the board, with six players scoring.
| Player | Team | PTS | FG | 3PT | REB | AST | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyler Tanner | Vanderbilt | 27 | 9-21 | 3-10 | 2 | 4 | 37:38 |
| Tyler Nickel | Vanderbilt | 16 | 5-13 | 5-12 | 5 | 1 | 32:51 |
| Braden Frager | Nebraska | 15 | 6-11 | 1-3 | 5 | 2 | 27:25 |
| Pryce Sandfort | Nebraska | 15 | 5-9 | 3-6 | 5 | 2 | 37:20 |
| Rienk Mast | Nebraska | 13 | 5-10 | 3-6 | 5 | 4 | 34:04 |
| Berke Buyuktuncel | Nebraska | 12 | 5-6 | 2-2 | 4 | 1 | 27:23 |
| AK Okereke | Vanderbilt | 9 | 3-7 | 3-5 | 7 | 1 | 31:56 |
| Duke Miles | Vanderbilt | 9 | 2-10 | 1-8 | 0 | 6 | 31:34 |
Second half and final minutes
Vanderbilt erased the deficit in the second half, shooting 45.5% from three. Tanner’s steal and fast-break layup tied the game at 55 with 9:05 remaining. Okereke’s three gave the Commodores their first lead at 58-55, and Nickel’s triple pushed the margin to 67-62 with 5:34 left — Vanderbilt’s largest lead of the game. Nebraska answered each time, with Mast’s tip-in tying the game at 72 with 37 seconds left. After Tanner’s layup put Vanderbilt back in front 72-70 with 58 seconds remaining, Frager converted the decisive basket off a Sandfort feed with 2.2 seconds on the clock.
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