Nebraska’s trip to Sioux Falls on Sunday brings a basketball matchup that looks a lot more dangerous than a football crossover ever would.
The Huskers and Boise State both arrive at 3-0, and the Broncos have been doing damage at a level few teams can match. Tipoff is set for noon CT at the Sanford Pentagon, with Nebraska carrying a No. 25 AP ranking into a game that should tell us plenty about how sturdy this early-season start really is.
Boise State has been relentless from the opening tip. The Broncos have scored at least 100 points in all three games, and that surge includes wins over Butler, 100-81, and Oakland, 111-79.
They’ve also hit triple digits in both exhibition games, a run that has them leading the nation in scoring. Even in the Pac-12, Boise State tops the league in 11 statistical categories, including points per game at 114.3, scoring margin at 43.3, 3-pointers per game at 14.3, rebounding margin at 15.7 and assists per game at 24.
That kind of firepower is going to put Nebraska’s defense under a real spotlight. The Huskers have allowed just 60.7 points per game, a number that ranks 34th nationally and reflects a team that wants to make games uncomfortable.
Nebraska has already shown it can do more than survive in high-scoring games, though. The Huskers are averaging 89 points per game themselves, so this isn’t just offense versus defense - it’s one team trying to speed the game up and another trying to take control of it.
Boise State’s leading scorer is Aginaldo Neto, a 6-foot-2 sophomore from Luanda, Angola, who played high school basketball in Phoenix. He’s putting up 20 points per game, but the Broncos are far from a one-man show. Six Boise players average in double figures, and a seventh is at nine points per game.
Nebraska’s own scoring balance has been a big part of the fast start. Pryce Sandfort leads the Huskers at 22.3 points per game, and the 6-foot-7 forward has been efficient while doing it, shooting 56.1 from the field and 38.5 from beyond the arc.
He’s also Nebraska’s top rebounder at 4.7 per game. Behind him, Damon Wilkinson averages 12.0 points, Cale Jacobsen 11.3, Braden Frager 11.0 and Connor Essegian 10.0.
Boden Kapke is at 9.3.
Nebraska’s three wins have come in different ways. The Huskers rolled past Le Moyne and Lindenwood at home, then picked up an impressive nine-point win over Providence at a neutral site. That followed their historic 28-7 season, and they’ve carried that momentum into this year’s opening stretch.
The only previous meeting between Nebraska and Boise State came in the semifinals of the 2025 College Basketball Crown, when the Huskers won 79-69 on the way to taking the tournament title.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index has Nebraska at 16th, up two spots in the last few days, while Boise State sits at 66th.
Nebraska’s week doesn’t stop with the Broncos. The Huskers return home Wednesday to face South Dakota, a 1-4 team that has dropped four straight since opening with a 95-57 win over Mount Marty.
South Dakota is ranked 305 in ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index and plays in the eight-team Summit League, which includes Omaha. The Coyotes went 16-16 last season.
Vince Buzelis leads South Dakota with 15.2 points per game, and Jahni Summers adds 13.0. But Nebraska enters that matchup with a clear edge in talent, depth and coaching, and the Huskers are expected to be too much for the Coyotes to handle.
In Other News...
Fred Hoiberg Just Landed The Kind Of Recruit Nebraska Never Gets
Nebraska basketball has added a recruit it almost never gets, signing five-star forward Dawson Battie and giving Fred Hoiberg a centerpiece for the 2027 class. The 6-foot-8 forward from Texas is now the highest-rated prospect in program history by composite score, a notable milestone for a program that has spent years trying to climb into a different recruiting tier. He joins four-star wing Ty Schlagel in a class that already looks like a meaningful step forward for the Huskers.
Hoiberg has made a point of emphasizing fit as much as talent, and both Battie and Schlagel were described as players who match the system and the culture Nebraska is trying to build. Batties decision matters not just because of the ranking attached to him, but because he chose Nebraska over several top programs, the kind of competition the Huskers usually have trouble winning. For a program looking to turn recruiting momentum into something more lasting, this is the sort of signing that can change the conversation, even if the real payoff is still down the road. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Wrestling Leaves Stillwater With One Troubling Question
Nebraskas trip to Stillwater on Nov. 13 turned into a rough measuring stick against one of the sports standard-bearers. No. 2 Oklahoma State handled the No. 3 Cornhuskers 27-6 in a dual that tilted early, leaving Nebraska with little margin to work with and not much time to regroup before another ranked test arrives.
Meyer Shapiro was one of the few bright spots for Nebraska, showing plenty of fight even in defeat, but the larger concern is how the Huskers respond after getting pushed around by the Cowboys. They get a quick chance to reset against No. 24 Penn on Nov. 21, with that dual set for ESPN+ and another opportunity to show whether Stillwater was a one-night setback or a warning sign. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Is Winning But One Problem Still Looms
At halftime, Nebraska had built a clean 14-0 lead and looked in control on both sides of the ball. Anthony Colandrea was sharp through the air, completing 8 of 12 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown, and he added another score on the ground while the Huskers piled up 244 yards of offense against a Rutgers defense that had little room to breathe.
The bigger concern, though, is whether Nebraska can keep that pace after the break. The defense has been dominant so far, holding Rutgers to just 65 yards, but the second half often asks different questions than the first, especially when a team is trying to turn a strong opening into a complete performance. [Read more 🡒]