Tuesday night’s clash in Lincoln has all the makings of a Big Ten heavyweight bout. No.
9 Nebraska welcomes No. 12 Purdue in a matchup loaded with implications - not just for the conference race, but for national seeding and momentum heading into the final stretch of the season.
Let’s start with the Cornhuskers. After ripping off 20 straight wins to open the season, Nebraska hit its first real bump in the road with back-to-back losses.
But they bounced back in a big way over the weekend, notching a 12-point win at Rutgers that reminded everyone why they’re one of the most balanced, dangerous teams in the country. Now sitting at 21-2 (10-2 Big Ten), they’re looking to reassert themselves against a fellow top-15 team.
A big reason for that bounce-back? Rienk Mast.
The veteran forward looked like his old self again, dropping 26 points after a stretch where he’d scored just 25 total across three games. Mast had missed Nebraska’s first loss of the season against Michigan with the flu and clearly wasn’t at full strength in their next game against Illinois.
But on Saturday, he was back to being the focal point of Fred Hoiberg’s offense - and when he’s locked in, everything flows smoother for the Huskers.
“It was great to see Rienk get it going,” Hoiberg said. “Our offense always runs better when Rienk has the ball in his hands.”
That’s not just coach-speak - Nebraska’s offense thrives when Mast is facilitating and finishing inside. While they’re heavily reliant on the three (nearly 51% of their shots come from deep), they showed against Rutgers that they can be efficient inside the arc too, shooting nearly 57% on two-pointers. That’s a big improvement from their loss to Illinois, where they managed just 10 makes inside the paint.
Speaking of three-point shooting, junior wing Pryce Sandfort has been lighting it up all season. He leads the Big Ten with 80 made threes and is hitting them at a 40.6% clip - the same percentage as Purdue sharpshooter Fletcher Loyer. Sandfort’s 17.1 points per game have been a steady source of offense for a Nebraska team that thrives on spacing and tempo.
But Purdue’s not coming in quietly. The Boilermakers (19-4, 9-3 Big Ten) have steadied the ship after a three-game skid, winning their last two.
Their most recent outing? A narrow escape at home against Oregon, where Fletcher Loyer buried a clutch go-ahead three with 51 seconds left to avoid the upset.
Loyer’s been on a tear from deep, hitting 10 of his last 14 from beyond the arc, and continues to be a reliable perimeter threat.
Still, Purdue’s offense starts and ends with Braden Smith. The senior guard is the engine of Matt Painter’s team, leading them in scoring at 15.2 points per game and ranking second in the Big Ten with 8.7 assists per night. Smith’s career assist total - 958 and counting - puts him among the top distributors in Division I history.
But even the best floor generals have off nights. Smith coughed up six turnovers against Oregon, part of a 14-turnover game for Purdue - tied for their highest mark in a Big Ten contest this season. Painter knows that’s a number they can’t afford to flirt with against a team like Nebraska.
“We have to operate as a team from about eight to 10 turnovers,” Painter said. “When we get to like 14, 15, 16 turnovers, it’s entirely too much. We’re beating ourselves up.”
Turnovers could be a swing stat in this one. Both teams have shown the ability to score in bunches, but mistakes - especially live-ball ones - could tilt the game in a hurry.
Another area to watch? Free throws.
Neither team gets to the line much. Nebraska averages just 11.2 attempts per game in conference play, and Purdue wasn’t much better during its losing streak.
That changed recently, though, with the Boilermakers earning 25 trips to the stripe in back-to-back games. If they can continue that trend, it could give them a crucial edge in a game where every possession will matter.
This will be Nebraska’s third ranked opponent in four games - a stretch that’s tested their depth, resilience, and shot-making under pressure. They had the nation’s longest active win streak at 24 before their recent stumble, but the Huskers are still very much in the thick of the Big Ten title hunt.
As for Purdue, they’ve already shown they can win on the road against elite competition - their early-season victory at then-No. 8 Alabama proved that. But they haven’t won in Lincoln since December 2022, and this Nebraska team is a different animal, especially with Mast healthy and Sandfort in rhythm.
Two top-15 teams. Two elite offenses.
Two experienced backcourts. Tuesday night in Lincoln should be must-watch basketball, with Big Ten bragging rights - and maybe more - on the line.