OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The round of 32 is here for Nebraska men’s basketball. After defeating No. 14 seed Troy 76-47 on Thursday, No. 4 seed Nebraska advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
Up next for the Huskers is Vanderbilt. The fifth-seeded Commodores defeated No. 12 McNeese 78-68 on Thursday.
With a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line, the Huskers will tip at 7:45 p.m. Saturday at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
TNT will televise the game with Brandon Gaudin, Chris Webber and Andy Katz on the call, while the Huskers Radio Network will carry the radio broadcast over the air with Kent Pavelka and Jeff Smith.
Similarities
Although Vanderbilt won its first NCAA Tournament game in 1965 and Nebraska won its first Thursday, Nebraska and Vanderbilt have plenty of program similarities.
The Huskers and Commodores are not historically high achievers in college basketball.
Vanderbilt, picked to finish 11th in the SEC in the preseason by the conference media, had no preseason first team All-SEC players. Nebraska, in a similar vein, was 14th in the unofficial preseason Big Ten poll and didn’t have any All-Big Ten players.
Both programs have “proved the doubters wrong.”
The Commodores (11-7) finished fourth in the SEC. The Huskers (15-5) finished second in the Big Ten.
Vanderbilt sophomore point guard Tyler Tanner was a first-team All-SEC selection, while Pryce Sandfort a first-team All-Big Ten pick for the Huskers.
Both teams rose in the AP Top 25 to their highest mark. Vanderbilt reached No. 10 on Jan. 12 while Nebraska, after a 20-0 start to the season, moved into the top five for the first time in school history on Jan. 26.
“Mark (Byington) has done a terrific job with his group,” Fred Hoiberg said in Oklahoma City on Friday. “Both of us got off to pretty similar starts. I think they were 16-0 before their first loss, and it’s a team that is playing with great rhythm right now.”
Scouting Vanderbilt
The Commodores have an elite offensive team; their 126.9 adjusted offensive efficiency rating ranks eighth nationally. Their effective field goal percentage of 55.4% is 14th in the country.
They’re pretty good defensively as well, ranking 31st nationally with a 99.4 rating. Their 48.6% effective field goal percentage allowed is 52nd in the nation.
“You look at their game against Florida in the SEC Tournament a week ago, beat them by 20-plus, that tells you all you need to know about this team, and I was really impressed with their performance yesterday as well,” Hoiberg said.
Offensively, Vanderbilt ranks in the top 100 nationally in just about every major category.
The Commodores don’t turn it over often; their 13.5% turnover rate ranks 14th in the country. They can shoot it at a high rate, connecting on 35.6% of their 3-pointers (85th), 56.9% of their 2-pointers (33rd) and 79.4% of their free throws (fourth). Opponents only block 7.4% of their shots (24th) and only steal the ball at a 7.4% rate (14th).
Roster Breakdown
The Commodores have an elite player in Tanner. The 6-foot point guard is 108th nationally in assist rate (29.0%). He leads the team with 5.1 assists per game and 19.3 points per game. Tanner’s 82 steals lead the team and his steal percentage of 4.0 is 35th best nationally.
Friday, Husker guard Sam Hoiberg compared him to a player the Huskers saw twice this season, Purdue All-American point guard Braden Smith.
“He’s really fast,” Sam Hoiberg said. “Probably as fast as anybody in the Big Ten. Definitely parallels to Braden, who we just played, and he carved us up. He has our full attention. He’s insanely talented, and he’s going to be a tall task for us. We have to have really good ball screen coverage and really good rotations to be able to stop them.”
The Vanderbilt backcourt is dynamic. Senior Duke Miles is amongst the nation’s best in steal percentage at 5.1%, fourth best nationally.
Miles has a little bit of an old man game; he can use a multitude of fakes and misdirections on the offensive end, where he averages 16.4 points and 4.8 assists per game.
“We’re going against a really, really tough, well-coached team tomorrow, very dynamic in their backcourt,” Fred Hoiberg said. “Tanner and Miles are unbelievably quick with the basketball. Both shoot it at a high level.”
Tyler Nickel, a 6-foot-7 forward, is the best 3-point shooter on the team at 39.9% on 263 attempts this season.
A “flat-out laser,” Fred Hoiberg said Friday of Nickel. Nickel’s 126.4 offensive rating is the Commodores’ highest on the team.
AK Okareke has been the Commodores’ starting power forward, if you are looking at traditional lineups, in 34 of the 35 games this season. He may not have ideal height at 6-foot-7, but he plays hard and is strong. He seems to always be in the right position, particularly defensively.
Devin McGlockton, a 6-foot-7 senior, is the other usual starter. His 71.1% 2-point percentage is 17th best in the nation. McGlockton also leads the team in rebounding at 6.7 per game.
Jalen Washington will likely play the most minutes in the post against Nebraska. He’s long and athletic. At 6-foot-10, Washington’s block percentage is 6.8%, 86th in the nation.
Keys to the Game
Vanderbilt averaged 86.1 points in its 27 wins this season. In its eight losses, that number is 76.8 This game could be a low-scoring affair or a high-scoring affair, with both teams capable of making shots.
In order for Nebraska to win, I think Nebraska’s seventh-rated defense will have to win the day.
The first key is for Nebraska to hold Vanderbilt to under 75 points. That sounds like an easy take, but here is how.
The two starting senior guards, Jamarques Lawrence and Sam Hoiberg, are going to need to defend maybe better than they have all season long. Tanner and Miles are the key to everything Vanderbilt does offensively. If the Husker backcourt can at least slow them down and force longer possessions, that will be key.
Turnovers and points off of them are the second key. The Huskers’ defense is 36th in the country in turnover percentage forced at 19.4%. Vanderbilt has 94 fewer turnovers than its opponents this season, 336 to 440.
Through late November 2025, Vanderbilt led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.82) and ranked second in the country in fewest turnovers committed (7.6 per game).
Both teams have the same offensive steal percentage of 7.4%, meaning they don’t allow teams to steal the ball when they have possession. Vanderbilt averages 9.6 turnovers per game and its opponents average 12.6 turnovers per game. Vanderbilt averages 16.3 points off turnovers per game; limiting that to under 15 will be a big component.
Nebraska will need to use its hand activity and team defense to get the Commodores to 10-plus turnovers.
The Nickel versus Pryce Sandfort matchup is another key. Both are great shooters and likely to guard each other.
Nickel averages 1.7 fouls committed per 40 minutes. That’s low, only 77th nationally. Pryce Sandfort is just behind that at 1.9, 151st in the country. Whichever one can draw fouls from the other could be big.
Neither team is great at offensive rebounding; that is the last key. This is a game where Nebraska has a size advantage, something that has been rare since Big Ten play began.
The Huskers’ offensive rebounding percentage is 26.6%, 310th nationally. Vanderbilt’s 31.2 offensive rebounding percentage is 156th in the country. In what is likely going to be a close game, second-chance points off of those offensive rebounds could be critical.
