Husker Hoops Has Lots of Hoopla

Nebraska men's and women's basketball teams have much to crow about

First of all, congratulations to the Husker men's basketball team for its stunning 88-72 win over No. 1-ranked Purdue Boilermakers. Tuesday night's game at Pinnacle Bank Arena will go down in Husker history as one of the all-time great wins. Clearly, this is fifth-year head coach Fred Hoiberg's biggest win at Nebraska.

Nebraska didn't just eke out a win. The Huskers won by 16 points! Not since 1982 had NU beaten the No. 1-ranked team in the country. And not since 1964 had Nebraska done that at home.

What makes the win even more amazing is that just three days before, Nebraska lost at No. 15 Wisconsin by the same score, 88-72. What a great turnaround for the Huskers. The key will be if Nebraska can play with the same intensity for the rest of the season. Time will tell which game (Wisconsin or Purdue) was the aberration.

As of today, NU is sixth in the Big Ten at 3-2 and 13-3 overall. Tonight the Huskers play at 9-6 Iowa.

Husker women on the rise

The Nebraska women have been playing pretty well, too. Thursday night, they beat Illinois at home 56-48 despite scoring only one basket in the fourth quarter.

Yup. You heard that right.

The Husker women are in third place in conference play at 4-1 and 12-4 overall. Amy Williams' team was embarrassed last week, losing to second-place Indiana 91-69. Fans looking for a revenge match will have to wait until maybe the conference tournament. IU and NU are not scheduled to play again in the regular season.

Coming up later for Nebraska are two games with league-leading Iowa (anybody remember Caitlin Clark?). On Jan. 27 the Huskers travel to Iowa, and they later host the Hawkeyes on Feb. 11.

Speaking of Britt Prince ...

Last Saturday, I got to see 2024 Husker commit Britt Prince play at Elkhorn North. The gym was jam-packed to the rafters. It was loud and everyone could feel the excitement.

Why? Well, the Elkhorn North Wolves were hosting not just any ol' team. It was their archrival, the Omaha Skutt Catholic Skyhawks. For the record, those two teams have met the past two seasons for the Nebraska Class B championship.

Both teams came into the game with 10-0 records. Skutt was looking for revenge. After all, it was Elkhorn North who had derailed the Skyhawks' Class B title hopes those years.

Even though Skutt led 30-28 at the half Saturday, it was not going to be their night. Instead, the Wolves came out in the third and fourth periods with their hair on fire. Elkhorn North slammed Skutt 71-53 with Prince scoring 42 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

With that win, Prince became Class B girls' all-time career scoring leader with 2,088 points. Whose record did she break? Former Husker great Jordan Hooper's. Not bad.

In March, ENHS will be shooting for its fourth consecutive Class B title. I can't wait to see Prince play for the Huskers.

#nebpreps Britt Prince caps off her 42-point day with a long 3-pointer. 🏀 pic.twitter.com/qgrmHvQwiO

— Mike Patterson (@MPattersonOWH) January 7, 2024