Nebraska forward Price Sandfort (21) reacts during a basketball game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, on February 17, 2026. Two Big Ten men’s basketball teams will be looking to end recent on-court disappointments when Iowa State travels to Nebraska for the conference regular season finale on Sunday.
No. 9 Nebraska (25-5, 14-5 Big Ten) enters the contest coming off a season-worst 20-point loss at UCLA on Tuesday, while the Iowa Hawkeyes (20-10, 10-9) fell 71-68 to No. 3 Michigan in their last outing.
Iowa went on an 11-1 run to tie Michigan at 64-64 with 1:57 left and 66 with 52 seconds left, but the Wolverines won.
“We’re down 10 against the best team in the country. If not, I don’t know who is. I mean, they’re pretty good. They’ve got length, they’ve got athleticism,” said first-year Iowa coach Ben McCollum.
Iowa senior guard Bennett Stirtz led the way with 21 points against Michigan. Stirtz averaged 20.5 points and 4.5 assists per game. Other season standouts include guard/forward Tavion Banks (10.4 points, 4.7 rebounds) and forward Cam Manyawu (6.9 points, 4.8 rebounds).
“I hope our daily habits emerge,” McCollum said. “I mean, the biggest thing is they have to demonstrate routine habits.”
As for Nebraska, defensive mistakes cost the Cornhuskers a 72-52 loss against UCLA.
“We missed a few rotations because we didn’t finish well,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said after the UCLA game. “Our communication wasn’t where it needed to be. We’ve done very well all season.”
“Give credit to UCLA. They played a lot harder than we did tonight and we got what we deserved.”
Nebraska is led by 6-foot-7 forward Price Sandport’s 18.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game and 6-foot-10 forward Rienk Mast (13.6 points, team-high 6-0 rebounds). Sandfort also leads the team in 3-point field goals (108).
“Whether we win or lose, we leave the game behind and learn,” Hoiberg said. “We follow the same routine after every game. We’ll watch film like we always do. We’ll make edits on offense and edits on defense.”
“We’ll have a few days to come up with a game plan and practice against Iowa.”
One of Iowa’s season highlights was a 57-52 win over Nebraska on February 17. This was Iowa’s first home win over a top-10 team in seven years. Hundreds of students raced onto the court for the postgame celebration.
“Everyone I interact with in person is positive and I can see we’re trending in the right direction,” McCollum said of the Hawkeyes’ first 20-win season since 2021-22.
“They can see it, and I can see it,” McCollum said. “We have to get there. I can see we are moving in the right direction. We just need a little more time to get over the hump.”
–Field level media
