February 14, 2026; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers forward Price Sandport (21) reacts after hitting a 3-pointer in the first half against the Northwestern Wildcats at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Image Price Sandport scored more than 32 points for the second time last week, and No. 12 Nebraska rallied from a second-half deficit to snap Southern California’s fifth straight loss with an 82-67 decision Saturday in Los Angeles.
The Cornhuskers (25-4, 14-4 Big Ten Conference) shot 12-of-34 (35.3%) to USC’s 13-25 (52%) in the first half. Behind Chad Baker-Mazara’s 14 points following the break, the Trojans led for nearly 14 of the opening 20 minutes and took a 36-31 lead into halftime.
But Nebraska exploded for a 12-2 lead on Berke Buyuktuncel’s dunk at 3:03 of the second half. The spurt gave the Huskers the lead for the remainder of the period.
USC (18-11, 7-11) lost Baker-Mazara at a pivotal moment early in the first half. Baker-Mazara suffered a bad fall that forced him to sit on the bench for the rest of the game.
Nebraska capitalized shortly thereafter, scoring 15 points. The back-breaking stretch lasted 5:03 and overlapped with a stretch in which Nebraska held USC without a field goal in more than six minutes.
The Trojans’ shooting cooled off dramatically in the second half, with USC going 10-of-26 from the floor overall and 0-of-9 from 3-point range. The Trojans were 4 of 21 from beyond the arc for the contest.
Nebraska shot 8-of-23 from long range, led by Sandfort’s 5-of-10 effort. He finished with 32 points, going 12-of-21 from the floor overall. That’s one shy of his career high of 33 points, which he set last Saturday against Penn State.
Braden Frager joined Sandfort in double figures with 17 points to go along with eight rebounds off the bench. Rienk Mast added 11 points.
Alijah Arenas matched Baker-Mazara’s USC team-high 14 points. Kam Woods scored 12 points, and Jaden Brownell had 10 points with a team-high 5 rebounds in the loss. This setback extended the team’s losing streak to five games, three of which were home.
–Field level media
