The Nebraska men’s basketball team will face New Mexico in the opening round of the 2025 Hall of Fame Classic, as the NABC announced the tournament pairings on Thursday.
The Huskers, coming off a 21-14 season and a championship in the College Basketball Crown, will face a New Mexico team that went 27-8 and reached the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Head Coach Eric Olen is in his first season after leading UC San Diego to the 2025 NCAA Tournament
This is only the second time that Nebraska and New Mexico have squared off on the hardwood and the first since the 2009 NIT, an 83-71 New Mexico win in in Albuquerque.
Tipoff for the Nov. 20 matchup is set for 6 p.m. (central) and the game will be streamed live on Peacock and NBC Sports NOW. The other first-round matchup will feature Kansas State and Mississippi State and that game will tip off at 8:30 p.m. The consolation and title games will take place the following night, as both games will be streamed on Peacock and on NBC Sports Now.
Tickets for the 2025 Hall of Fame Classic will go on sale via the T-Mobile Center box office and t-mobilecenter.com on Sept. 3.
Nebraska returns five letterwinners from a team that went 21-14 in 2024-25. The group includes returning starters Berke Büyüktuncel and Sam Hoiberg, along with senior guard Connor Essegian, who averaged 10.7 ppg off the bench last season. The Huskers also regain the services of two other significant contributors to the 2024 NCAA Tournament team in All-Big Ten forward senior Rienk Mast, who averaged 12.3 points and led NU in both rebounding (7.5 rpg) and assists (3.0 apg) and Jamarques Lawrence, who played in all 34 games at NU in 2023-24 and averaged 6.9 points and 2.5 assists per game before playing at Rhode Island last season.
Lawrence (9.9 ppg at Rhode Island) is part of a six-member transfer class which includes Kendall Blue (12.3 pp, 4.4 rpg at St. Thomas), Will Cooper (5.3 ppg at Air Force) Jared Garcia (9.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg at Tulsa), Ugnius Jarusevicius (16.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg at Central Michigan) and Pryce Sandfort (8.8 ppg at Iowa). Nebraska also adds a pair of freshmen who are among the nation’s top 125 recruits in Leo Curtis (CATS Academy) and Quentin Rhymes (Hillcrest Prep).
2025 Hall of Fame Classic (All times CT)
Thursday, Nov. 20
Nebraska vs. New Mexico – 6:00 p.m., Peacock/NBC Sports NOW
Kansas State vs. Mississippi State – 8:30 p.m., Peacock/NBC Sports NOW
Friday, Nov. 21
Consolation Game – 6:00 p.m., Peacock/NBC Sports NOW
Championship Game – 8:30 p.m., Peacock/NBC Sports NOW
