(Jamarques Lawrence photo courtesy on3.com)
Jamarques Lawrence and Braden Frager combined for 41 points as Nebraska used a blistering start and made enough plays down the stretch for an 84-72 win over New Mexico Thursday at the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City.
Lawrence had a career-high 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including four 3-pointers for his second career 20-point effort while Frager came off the bench and provided a spark with 20 points, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range, and a team-high eight rebounds as Nebraska won its ninth straight game dating back to last season.
With the win, the Huskers (5-0) will play in the title game Friday evening at 8:30 p.m. against Kansas State, a 98-77 winner over Mississippi State. The game will be carried on Peacock and on the Huskers Sports Network.
The Huskers jumped on the Lobos (3-2), getting out to a 11-2 lead in the first three minutes and hit nine of their first 13 shots from the field to extend the margin to 22-5 after two straight 3-pointers from Connor Essegian. NU shot 52 percent, including 9-of-19 from distance, in the opening 20 minutes to build a 43-25 halftime lead.
New Mexico came out firing in the second half, hitting 8-of-15 shots, including 6-of-10 from long range, to cut the Huskers’ 18-point lead to 51-47 on a 3-pointe from Luke Haupt with 12:31 left. The Lobos were within 59-53 at the under-eight timeout before the Huskers regained momentum. Pryce Sandfort’s driving basket started a 7-0 run that gave the Huskers a 66-53 advantage after Sandfort’s 3-pointer with 6:46 remaining.
The Lobos would eventually pull within 66-58 on a Jake Hall 3-pointer before Rienk Mast, who had 17 points, sparked a 5-0 run that pushed the lead back to 13 with 2:57 remaining. NU would eventually build a 15-point cushion on its way to their first-ever win over New Mexico.
Hall led New Mexico with 20 points in a losing effort, as the Lobos were held to 39 percent shooting.
Postgame Notes
*-Nebraska extends its win streak to nine games dating back to last season and has now won 16 straight non-conference games, as both streaks lead the nation.
*-Nebraska reached the title game of the Hall of Fame Classic in both of its appearances (2018 and 2025).
*- Jamarques Lawrence finished with a career-high 21 points, his second career 20-point game and first as a Husker. His previous best was 20 against Saint Bonaventure last season while at Rhode Island while his previous high at Nebraska was 19 at Indiana in 2024.
*-Braden Frager came off the bench and had 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. It was his second 20-point game of the season, both coming off the bench.
*-Frager’s 20-point night marked the 13th time a Husker reserve as scored 20 or more points in Fred Hoiberg’s seven seasons. It was also the sixth double-figure effort by a Husker reserve in 2025-26. Frager also set a season high with eight rebounds
*-With Lawrence (21) and Frager (20) both going over 20 points, marked the 21st time under Hoiberg – and second straight game – that Nebraska had multiple 20-point scorers.
*-Nebraska finished with 20 assists, the fourth time in five games NU had at least 20 assists in a game
*-Sam Hoiberg tied his career high with seven rebounds,
*-Nebraska hit 13 3-pointers and has hit 10-or-more 3-pointers in four of the five games this season.
*-Nebraska started the same lineup for the fifth straight game
*-Nebraska improved to 1-1 all-time against New Mexico, as tonight’s win was the first meeting since 2009 NIT.
