The Nebraska Cornhuskers were the talk of Day 1 of March Madness after they dominated Troy early on Thursday, 76-47.
Early in the first half, Pyrce Sandfort put on a display for all the fans as he scored 17 points and drained five three-pointers to light up the arena. This helped propel the Cornhuskers to a huge first half, and they never looked back. Troy managed to keep it close and even had a lead very early in the contest, but it did not last.
Sandfort would end with 23 points and finished 7-12 from beyond the arc, hitting half of the team's deep balls. Jamarques Lawrence added 13 points on 4-8 shooting, while the big man Rienk Mast scored 11. Braden Frager added 13 points off the bench as well. As a team, Nebraska shot 43% from the floor and held Troy to 28% shooting.
The Trojans had an impressive year, beating San Diego State and winning both the Sun Belt regular season and conference tournament (for the second consecutive season). Scott Cross, the former Troy head coach, just accepted a five-year contract to become the new Georgia Tech head coach. The Yellow Jackets got a good one.
As the March Madness game was winding down, watch Kent Pavelka call his first-ever NCAA Tournament win. This 40 years in the making.
Replacement vid Becuase the other guy’s tweet was taken down ❤️ pic.twitter.com/hAe5UyD2ad
— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners (@NCAABuzzerBters) March 20, 2026
This is what sports are all about. Bavelka has been with this program for most of his life, and he has waited for that moment since the beginning. Nebraska had a very good year last year, but couldn't get a win. Now, they could make a serious run to the Sweet 16 or better.




















