Kansas State Athletics
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. – Junior Braden Frager and senior Pryce Sandfort combined for 51 points, as Nebraska out-dueled Kansas State, 88-84, in a high-flying, high-scoring exhibition on Monday night before 5,338 fans at the BigIron Events Center.
In a back-and-forth affair that lived up to the billing as the "Battle at the BigIron," the teams combined for 29 made 3-point field goal on 80 attempts, including 16 by the Wildcats. Nine different players connected from long range, including a combined nine by senior Brandon Rechsteiner and fifth-year Jaden Schutt.
The 16 made 3-pointers were the most-ever by a Wildcat team in an exhibition game.
Frager and Sandfort accounted for nine of the Huskers' 13 triples, as Frager led all scorers with 28 points, while Sandfort, a preseason All-Big Ten First Team selection, added 23 points. Rechsteiner paced three Wildcats in double figures with 21 points to go with 7 assists, while Schutt and freshman Jaylen Alexander accounted for 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Fitting for a game in which the teams combined to make 29 3-point field goals, it was a stretch of 3-point makes that gave the Huskers the edge they needed in a up-and-down affair.
After Rechsteiner connected on his fifth triple of the game that pulled the Wildcats to within 58-57 at the 11:36 mark, three different Huskers – freshman Jacob Lanier, junior Taj DeGourville and Frager – knocked down long range shots that extended the lead to 67-59 with just over 9 minutes remaining. They extended the lead to as many as 13 points at 75-62 after a 7-0 run capped by a fifth Frager 3-pointer with 4:15 left.
However, the never-say-die Wildcats kept chipping away at the deficit, using an 18-7 run to close to within 82-80 after back-to-back layups by Alexander with 25 seconds. DeGourville knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the Husker lead to 84-80 with 18 seconds but Alexander made it a one possession game at 84-82 with a layup with 11 seconds to go before a K-State timeout.
Two more free throws by Frager followed by a Rechsteiner layup once again made it a one possession game at 86-84 with 3 seconds. However, Lanier put the game out of reach with two more free throws at 88-84 with 2 seconds remaining.
K-State connected on 47.7 percent (31-of-65) from the field, including 43.2 percent (16-of-37) from 3-point range, while Nebraska shot 40.9 percent (27-of-66) overall, including 30.2 percent (13-of-43) from long range. The difference came at the free throw line, where the Huskers made 21 of 27 attempts compared to just 6 of 9 attempts by the Wildcats.
K-State led by as many as six points in the first half before Nebraska used a pivotal late 8-0 run to take control and enter halftime with a 43-38 lead. Each team shot better than 45 percent from the field led by the Wildcats' 48.3 percent (14-of-29) shooting, while they combined for 17 made 3-pointers. Frager led all scorers with 16 points for the Huskers, while Rechsteiner paced the Wildcats with 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range.