Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg led the No. 7 Cornhuskers to a dominant 76-66 win over the Washington Huskies on Wednesday to improve to 19-0. It is the program’s best-ever start to a college basketball season, and it kept them as one of only three undefeated teams in the country.
How Did Fred Hoiberg Find the Sweet Spot for the Cornhuskers Basketball?
The flawless Huskers have also managed their highest-ever ranking in the AP Top 25 Poll, since a No. 8 ranking in Feb. 1966, which lasted just one week.
Hoiberg has had a complicated coaching legacy, including a 115-56 record for the Iowa State Cyclones (2010-2015) and winning two Big 12 Tournament titles. After leaving Iowa for the NBA, he was named the worst coach in the NBA by ESPN in 2017 when he was at the helm of the Chicago Bulls between 2015 and 2018.
Hoiberg’s turnaround of the Cornhuskers has been stunning, since he was on the hot seat three years ago with Nebraska finishing 10-22 in 2021-2022, followed by a limp 16-16 finish the next season.
Then Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts stuck with Hoiberg as he started to rebuild the roster via the transfer portal, culminating in one of the best transfers of the season, Pryce Sandfort from the Iowa Hawkeyes, who has led the Hoiberg revolution this season.
Nebraska is averaging 81.2 points per game, while holding opponents to 65.4 points per game, boasting one of the best defenses in the Big Ten and the country, and fueling their ascent to the pinnacle of college basketball.
During an interview with “HoopsHQ” on Thursday, Hoiberg broke down the foundation of his team’s success this season.
“We’re not the most athletic team. We’re not the fastest team,” Hoiberg said. “I do think we’re very well connected and that’s one of the reasons I think we’ve had success on both ends of the court. Those guys have been very disciplined on the defensive end. They follow a game plan and offensively, they share the ball.
“We’ve got one of the best assists-to-turnover ratios in the country and they play with incredible unselfishness. So to me, the physicality is where we need to continue to grow. Like I said, as soon as you get comfortable and complacent, you know, we’re going to be in trouble.”
The Huskers now have a target on their back and will be pushed to the limit in a brutal four-game span when they face the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines (Jan. 27), No. 11 Illinois Fighting Illini (Feb. 2), Rutgers Scarlet Knights on the road (Feb. 7), and the No. 4 Purdue Boilermakers (Feb. 10).
