OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Brayden Frege’s driving layup with 2.2 seconds left advanced Nebraska to the Sweet 16 for the first time and beat Vanderbilt 74-72 in a thrilling second-round game of the NCAA tournament on Saturday night, with Tyler Tanner’s half-court shot as the final buzzer sounded.
Frege finished with 15 points and Price Sanford added 15 for the fourth-seeded Cornhuskers (28-6), who had never won a March Madness game before defeating Troy two days ago. Nebraska advances to the South Region semifinals in Houston and will face either top-seeded Florida State or ninth-seeded Iowa State on Thursday.
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Tanner scored 27 points and Tyler Nickell added 16 for fifth-seeded Vanderbilt (25-9), which reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007.
Rienk Mast added 13 points for the Huskers. Sam Hoiberg, son of head coach Fred Hoiberg, finished with eight points, the most important of which was his comeback with 1:20 left to tie the game at 70. The two teams exchanged leads four times in the final 2 minutes and 08 seconds.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness