Las Vegas – After the bell appeared, after the white championship caps were worn and the sparkling gold ball that indicates the most player in the game was granted to the game. Joan GaryAfter the giant throne was transferred from the VIP section along the foundation to Midcourt for a chance of photos NebraskaPlayers and coaches will never forget, after spoiling black and gold desserts via the stadium in T-Mobile Arena and “We Champions” in the sound system, after everyone turned to cut a piece of the network, there was a somewhat simple explanation about the reason for the opening of Cornhuskes in the opening Total basketball crown Sunday afternoon.
The cup ceremony in Nebraska after winning the Crown Prince Championship
One day after UCF Point Darius Johnson It exploded in winning 42 points in the semi -finals of Villanova and Elied Katz, who are still almost overcoming the knights in stoppage time, Nebraska cleared the star and calmed the star in his worst performance in this season before he homogeneously brought him out with the remaining 1:02, just one goal of his name. No one, Johnson, who is 17.8 points for each game, has been soaked since the knights suffered a brutal loss against Cincinnati in January of last season. The first three opponents in UCF here in Las Vegas? They were torn for 88 points combined by Johnson at the shooting 26 against 58.
But Sunday afternoon, during the match that was more important, and with the largest part of the NIL package for this event, Johnson can only four modest points. Without it, the knights, 77-66, were fell by a group of Cornhuskers that were revealed in the first Posteason program since its NIT victory in 1996-a long time before the birth of anyone in the current list.
“Listen, we did not get the goal that we wanted to play in the NCAA championship. But we achieved the most beneficial from it and we went out here. We focused and stayed together as a group and played some basketball up this week. We hope that it will give us some momentum in the next season, and I think that the experience of playing in the post -season event will help to return to our jam.
If the wide strokes behind Nebraska’s victory can be distilled to its defensive effort against Johnson, whose only goal in the field came with 5:28 in the second half, the courage was more in line with what Huiberg said in the previous quote. This was a group of Cornhuskers, despite losing five consecutive games to finish the normal season, came to Las Vegas without any splitting through the transport portal and without any early departure from the draft of the American Professional League, and a scarcity between the 16 teams who participated and a positive reflection of the Hoiberg culture. This was a group with each other enough to calm the failure to qualify for the Big Ten-not to mention the NCAA-and still wants at least another opportunity to participate in the court, by winning the opening round on Monday over Arizona State in a series of four games on average 10 points per game.
Therefore, while the credit for the appearance of Nebraska in Las Vegas still begins and ends with the bone of the main guard Price WilliamsChoose the first team from the All-Big Ten team, which reached 20 points in three games from four games in Cornhuskes, including 21 against UCF where the registration record in one season, the Hoiberg players’ list was to thank during the postgame news conference much longer. And rightly.
He incurred a lot of praise for Gary, the Spring Small striker who approached a double average in this event by scoring 19 points and grabbing eight rebounds for each game. Cornehnhoskars was six when Gary was briefly sent to the cabinet room early in the second half. When he returned for a short time later-after watching the Palloon the deficit to 11-Gary responded by scoring nine points in a little more than two minutes to ignite what will end as a seismic tour 24-3. “MVP! MVP!” His teammates chanted about an hour later during the celebration of the court.
There were flowers granted to the shooting guard Sam HuybergThe son of the coach, to turn a prominent defensive against Johnson in 36 exhausting minutes. It was Sam Hoiberg who harassed Johnson into a disputed triple and arranged devices punctuated by costly transformations. It has finished the second best plus for the team (in addition to 16) despite not scoring one point that talks about the value of the remaining Sam Hoyberg contributions: seven passes, three rebound balls, stroke, one block, yellow.
There were good words granted to the sixth man Conor EisigianWho became the central point in the Nebraska crime when Williams fought an unpleasant problem in the second half. Essegian manufactured 3 throws equivalent to the game at 52-52 with 11:04 and scored 14 of 21 points after the break. On Sunday, he celebrated the second time in this tournament, scored by Essegian at at least 17 points, after shining in the opening match against Arizona.
Hoiberg and Gary came out by highlighting the voltage from the guards Cale JacobsenA accompanying player if there was ever, he has reduced five points and six counterattacks to continue to exceed expectations in a big role. Jacobsen recorded more minutes in Las Vegas – 104 in four games – which he did during the entire normal season combined, and rewarded his coach with the excellent defense, the diversity of topical, and offensive physical, regardless of the size of his opponent. Gary went to the point of calling Jacobsen The Tournament MVP.
“It was just one of those teams in which they were all for each other,” said Huyberg. “We have had some difficult times. We had difficult film sessions. We had difficult conversations. But we have never been to prepare and continued to grow. That is why we played our best here in these last three games of this season. [during the College Basketball Crown]And that’s something I am really proud of. “
That is why Hoiberg retreated amid the post -game celebration that he will remember forever by the columns of Nebraska fans who traveled to Las Vegas, away from the largest unit of the week. This is the reason for the backup center Berke Buyuktunkal He was very careful to seize the scissors from the event employee and climb the ladder to start cutting the network. For this reason, Gary proudly on the giant that was thrown with the Gold MVP ball in his bosom, a hat on his head and the actual crown cup on top. For this reason, the midfielder for the football team, Dylan Raiola, came to T-Mobile Arena in time for the title match and made his way to the field to celebrate after the celebration.
This tournament meant something for Hyberg and its players, for the Nebraska program as a whole, and this was a great reason for the formation of Cornehnhoskar to win everything. Because regardless of the preparation and regardless of the moment, it is very special when the team can finish the season victorious.
“We won today’s championship,” Gary said. “The NCAA Championship may not be, but it is the post -season championship. We can still call ourselves our heroes. So in the line, in the next three or four years, we will return to Nebraska and people will know who this team was, and the crown basketball champions. This will definitely be in my heart.”
Michael Cohen covers university football and university basketball for Fox Sports. Follow it on Twitter @michael_cohen13.
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