Fred Hoiberg calls Wisconsin win best environment he has seen at Nebraska

Last month, Nebraska pulled off one of the stunners of the season by defeating Purdue at Pinnacle Bank Arena. It was quite the moment for the Cornhuskers and the fans in attendance for their first win over a No. 1-ranked team since 1982.

Just a few weeks later, Nebraska took down another top team when the Cornhuskers defeated No. 6 Wisconsin Thursday night. It kicked off another celebration with fans storming the court and adding to a special year for Fred Hoiberg’s group.

The atmosphere was so good, in fact, that Hoiberg put it above the Purdue win – or, really, any previous game he coached at Nebraska.

“Best environment I’ve seen since I’ve been here, for sure,” Hoiberg said afterward. “They absolutely were a huge part in that win. I think when C.J. [Wilcher] cut it to seven, when we finally got it under 10, the roof blew off the place. And then, we just kept chipping away and finally [got] the lead there late in the game.

“Again, our fans were phenomenal. It’s great to share these with them. And I thought security did a really nice job of getting Wisconsin off the floor and protecting everybody. It’s great to share that with the fans. They’ve been a huge part of our home success this year.”

Wilcher led the charge in the 80-72 overtime victory with 22 points and Rienk Mast was right behind him with 20 points and eight rebounds. Brice Williams also put together a strong showing, dropping 17 points and pulling down a team-high nine rebounds as part of the balanced attack.

Wisconsin has been red-hot throughout this year, largely due to a revamped offense. But the Cornhuskers kept the Badgers in check for the most part and came up big when it mattered on defense.

And while Fred Hoiberg wasn’t sure about how his team pulled off the victory in the moment, he was more than proud of his team for staying the course and getting another massive win.

“I think we showed a lot of resolve,” Hoiberg said. “I don’t know if the last couple of days of practice helped us to develop a bit of toughness. And it wasn’t looking good, down 19 from a team that is hard to come back from. But we just kept fighting. That’s what I love most about these guys.

“C.J. Wilcher was unbelievable. We got some defensive stops there at the end. It was a total team effort. I just love these guys and we have to keep fighting. Now, we have to go on the road for two incredibly tough ones. But this was a huge win for the program.”