Grand Island, Neb. — K-State men’s basketball finished their preseason exhibitions on Oct. 26 in Grand Island, Nebraska, falling to Nebraska 88-84 in the Greg Sharpe scholarship game. Sharpe was a long-time voice of K-State athletics from 1996-2002 before becoming the voice of Nebraska from 2007 until his passing in 2025. The K-State alumnus impacted many within both programs and communities through his broadcasting career.
K-State started hot, hitting their first two 3-point attempts and going up 8-2 after sophomore forward Matt Gilhool made a putback layup. Defensively, K-State was in Nebraska’s face, forcing bad shots and limiting Nebraska to just 2 points in the first three minutes. Going into the under-16 timeout, K-State was leading 10-4, with all four made field goals coming from four different Wildcats.
Nebraska came out of the media timeout with new life, with Braden Frager making a shot and drawing the foul for the and-1, before Cale Jacobsen stole the ball from Andrej Kostic, leading to a 3-pointer from sharpshooter Pryce Sandfort. Suddenly, Nebraska was on a mini 6-0 run, tying the game at 10. K-State’s Montana Wheeler responded with a three before Sandfort made his second of the game.
With 9:39 left in the half, Damon Wilkinson made a hook shot in the paint to give Nebraska an 18-16 lead. That hook shot was the first made 2-pointer in over six minutes, with the last one coming from the shot Frager got fouled on with 15:51 remaining. Afterward, the Wildcats went on a 9-2 run, with threes from Brandon Rechsteiner, Isaiah Abraham and Kostic to take a 25-20 lead with seven minutes remaining in the half.
The Huskers fought back, taking advantage of multiple offensive rebounds for second-chance points and clawing back to take a 34-32 lead on a Frager layup with less than four minutes left in the half.
The first half ended with fireworks, as both teams finished 4-for-4 from three. Sandfort finished the run with a 3-pointer to end the half, putting Nebraska up 43-38. Frager and Sandfort led the charge for Nebraska with 16 and 12 points each, while Rechsteiner was a perfect 4/4 from the field with 11 points for the Wildcats.
“I mean they’re [Frager and Sandfort] exceptional players,” head coach Casey Alexander said. “Pryce is really unique in his ability to get it off; he’s just a hard closeout. Frager’s just tough-minded. You know, he’s such a really competitive kid and very versatile.”
The second half started the way the first half ended for K-State, with the Wildcats making two of their first three 3-pointers to start the half and climb back to 46-48. The Huskers responded with a mini 5-0 run off 5 straight points from Sandfort to take a 53-46 lead.
During Nebraska’s run, K-State’s offense went cold. The Wildcats didn’t score for almost three minutes and only took three shots during that time. Nebraska’s defense caused problems for K-State on both ends, as Wildcat turnovers led to Husker fast-break points.
After a few K-State buckets got them back in the game, the offense went cold again, scoring none between 9:51 and 5:59 left in the half. This time, though, the Wildcat defense stepped up, only allowing two made Husker field goals. K-State attacked the boards and rotated well on defense, keeping Nebraska from getting many open looks or good shots.
Schutt ended the near four-minute scoring drought for the Wildcats with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 6, then Nebraska responded. The Huskers went on a 7-0 run after a three from Frager gave the Huskers a 75-62 lead with just under five minutes to go.
Though the Wildcats were down, they were not out. K-State went on an 8-0 run to climb back into the game and trail 70-75. Nebraska made a couple of shots to regain an 8-point lead before K-State cut the deficit to 4 with under a minute to go.
Fouling time came, with K-State needing to put Nebraska at the free-throw line. Jacobsen missed two straight, letting K-State back in. Jaylen Alexander made a layup with 11 seconds to go to make it 82-84, before Frager made two free throws and Rechsteiner put in a layup to keep the K-State deficit at 2. With three seconds to go, freshman Jacob Lanier knocked down two clutch free throws for Nebraska, putting the game out of reach before the clock ran out and sealing an 88-84 Huskers win.
For Nebraska, it was a two-man show, with Frager and Sandfort scoring 28 and 23, respectively. The Huskers won the offensive rebounding battle 12-5 and also had more second-chance points and points off turnovers. Nebraska capitalized on the glass and the turnover battle to win.
On the K-State side, Rechsteiner led with 21 points, and Schutt followed with 16. Offensively, the Wildcats shot 43.2% from three and had 21 assists on 31 made shots. The Wildcats lived and died by the three, with 16 of their 31 made shots coming from behind the arc.
“He’s [Rechsteiner] a really tough, competitive kid,” Alexander said. “Shoots it great, but plays with great confidence. He makes our team better.”
With the preseason exhibitions done, K-State’s next game will be their regular-season opener against South Dakota State at Bramlage Coliseum at 7 p.m. on Nov. 3 on ESPN+.
