Iowa Clinches Elite-Eight Berth Thanks To Disastrous Blunder By Nebraska In Final Minute

A stunning mistake out of a timeout doomed Nebraska, as Iowa capitalized with a late surge to punch its ticket to the Elite Eight.

For the first time in 39 years, Iowa is heading to the Elite Eight, thanks in part to a disastrous blunder by Nebraska in the final minute of play. 

The Big Ten showdown in Houston was one to remember, as the sweet sixteen got underway Thursday night with a bang. Unfortunately for Nebraska fans, they will be rehashing this loss for quite some time, with a massive mistake coming out of a timeout helping the Hawkeyes clinch the win. 

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The score was 71-68, and the Hawkeyes were inbounding the ball with :58 remaining in the game. It was the hero from the win over Florida that came up clutch again, as Alvaro Folgueiras ran deep into Nebraska territory for the layup that also garnered a foul.

From down three, to trailing by six after Folgueiras hit the free throw, Iowa went on a 14-3 run to clinch a spot in the next round. The stunning moment left announcers questioning how this could have happened, especially coming out of a timeout. 

On the replay, it's clear that Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg noticed the blunder and was trying at the last second to get one of his players into the game. But, as you can tell, the Iowa pass to Alvaro Folgueiras was already in transit and the Cornhuskers chances of winning the game officially slipped away. 

This was an incredible way to start the Sweet Sixteen, with the Hawkeyes now headed to the Elite Eight. There was even chaos to end the Purdue versus Texas game, which ended with the Boilermakers punching their ticket to the Elite Eight as well. 

What a night in college basketball, with more to come on Friday. Continue following OutKick for the latest, as we will have you covered from Chicago and Washington, DC, this weekend.  

Written by

Trey Wallace is Outkick's Sr. College Sports Reporter, also hosts The Trey Wallace Podcast, which focuses on a mixture of sports, culture, entertainment along with his perspective on everything from College Football to the College World Series. Wallace has been covering college sports for 15 years, starting off while attending the University of South Alabama. He’s broken some of the biggest college stories, incluidng the Baylor AD scandal, multple firings and hiring, including the Florida football "Credit Card Scandal" along with the firing of Jim McElwin and Kevin Sumlin. Wallace also broke one of the biggest stories in college football in 2020 around the NCAA investigation into recruiting violations against Tennessee football head coach Jeremy Pruitt. Wallace also appears on radio across seven different states breaking down that latest news in college sports.