OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Making its second NCAA Tournament appearance in as many years, the No. 13 seed and back-to-back Sun Belt Conference champion Troy men’s basketball team had its 2025-26 campaign end in a 76-47 defeat against No. 4 seed Nebraska in first round action Thursday afternoon at the Paycom Center.
 
Troy (22-12) junior forward Victor Valdes scored a team-high 14 points and made four 3-pointers to lead the Trojans.
 
Nebraska (27-6) shot 28-for-65 (.431) overall, made 14 shots from beyond the arc and outscored the Trojans, 17-5, off turnovers, 26-10 in the paint and 19-3 on second chances.
 
Troy used effective ball movement in its halfcourt offense to earn quality shots in the early minutes, connecting on a trio of 3-pointers on its first four attempts from the floor, to build a 9-4 lead. A seesaw battle for the lead ensued for the next five minutes of game time before six-straight points gave Nebraska an 18-15 lead for the fifth and final lead change of the period, forcing a Trojans timeout with 9:35 to go.
 
The Cornhuskers got hot from beyond the arc and built a double-digit lead, 30-19, on junior forward Pryce Sandfort’s fifth trey of game at the 5:46 mark. Nebraska widened the margin to as many as 18 points before taking a 41-25 lead into halftime.
 
Troy shot just 7-for-21 (.333) from the floor and 4-for-12 (.333) from deep while going 7-for-8 (.875) at the free throw line in the first half and committed 10 first-half turnovers. The Trojans gave up 11 offensive rebounds to the Cornhuskers and were outscored, 17-1, on second chances and 15-3 off turnovers.
 
Troy scored the first five points of the second half to trim the deficit to 11, but Nebraska raced out on an 11-2 scoring run down to the 14:06 mark to create a 20-point advantage. The Cornhuskers built their largest lead of the game, 70-40, with 6:50 left while holding the Trojans to just six field goals in the second half.
 
Sandfort led Nebraska with a game-high 23 points and finished the game 7-for-12 from 3-point range.