What Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said after losing to Nebraska

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The Nebraska men's basketball defeated Vanderbilt 74-72 on Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The victory advanced the Huskers to the first Sweet 16 in program history.

Nebraska has now won six straight postseason games dating back to the 2025 College Basketball Crown. The win also improves the Huskers to 3-5 all-time against Vanderbilt.

Nebraska now holds a school-record of 28-6. Vanderbilt ended the season with a record of 27-9.

Commodores head coach Mark Byington met with the media following his team's loss and had nothing but positive things to say about his team's journey and memories made along the way.

"The hardest thing when you're in a tournament like this is there's a side of it with hurt and dejection, and you put everything into it. We were a play away, an inch away, from being in the Sweet 16. You know, it's going to take a while for us to get over, but I think it's going to be a point that we're going to look back and think of the unbelievable journey this season has been, how great these guys were to coach, how great these guys were for Vanderbilt, the memories they made along the way."

Pryce Sandfort and Brenden Frager led the Huskers with 15 points each. Rienk Mast contributed 13 points and five rebounds. Sam Hoiberg had eight points, six assists and four rebounds.

Tyler Tanner had 27 for the Commadores. Tyler Nickel also had 16 points and five rebounds. Byington also did some second-guessing on his team's seeding following the second-round exit.

"Yeah, I mean, that's probably a lot that we might think about it. You know, when you play in an environment like this, I know it had to be incredible on TV. It was an incredible game. It sucks we were on the side we were on, but I mean, a high-level game. I'm sure the crowd lifted them up and had them playing. They played so hard. But second guess where you're put or your seeding and all these other things, you know, it just adds to the list of things that you're kind of sitting here thinking, I just want one play back, and we win the game in this environment, and that would have been even more rewarding."

Nebraska will play the winner of the Iowa-Florida game in the Sweet 16 on Thursday, March 26.

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This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: What Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said after losing to Nebraska

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