Iowa dunks on Nebraska, welcomes ‘Cinderella’ tag
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José de Jesus Ortiz, Founder & Editor in Chief
- March 27, 2026
Iowa reaches Elite Eight for first time since 1987
HOUSTON – Alvaro Folgueiras couldn’t believe how open he was with 58 seconds to play Thursday night at Toyota Center. Neither could his Iowa teammates. With only four Nebraska defenders on the court, Kael Combs delivered a perfect inbound pass across the court with the accuracy Punt U isn’t accustomed to seeing.
Folgueiras took the pass near the free-throw line and then delivered a thunderous dunk while drawing a foul, pushing a three-point lead to five. Then the 6-foot-10 Spaniard smiled, stuck his tongue out and walked toward the Iowa cheerleaders and a section of Iowa fans across the court from the Hawkeyes’ bench.
Folgueiras hit the ensuing free throw, and the Cornhuskers never recovered. Iowa rallied late for a 77-71 victory to become the first No. 9 seed in Big Ten history to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament for the first time since 1987.
“Put that one on me,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said of the missing player. “It was a miscommunication and I’m the head coach, so put that one on me.”
Whatever the case, Folgueiras and the Hawkeyes capitalized.
March Madness
“This March is madness for a reason,” Folgueiras said after scoring 16 points off the bench with two dunks in the final minute. “It’s definitely a thing. This is the biggest stage every single one of our players has been at.
“We’re very proud. That’s nice, but we have another game in two days and we have to be prepared for it.”
The Hawkeyes will face No. 3 seed Illinois on Saturday night in the South Regional Final at Toyota Center for a chance to reach the Final Four. The Illini upset No. 2 seed Houston 65-55 in the second game of the South Regional Thursday night.
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Tate Sage added 19 off the bench for the Hawkeyes, and Bennett Stirtz scored a team-high 20 points. Nebraska forward Pryce Sandfort, who spent his first two seasons at Iowa before transferring after last season, led all scorers with 25 points.
The Hawkeyes have definitely put the Madness in March Madness. They broke millions of brackets before even arriving in Houston for the Sweet Sixteen.
Another upset
“Yeah, Cinderella, whatever they want to call us, just we’re in the Elite Eight,” Iowa coach Ben McCollum said. “That’s what they need to call us.”
After upsetting No. 1 seed and reigning national champion Florida, the Hawkeyes refused to let No. 4 seed Nebraska pull away. The Cornhuskers jumped to an early 12-2 lead, prompting McCollum to call a timeout with 16:54 to play in the first half.
Folgueiras said McCollum told his players that they needed to play harder because the early deficit wasn’t because of “tactics.”
“It wasn’t about other things (other) than playing hard and showing what you’re made of at the beginning of the game,” Folgueiras said. “It was a slow start like sometimes in the season. … But we’re never going to throw the game away, especially in a stage like this one.”
The Cornhuskers led 34-25 with 8:10 play in the first half, but Iowa cut the deficit to 46-43 by halftime. Iowa finally tied the score at 50 on Tate Sage’s layup with 15:05 to play in the second half. Sandfort’s 3-pointer gave Nebraska a 65-62 lead with 6:16 to play.
Folgueiras tied it at 65 with a 3-pointer with 5:03 to play, beginning Iowa’s 15-6 run to end the game.
“Maybe they should have seeded us better,” McCollum said. “No, I’m just kidding. They seeded us right where we should be. Yeah, I mean, I guess there’s Cinderella. You know, we were so close in a lot of games and I don’t like to use that. We were right there.”
José de Jesus Ortiz
Founder & Editor in Chief
Award-winning writer Jose de Jesus Ortiz, a former lead sports columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has covered Major League Baseball since 1997 in Los Angeles, St. Petersburg, New York and Houston. He was the first Latino to serve as president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
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