Sports

Nebraska's Keisei Tominaga Finishes College Career With a Strong Performance in NCAA Tournament Loss

Senior guard Keisei Tominaga scored 21 points, including five 3-pointers, in the first round against Texas A&M in a tearful farewell to his college career.

Published

4 months ago

March 24, 2024

Ed Odeven

Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Keisei Tominaga shoots a jumper as Texas A&M Aggies forward Solomon Washington defends in an NCAA Tournament first-round game at FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 22, 2024. (Courtesy of Nebraska Athletics)

Read the full story on SportsLook - Nebraska's Keisei Tominaga Finishes College Career With a Strong Performance in NCAA Tournament Loss

University of Nebraska senior guard Keisei Tominaga had a strong performance in the final game of his college basketball career.

Tominaga scored 21 points, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range in the Cornhuskers' 98-83 defeat to the Texas A&M Aggies in an NCAA Tournament first-round game in Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday night, March 22. (Watch game highlights on the NCAA website.)

It was a tearful farewell for Tominaga to Nebraska's coaching staff, teammates and fans.

Nebraska, appearing in its first NCAA Tournament game since 2014, trailed 58-44 at halftime. The South Region's eighth-seeded Cornhuskers ended their season with a 23-11 record.

Ninth-seeded Texas A&M, which improved to 21-14, advanced to play top-seeded Houston in the second round.

Nebraska trailed by as many as 22 points in the second half and cut the lead to 11 early in the second half. The Aggies' 13-for-23 3-point shooting played a key factor in their win.

A 'Tough Matchup' for the Cornhuskers

"Congrats to Texas A&M," Cornhuskers head coach Fred Hoiberg said after the game. "That team is playing as well as anybody in the country right now with the way they're shooting the ball. It's a tough matchup with the way they drive it. And when they're hitting shots, it's a very tough team to beat.

"I thought we got off to a great start. I was really pleased with how we came out with energy. We were shooting the ball well and unfortunately we just traded baskets."

Hoiberg added, "And Keisei got us off to a great start. Josiah [Allick] was all over the place on the glass, flying in there. Really proud of these two guys for everything that they accomplished this year. But at the end of the day it was a very tough matchup."

Keisei Tominaga Scores 11 First-Half Points

Tominaga, playing in his third season for Nebraska, provided an early spark for the Cornhuskers by draining his first three 3-point attempts. Nebraska took a 20-13 lead on guard Brice Williams' 3-pointer with 15:04 to play in the first half.

But the lead slipped away as hot-shooting Texas A&M climbed in front 33-31 on a Wade Taylor 3-pointer at the 8:23 mark.

Tominaga, who had 11 points in the first half (only Williams had more points for Nebraska with 14 in the half), matched his career high with five 3-pointers. That's something he did eight times in his Cornhuskers career.

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Author: Ed Odeven

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