1985–86 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball team

The 1985–86 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln during the 1985–86 college basketball season. Led by head coach Moe Iba (6th season), the Cornhuskers competed in the Big Eight Conference and played their home games at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. They finished with a record of 19–11 overall and 8–6 in Big Eight Conference play. Nebraska fell to Iowa State in the semifinal round of the Big Eight tournament, but earned an at-large bid to the 1986 NCAA tournament – the first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history – as the No. 9 seed in the Southeast region. The Cornhuskers were beaten by No. 8 seed Western Kentucky in the opening round, 67–59.

1985–86 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball
NCAA tournament
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Record	19–11 (8–6 Big Eight)
Head coach	Moe Iba (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Tom Baack Randy Cipriano Doug Farley
Home arena	Bob Devaney Sports Center
Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

1985–86 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 2 Kansas †	13	–	1		.929			35	–	4		.897
Iowa State	9	–	5		.643			22	–	11		.667
Nebraska	8	–	6		.571			19	–	11		.633
Missouri	8	–	6		.571			21	–	14		.600
No. 15 Oklahoma	8	–	6		.571			26	–	9		.743
Oklahoma State	6	–	8		.429			15	–	13		.536
Kansas State	4	–	10		.286			16	–	14		.533
Colorado	0	–	14		.000			8	–	20		.286
† 1986 Big Eight tournament winner As of March 31, 1986 Rankings from AP Poll

Senior center Dave Hoppen was selected to the All-Big Eight team for the third time. Hoppen later had his No. 42 retired at Nebraska, and he remains the school's career leading in scoring with 2,167 points.

Roster

1985–86 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
\ Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 10 Darren Brown 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Southeastern Detroit, MI G 12 Milton Shobe 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Burke Omaha, NE G 13 Harvey Mashall 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Southside Jackson, TN G 14 Anthony Bailous 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Canoga Park Los Angeles, CA G 20 Brian Carr 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Burris Muncie, IN G 22 Joel Sealer 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Millard South Omaha, NE G 30 Bernard Day 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Woodson Washington, D.C. F 32 Chris Logan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr South Natchez Natchez, MS F 34 Keith Neubert 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Fort Atkinson Fort Atkinson, WI F 35 Bill Jackman 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Perkins County Grant, NE F 40 Mike Martz 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Beatrice Beatrice, NE C 42 Dave Hoppen 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Benson Omaha, NE F 44 Deak Vance 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Lincoln High Lincoln, NE F 50 John Matzke 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Lincoln Lincoln, NE	Head coach Moe Iba Assistant coach(es) Tom Baack Randy Cipriano Doug Farley Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: May 26, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 23, 1985*		Wisconsin-Stout	W 71–53	1–0	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Nov 26, 1985*		Southern Illinois	W 85–50	2–0	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Nov 30, 1985*		at Wyoming	W 64–53	3–0	Arena-Auditorium  Laramie, Wyoming
Dec 2, 1985*		UC Irvine	L 80–87	3–1	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Dec 7, 1985*		Creighton Rivalry	W 71–52	4–1	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Dec 12, 1985*		at Washington State	W 79–72	5–1	Friel Court  Pullman, Washington
Dec 14, 1985*		at Montana State	W 76–59	6–1	Worthington Arena  Havre, Montana
Dec 20, 1985*		Georgia	L 63–67	6–2	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Dec 23, 1985*		Arizona State	W 80–67	7–2	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Dec 29, 1985*		vs. Alabama Sun Carnival Classic Tournament	L 61–78	7–3	Special Events Center  El Paso, Texas
Dec 30, 1985*		vs. Ohio State Sun Carnival Classic Tournament	W 69–66	8–3	Special Events Center  El Paso, Texas
Jan 6, 1986*		Evansville	W 77–70	9–3	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Jan 11, 1986*		Northeast Missouri State	W 99–56	10–3	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Jan 15, 1986		No. 8 Kansas	L 70–81	10–4 (0–1)	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Jan 18, 1986		Missouri	L 67–68	10–5 (0–2)	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Jan 22, 1986		Oklahoma State	W 68–52	11–5 (1–2)	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Jan 25, 1986		Iowa State	W 75–58	12–5 (2–2)	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Jan 29, 1986		at No. 6 Oklahoma	L 60–87	12–6 (2–3)	Lloyd Noble Center  Norman, Oklahoma
Feb 1, 1986		at Colorado	W 77–60	13–6 (3–3)	CU Events/Conference Center  Boulder, Colorado
Feb 5, 1986		Kansas State	L 54–64	13–7 (3–4)	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Feb 8, 1986		at Missouri	W 75–66	14–7 (4–4)	Hearnes Center  Columbia, Missouri
Feb 12, 1986		at Oklahoma State	W 62–51	15–7 (5–4)	Gallagher-Iba Arena  Stillwater, Oklahoma
Feb 15, 1986		at No. 3 Kansas	L 61–79	15–8 (5–5)	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
Feb 19, 1986		No. 10 Oklahoma	W 66–64	16–8 (6–5)	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Feb 22, 1986		at Iowa State	L 73–81	16–9 (6–6)	Hilton Coliseum  Ames, Iowa
Feb 26, 1986		Colorado	W 79–72	17–9 (7–6)	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, Nebraska
Mar 1, 1986		at Kansas State	W 64–60	18–9 (8–6)	Ahearn Field House  Manhattan, Kansas
Big Eight tournament
Mar 6, 1986*		vs. Oklahoma State Quarterfinals	W 82–75	19–9	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 7, 1986*		vs. Iowa State Semifinals	L 58–75	19–10	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA Tournament
Mar 14, 1986*	(9 SE)	vs. (8 SE) Western Kentucky First Round	L 59–67[1][2][3]	19–11	Charlotte Coliseum  Charlotte, North Carolina
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Central Time.

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Rankings

Main article: 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

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Team players drafted into the NBA

Main article: 1986 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
3	65	Dave Hoppen	Atlanta Hawks

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