Payton Sandfort had a crazy 12 hours or so after making his NBA debut for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and his younger brother was in for one big surprise as soon as No. 4 seed Nebraska won its South region first-round game against No. 13 seed Troy, 76-47, to start March Madness.
Sandfort was in the crowd at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on Thursday, March 19 as Pryce Sandfort’s barrage of 3-pointers helped ignite the Cornhuskers in their quest for the first NCAA Tournament win in program history. Except Pryce Sandfort didn’t know he was going to be there. The Thunder had a game in Brooklyn on Wednesday and have a game in Washington, D.C. on Saturday.
Turns out there was time for a pit stop to celebrate what’s got to be the best two days in Sandfort basketball history.
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“It’s in our home arena, my brother’s first March Madness game, I had to get out and support him,” Payton Sandfort told The Oklahoman during halftime of Thursday’s Nebraska game.
Pryce Sandfort, the Big Ten’s 3-point leader this season, had the pro-Nebraska crowd going bonkers in the first half when he hit five 3-pointers after the Cornhuskers got off to a slow start. Perhaps he was inspired by his brother.
Payton Sandfort not only made his NBA debut with the Thunder on Wednesday, but also scored his first NBA basket against the Nets. Fittingly, it was a 3-pointer. Sandfort, who signed a two-way contract with the Thunder earlier this month, said the team “got me back here on a plane to watch the game.”
Payton and Pryce Sandfort played together at Iowa for two years prior to this season. Pryce Sandfort then transferred to rival Nebraska this past offseason after the Hawkeyes moved on from longtime coach Fran McCaffrey. So there was Payton Sandfort wearing a Cornhusker red T-shirt on Thursday with the words, “The Pryce is Right” emblazoned in bold letters.
“It’s been awesome,” Payton Sandfort said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pryce Sandfort’s brother surprise March Madness visit after NBA debut
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