The No. 23 Nebraska Cornhuskers came away with a very impressive road win over the No. 11 Illinois Fighting Illini in Big Ten men’s college basketball action on Saturday, and the victory featured a dramatic finish in Champaign.
With the game tied 80-80, Jamarques Lawrence nailed a buzzer-beating three to give Nebraska an 83-80 win over Illinois.
First, here’s what the Lawrence game-winning bucket looked and sounded like on the Peacock broadcast:
But the Nebraska radio broadcast took things to another level with the play-by-play announcer going absolutely bonkers.
After Lawrence made the game-winning shot, longtime Nebraska voice Kent Pavelka made various loud noises on the Huskers Radio Network and announced, “I’m gonna pass out!”
41-year Nebraska basketball play-by-play announcer Kent Pavelka’s (@KentPavelka) call of Jamarques Lawrence’s game winning 3 is GOLD 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/Vofj6HyU1E
— NCAA Buzzer Beaters & Game Winners (@NCAABuzzerBters) December 14, 2025
“Five seconds to go, Sam drives the ball, kicks it, it is Lawrence, puts it up… GOOOD! AAAH! AAAH! AAAH!… Inbounds play! I’m gonna pass out! The game is over! Nebraska wins it!”
It’s always fun to hear the local calls of crazy sports finishes, and Pavelka’s certainly didn’t disappoint. His soul went to a very happy place for a moment there.
Nebraska, led by former NBA head coach Fred Hoiberg (and his son, Sam, had the assist on the game-winning shot), is off to an 11-0 start (2-0 in Big Ten play). The Cornhuskers are joined by Iowa State as the only two teams to have at least 11 wins and zero losses so far this season.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.