Huskers Begin Busy Stretch with Idaho State

The Nebraska men’s basketball team looks to regain its winning ways on Friday night, as the Huskers take on Idaho State at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tipoff between the Huskers and Bengals is set for 6 p.m.  A limited number of 300 Level tickets for Friday’s game are available by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets, calling the NU Athletic Ticket Office at 800-8BIGRED during business hours or at the PBA Box Office beginning Friday at 4:30 p.m.

The Huskers (1-2) showed fortitude, clawing back from a 19-point first-half deficit to get within one, but could not get over the hump in a 77-69 loss to Creighton on Tuesday night. Despite shooting 37 percent, the Huskers were within 68-62 with less than four minutes left before Creighton’s Ryan Hawkins hit a pair of 3-pointers to put the game out of reach. The loss was a costly one for the Big Red, as junior Trey McGowens suffered a foot injury which will keep him out of action for a significant part of the season. McGowens had started all 30 games since arriving at Nebraska.

While one Husker was sidelined, another made a successful return against CU, as senior Kobe Webster returned to action after missing the Huskers’ first two games because of injury. He provided an immediate spark, scoring nine points in a 19-2 spurt that nearly erased the Bluejay lead. Webster finished with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, as he posted his third 20-point game as a Husker.

NU also got a boost off the bench from Xavier transfer C.J. Wilcher, who scored a career-high 15 points, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. The 6-foot-5 guard has become an important part of the Husker rotation in his first season at Nebraska, averaging 8.3 points per game while shooting 39 percent from 3-point range.

 

Friday’s game with Idaho State begins a stretch of three games over a six-day span for Nebraska, as the Huskers host Southern (Sunday) and Tennessee State (Tuesday).

Idaho State (1-2) has been off since a 77-51 loss to Seattle on Sunday evening. The Bengals were tied at 25 at the half, but Seattle shot 66 percent in the second half to pull away. Brayden Parker led ISU with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor, but was the only Bengal in double figures. Idaho State brought back all five starters from a team that went 13-11 last season, including a trio of double-figure scorers.

 

About Idaho State

Idaho State is 1-2 on the season and looks to snap a two-game losing streak. The Bengals opened the season with an 82-61 win over Eastern Oregon before suffering back-to-back losses at Pepperdine (65-60) and at Seattle (77-51). Ryan Looney is in his third season at the school after coaching at the Division II and III levels. Before taking over Idaho State, he spent three seasons at Division II Point Loma, guiding the program to a 69-28 record, including a 31-5 mark in 2018-19.

The Bengals return all five starters from a team that went 13-11 and finished fourth in the Big Sky Conference in 2020-21 with an 8-6 record. It marked the program’s first .500 season since 2015-16. Senior guard Tarik Cool earned all-conference accolades after averaging a team-high 14.0 points per game, while Robert Ford III averaged 11.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. This season, Cool is at a team-high 12.0 ppg to lead three Bengals in double figures, as eight players play at least 16 minutes per game. Brayden Parker comes off the bench and is chipping in 11.3 ppg, while Ford is at 10.7 ppg and has hit a team-high six 3-pointers.

Friday’s matchup is the second ever between the two programs, and first since a 98-72 Husker win on Dec. 3, 1994. NU is 29-8 all-time against Big Sky members.

 

Last TIme Out

Kobe Webster had a team-high 20 points off the bench to lead three Huskers in doubles figures, but Nebraska’s slow start proved costly in a 77-69 loss to Creighton Tuesday evening at Pinnacle Bank Arena. 

Webster, who missed NU’s first two games because of injury, provided a spark, as the senior keyed a 21-4 first-half run that saw the Huskers cut a 19-point deficit to one late in the first half.

Nebraska stayed within striking distance the rest of the evening and was within 68-62 with 3:40 left, but Ryan Hawkins hit two straight 3-pointers to extend the Bluejay lead to 74-62 with 1:29 remaining. Hawkins finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Ryan Nembhard had a game-high 22 points and five assists to lead four CU players in double figures.

C.J. Wilcher had a career-high 15 points for the Huskers off the bench while Alonzo Verge Jr. also finished in double figures with 10 points.

Nebraska thrilled the sellout crowd of 15,939 by scoring five of the first six points, but missed 16 of their next 17 shots, as Creighton took advantage. The Bluejays used a pair of 13-0 spurts taking a 29-10 lead just 10 minutes into the contest.  The Huskers finally got going behind the play of Webster, Bryce McGowens and Wilcher.  Trailing by 18, McGowens had six straight points before a Wilcher 3-pointer capped a 9-0 spurt to pull within 33-24.  Webster

then keyed a 12-2 spurt, as the senior hit a trio of 3-pointers to get NU within 37-36 with 1:04 left in the half.

Nebraska stayed close in the second half, using an early 5-0 run to pull within 44-43 on Mayen’s 3-pointer with 16:25 remaining. From there, the Bluejays’ lead stayed between three and eight points until Hawkins’ consecutive 3-pointers in the final four minutes.

 

McGowens Undergoes Surgery

Nebraska guard Trey McGowens underwent surgery Wednesday afternoon to repair a broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot. The injury occurred during the first half of Nebraska’s game against Creighton on Tuesday. According to Nebraska Men’s Basketball Athletic Trainer R.J. Pietig, the injury will sideline McGowens for between six and eight weeks, and McGowens is expected to have a full recovery.

McGowens, who had started all 30 games since transferring to Nebraska prior to last season, is averaging 6.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.  He ranked second on the team in both scoring (10.7 ppg) and assists (2.3 apg) in 2020-21.

 

Worth Noting

•-Nebraska has produced four 20-point scores in the first three games of the season (Bryce McGowens-2; Alonzo Verge Jr.-1; Kobe Webster-1). Last year, four players combined for a total of 12 20-point efforts.

•-Nebraska has been opportunistic on the defensive end, ranking second in the Big Ten in both steals (8.3 spg) and turnover margin (+7.3). NU has converted 52 opponent turnovers into 63 points in its three games (21.3 ppg).

•-In his last seven games dating back to the end of the 2020-21 season, Kobe Webster is averaging 13.8 points per game on 46 percent shooting from the field. He has six double-figure efforts, including a pair of 20-pount outbursts in that stretch.

•-Bryce McGowens is one of three NCAA freshman averaging at least 20 points per game through Nov. 17, joining Tulane’s Jalen Cook (23.5 ppg) and Milwaukee’s Patrick Baldwin Jr. (20.0 ppg). He is also the only freshman among the Big Ten’s top-10 scoring leaders.

•-One area where Nebraska has made significant stride is reducing turnovers. The Huskers are currently fourth in the Big Ten at 10.0 turnovers per game through Wednesday’s game. Last season, NU was last in the conference with 14.1 turnovers per game.

•-Bryce McGowens joined rare company on Nov. 12 against Sam Houston with his 29-point effort. It tied for the second-highest performance by a freshman in school history and was the most since Shavon Shields also had 29 at Penn State in 2013.

McGowens, whose 25-point effort against WIU set a record for a Husker freshman in his debut, is one of nine Husker freshmen to post multiple 20-point efforts. Only Joe McCray (10, 2004-05), Jerry Fort (6, 1972-73) and Dave Hoppen (5, 1982-83) have posted more 20-point performances than McGowens.

 

•-The season opener against Western Illinois featured two of the highest-scoring debuts by any Husker in the last 50 years. Alonzo Verge Jr. (26) and Bryce McGowens (25) became just the third and fourth Huskers in the last five decades to score 20+ points in a Husker debut.

•-Alonzo Verge Jr. posted his first career double-double in Nebraska’s opener with 26 points, a career-high 13 rebounds and five assists against Western Illinois. Last year, only two Big Ten players had a game with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists – Illinois Ayo Dosunmu (vs. North Carolina A&T) and Purdue’s Trevion Williams (vs. Ohio State).

•-Prior to the Western Illinois game, the last Husker to have at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a game was Lance Jeter (27 points, 10 rebounds, five assists) in an overtime loss to Iowa State on Feb. 26, 2011.

•-The season opener against WIU marked only the third time since 2007 that Nebraska had two players score 25-or-more points in a game. It also marked the fourth time that NU had multiple 20-point scorers in a game in Fred Hoiberg‘s tenure.

 

 
McGowens Earns BIg Ten Honor
Nebraska freshman Bryce McGowens was honored on Nov. 15, as he was chosen Big Ten Freshman of the Week. McGowens averaged a Big Ten best 27.0 points per game on 52 percent shooting along with 5.5 rebounds per game in two games last week. He became the second Husker freshman in school history to post multiple 25-point games, joining Dave Hoppen in 1982-83.

In the season opener against Western Illinois, he totaled 25 points – the most ever by a Husker in a debut – and six rebounds. McGowens keyed the win over Sam Houston with 29 points, one shy of Nebraska’s single-game freshman record, on 9-of-13 shooting in NU’s 74-65 win.  McGowens was the first Husker freshman honored by the Big Ten since Glynn Watson Jr. on Feb. 15, 2016.

 

Huskers Look to Take Advantage of Experience

Nebraska’s 2021-22 roster has plenty of college experience, as Derrick Walker, Kobe Webster, Alonzo Verge, Lat Mayen and Trevor Lakes all begin their fifth season of college eligibility. Lakes and Webster are “Super Seniors” who took advantage of their free year of eligibility.  Nebraska returns three players who have scored at least 1,000 points at the college level. Walker, who turned 24 on Tuesday, and third-year walk-on Jace Piatkowski are the only players remaining from Fred Hoiberg‘s first team at Nebraska.

The Huskers’ starting lineup against Sam Houston on Nov. 12, was older than the lineup the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder started the same evening against Sacramento.

 

Starting Lineups (Nov. 12, 2021)

 
A Look at the Huskers
Head Coach Fred Hoiberg begins his third season at the helm of the Husker program with a strong returning corps back for the first time in his tenure. The Huskers return three starters and seven letterwinners while welcoming a consensus top-20 recruiting class which features five-star recruit Bryce McGowens.

The backcourt returnees are led by fourth-year junior Trey McGowens, who averaged 10.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in 2020-21. McGowens suffered a foot injury against Creighton and will be out 6-to-8 weeks. Arizona State transfer Alonzo Verge Jr. has provided an immediate impact in the Husker backcourt, ranking second in the Big Ten in assists (5.3 apg) while adding 16.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. McGowens has lived up to his five-star label early on, as he averages a team-best 20.0 ppg while grabbing 5.3 rebounds per game. NU has relied on newcomers C.J. Wilcher and Keisei Tominaga to provide depth, while Kobe Webster (8.1 ppg, 38 percent from 3-point range in 2020-21) returned on Tuesday. Wilcher started the second half against Creighton.

The Huskers’ frontcourt got a boost back against Sam Houston, as Lat Mayen returned to action after missing the opener because of an injury suffered in the Colorado exhibition.  Mayen, who averaged 8.6 ppg and 4.5 rpg last season, had nine points and five boards on Tuesday. Derrick Walker has been steady inside, leading NU in both rebounding  (7.0 rpg) and blocked shots (1.7 bpg). Eduardo Andre, who had 11 points and seven boards against Sam Houston, Top-100 recruit Wilhelm Breidenbach, DePaul transfer Keon Edwards and Trevor Lakes have also seen action in the Husker frontcourt.

 

Super McGowens Brothers

The high-flying duo of Trey and Bryce McGowens will be sidelined for a bit, as Trey recovers from a broken foot suffered on Nov. 16. This season marked the first time the brothers were on the same court together since they were kids, and provided a number of early highlights.

• The McGowens brothers are one of 14 brother combos on the same college roster this season.

• Bryce is fifth in the Big Ten and 61st nationally in scoring at 20.0 ppg as of Nov. 17. He is tied for second nationally among freshmen in scoring and is shooting 46 percent from the floor through NU’s first three games.

• McGowens became the first Husker since 2016 to earn Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week accolades on Nov. 15, as he averaged 27.0 ppg on 52 percent shooting in a pair of contests.

• He is just the second Husker freshman to ever put up multiple 25-point games, as he had 25 in the opener against Western Illinois and 25 in the win over Sam Houston. He joins Dave Hoppen, who accomplished the feat during the 1982-83 season (27 vs. K-State; 25 vs. Iowa State).

• As a high schooler, he totaled 2,341 points, including 285 3-pointers and was selected for the 2021 Iverson Classic. He was also selected to the Jordan Brand Classic, but the event was not held

• Last season, he was the Gatorade South Carolina Player of the Year, averaging 21.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per contest for Legacy Early College and Coach BJ Jackson. 

• Trey has been a proven performer throughout his career, has he has started 94 of 96 games at the college level for Pittsburgh and Nebraska and scored over 1,000 career points. He is also ranks 28th nationally among Division I players with 169 steals.

• Trey started the first three games and was averaging 6.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game before suffering his injury midway through the first half against Creighton on Nov. 16. McGowens also drew the opponent’s top perimeter defender and shared point guard duties.  In last Friday’s win, he helped limit Sam Houston’s Demarkus Lampley, a returning first-team all-conference performer, to 2-of-14 shooting.

• Last season, Trey averaged 10.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assist per game, while starting all 27 games. He reached double figures 17 times in 2020-21, including a season-high 20 points against No. 17 Michigan State.

 

McGowens, Verge Among Top Impact Newcomers

Nebraska guards Bryce McGowens and Alonzo Verge Jr. were listed among the top impact newcomers by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello. The list featured the top 91 players — and a handful of other notables — whose wearing of new jerseys in the 2021-22 college basketball season will have the most substantive impact on their teams. McGowens, a five-star recruit and consensus top-25 recruit, was ranked No. 25 overall, including 11th among all freshman nationally. Verge, who came to Nebraska after playing two seasons at Arizona State, was No. 33 overall and 21st among all transfers entering 2021-22.

 

Zo Takes the Point

Alonzo Verge took over the point guard duties from 2021 NBA Draft pick Dalano Banton, and Verge has provided an immediate impact, averaging 16.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game. The 6-foot-4 guard from Chicago is second in the Big Ten in assists, 13th in scoring, and 12th in steals as of Nov. 17.

• He posted his first collegiate double-double in the opener with 26 points – the most points ever in a Husker debut – a career-high 13 rebounds and five assists.

• Verge was a combo guard during his two seasons at Arizona State, where he teamed with current Kansas guard Remy Martin in one of the highest scoring backcourts in the Pac-12.

• He averaged 14.0 points, 3.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game in 2020-21, ranking among the Pac-12 leaders in scoring (15th), assists (seventh), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.55-to-1, sixth), steals (1.2, 13th) and free throw

percentage (.809, 13th).

• In his first season at ASU, he was the 2020 Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year and an honorable-mention all-conference pick after averaging 14.6 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

• A two-time NJCAA All-American at Moberly Area (Ill.) CC, he ranked in the top three nationally in both scoring and assists in 2018-19. He tallied 1,086 points (30.9 ppg in 35 games), but also dished out 8.2 assists per game en route to first-team accolades.

 

Husker Recruiting Class Seeing Stars

The Huskers brought one of the nation’s top recruiting classes to campus this fall. The class is ranked as high as 13th by ESPN as well as 18th by 247Sports and 21st by Rivals and is the third-highest ranked class in the Big Ten.

Nebraska’s five signees are headlined by five-star Bryce McGowens and four-star recruit Wilheim Breidenbach, both of whom were top-100 recruits. McGowens was a consensus top-25 recruit who played in the Iverson Classic and was selected to the Jordan Brand team. NU rounded out the class with junior college All-American Keisei Tominaga and freshmen Oleg Kojenets and Quaran McPherson.

The Huskers three incoming transfers, who do not count in recruiting rankings included a pair of former top-100 recruits in C.J. Wilcher (Xavier) and Keon Edwards (DePaul), while Alonzo Verge spent the last two seasons at Arizona State, where he was the Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year in 2020.