Huskers Head to Minnesota to Face Golden Gophers

Nebraska completes its two-game road swings Saturday morning, as the Huskers travel to Minneapolis for a matchup against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Tipoff from Williams Arena is set for shortly after 11 a.m. (central) and the game will be televised nationally on BTN and carried on the Huskers Radio Network. It will also be available on the Fox Sports app.

Nebraska (8-7, 1-3 Big Ten) looks to bounce back following a 74-56 loss at Michigan State on Tuesday evening. The Huskers struggled in the first half, shooting 27.6 percent as the Spartans took a 39-17 lead into the break. Nebraska, which shot 58 percent in the second half, whittled the lead down 58-46 with 8:44 left, but could get no closer as the Spartans used a 10-0 run to regain control. Derrick Walker had 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists while Sam Griesel and Wilhelm Breidenbach added 10 points each in the losing effort.  NU out-scored MSU, 40-20, in the paint, but was hurt by season lows in both 3-point (.125) and free throw (.400) percentage against the Spartans.

The Huskers have relied on their defense and rebounding in the turnaround this season. Even after giving up 74 points to Michigan State on Tuesday, NU is 39th in defensive efficiency in KenPom, which would be the best in Fred Hoiberg‘s nine seasons as a Division I coach. MSU was the first Husker opponent since Dec. 7 to score more than one point per possession. Last year, NU ranked 178th nationally in defensive efficiency. The Huskers are out-rebounding foes by 2.7 per game after ranking last in the Big Ten in rebounding in 2021-22 (-7.0 per game).

The Huskers will be looking for their fourth Big Ten road win in the last six contests dating back to last season and first at Williams Arena since 2018.

Minnesota (6-7, 0-3 Big Ten) comes off a near upset at No. 14 Wisconsin on Tuesday, as the Gophers fell 63-60. Minnesota enjoyed a 40-24 advantage on the glass, as Jamison Battle (13 points/nine rebounds) and Dawson Garcia (14 points/nine rebounds) both nearly posted double-doubles in the loss.

 

About Minnesota

Ben Johnson is in his second season in charge of the Golden Gopher program.  Johnson, who played at both Minnesota and Northwestern during his college career, won 13 games in his first season at Minnesota. Before taking the Golden Gophers job, he spent the prior three seasons at Xavier as an assistant. Previously, he had been an assistant with the Golden Gophers from 2013 to 2018. Johnson spent one season at Nebraska as an assistant coach under Tim Miles in 2012-13.

The Gophers opened the year with a 5-1 mark before dropping five straight games, including Big Ten games at Purdue and against Michigan. UM closed non-conference play with a pair of wins before falling at Wisconsin on Tuesday. Minnesota has battled and found ways to win close games, going 3-1 in games decided by three points or less. 

The strength of the Gopher attack is the frontcourt duo of Jamison Battle and Dawson Garcia. Battle, who led Minnesota in scoring with 17.5 ppg last season, is averaging 12.9 ppg while shooting 34 percent from 3-point range. Garcia, who played at both Marquette and North Carolina, has been an impact performer in his first season at Minnesota, leading the team in scoring (14.2 ppg) and rebounding (5.8 rpg). Point guard Ta’lon Cooper is the Gophers’ third double-figure scorer averaging 10.4 points and 6.6 assists per game.

Series History: Nebraska and Minnesota will meet for the 82nd time on Saturday, which is the most between the Huskers and any other Big Ten member. It is NU’s longest-running series in the Big Ten, dating back to February of 1902. The Gophers lead the all-time series, 57-24, while the Huskers have won nine of the past 14 meetings. In all, 15 of the last 16 meetings have been won by the home team dating back to March of 2012.  Nebraska is 9-8 against the Golden Gophers as Big Ten members. Prior to joining the Big Ten in 2011-12, NU and Minnesota met in non-conference action every year from 1995 until 2004 after not playing for 16 years.

Last Meeting: Alonzo Verge Jr. netted 20 of his 22 points in the second half, as Nebraska put together one of its best performances of the season in a 78-65 win over Minnesota on Feb. 9, 2022. Verge keyed NU’s decisive second-half run with five points and a pair of assists as the Huskers broke open a 40-32 lead with 12 unanswered points to take a 52-32 lead after basket from Derrick Walker with 11:43 remaining. Following that run, the Huskers, who shot 58 percent after halftime, kept Minnesota at bay the rest of the way.  In addition to Verge, Bryce McGowens had 16 points, while Derrick Walker added 11 points and seven rebounds.  Nebraska won the game on the defensive end, holding Minnesota to 39 percent shooting and forcing 18 turnovers. NU converted those miscues into 25 points. 

 

Numbers to Know

9 – Nebraska matched its season low with nine turnovers at Michigan State on Tuesday. The Huskers also had nine turnovers in the OT loss to Purdue on Dec. 9.

.655 – Derrick Walker’s career field goal percentage at Nebraska. He is on track to set NU’s career record in that category. Larry Cox (.625, 1974-76) and Dave Hoppen (.600, 1983-86) are the only two Huskers with career field goal percentages above .600.

11.2 – Nebraska is allowing its opponents only 11.2 free throw attempts per game. The Huskers have held seven opponents to 10 free throws or less, including eight against Iowa and six at Michigan State. On the other hand, NU is getting to the line an average of 15.9 times per game.

14 – Derrick Walker joins Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis as one of 14 players nationally averaging at least 13 points, eight rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as of Jan. 5. Walker is first or second on the Huskers in scoring, rebounding and assists.

 

2-Nebraska’s Sam Griesel is one of only two Big Ten players – and 19 players across all of Division I – averaging at least 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, joining Penn State’s Jalen Pickett as of Jan. 5.

50 – Nebraska allowed 50 points the Dec. 29 win over Iowa, its lowest total in four seasons under Fred Hoiberg. It was the fewest points allowed by Nebraska since the 2018-19 season.

 

Worth Noting

• Nebraska Head Coach Fred Hoiberg returns to Minneapolis this weekend, where he spent two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves (2003-05) before joining the Timberwolves front office for five seasons (2005-10). Hoiberg helped the Timberwolves to 58 wins and the Western Conference Finals in 2003-04 and led the NBA in 3-point shooting his final season with Minnesota.

• Nebraska has faced one of the nation’s toughest schedules in 2022-23. As of Jan 5, Nebraska’s NET strength of schedule was 14th nationally, the only Big Ten team in the top 30 nationally. In all, nine of Nebraska’s 15 games have been against Quad 1 (five) and Quad 2 (four) opponents.

• The Big Ten has 10 teams in the top 75 of the NET as of Jan. 5 and 13 of the 14 in the top 100.

• The return of Derrick Walker after missing the first five games has been evident on both ends of the court. Nebraska’s leading scorer and rebounder, he has helped Nebraska’s dramatic improvement on the defensive end. Over the last eight games according to Bart Torvik’s rankings, Nebraska’s defense is 26th nationally in adjusted efficiency since Walker returned on Nov. 25.

• Derrick Walker enters the weekend as one of four players nationally averaging at least 13 points and eight rebounds per game while shooting at least 64 percent from the field. Walker nearly posted a double-double at Michigan State with 15 points and nine rebounds.

• Nebraska has shared the wealth during the first half of the season. The Huskers have six players averaging at least 9.3 points per game, while seven different players have topped NU in scoring at least once. Since 2000-01, NU has had only four seasons with four players averaging double figures (2019-20, 2018-19, 2013-14, 2005-06). The last time NU had five players finish the season averaging double figures was the 1993-94 season.

• Prior to going 8-of-20 from the foul line at Michigan State, the Huskers had been trending up from the free throw line. In the five previous games, NU was shooting 72.9 percent from the line (51-70) and had been above 70 percent in each of those five contests.

• With more of an emphasis on positional size compared to previous Hoiberg-coached Husker teams, Nebraska has made significant improvement on the defensive end despite breaking in an entirely new starting lineup. The Huskers have held 11 of their 15 opponents to 70 points or less and have climbed nearly 140 spots in adjusted defense in KenPom compared to last season. Michigan State was the first opponent since Dec. 7 to score more than 1.0 point per possession, a stretch that included three offenses (Purdue; Iowa; K-State) which ranked in the top 40 in offensive efficiency.

• The biggest strides Nebraska has made has been in rebounding. NU is currently ninth in the Big Ten in rebounding margin at +2.7 per game and has been out-rebounded just five times in 15 contests.  NU is 142nd nationally in rebounding margin after ranking 344th last year. Nebraska grabbed 54 rebounds – its highest total in a conference game since 2000 – against Iowa on Dec. 29.

• Nebraska has done an excellent job of not fouling. The Huskers are eighth nationally in fewest fouls per game (13.1) as of Jan. 4. Only three opponents – Florida State, No. 4 Purdue and Queens – have gotten to the line more than Nebraska in the first 15 contests.

• Nebraska saw its three-game win streak against ranked opponents snapped in a loss at No. 14 Indiana on Dec. 7. It matched the second-longest streak in school history and was made more impressive that all three games were on the road. It marked the first time in school history that Nebraska had a three-game road win streak vs. ranked teams.

• In the first 15 games, Nebraska has already totaled seven double-doubles (Derrick Walker-3; Sam Griesel-2; Juwan Gary-1; Blaise Keita-1) and all seven have been points/rebounds double-doubles. Last year, NU totaled 10 double-doubles in 32 games (6 pts./reb. and 4 pts./asst).

• Sophomore Wilhelm Breidenbach has found an increased role in recent weeks as he is now a year out from having season-ending surgery in December of 2021. Over the last four games, he is averaging 7.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 48 percent from the field, more than doubling his production from his first 10 appearances in 2022-23. He posted a 10-point effort at Michigan State on Tuesday. He had either tied or set personal bests in points or rebounds in each of the three prior games (Kansas State, Queens and Iowa).

 

Last Time Out

Michigan State used a strong first-half finish to pull away from Nebraska en route to a 74-56 victory at the Breslin Center in East Lansing on Jan. 3. The game was tied at 11 before Michigan State outscored Nebraska 28-6 over the final 12 minutes of the first half. The Spartans turned a three-point lead into a 13-point advantage with a 10-0 run. Michigan State then closed the half on a 13-0 run, stretching a nine-point lead into a 22-point halftime advantage.

Nebraska fought back in the second half and had the lead down to 12 with just over eight minutes to play, but Michigan State put the game away with a 10-0 run.

Nebraska dominated the paint on the night, outscoring Michigan State 40-20 inside the lane. But the Spartans made six more 3-pointers than the Huskers, and Michigan State out-rebounded Nebraska by 17, leading to an 18-5 advantage in second-chance points.

Derrick Walker paced Nebraska with 15 points, while Sam Griesel and Wilhelm Breidenbach added 10 points apiece. Walker also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, and he and Griesel each dished out three assists. Tyson Walker scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Spartans.

 

Hometown Kid Making Good

Senior Sam Griesel has enjoyed quite the homecoming, averaging 10.6 points, 4.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game from his point guard spot in replacing Alonzo Verge Jr., who led the Big Ten in assists per game last season. Griesel spent the last four seasons at North Dakota State, earning All-Summit League honors in 2021 and 2022 before returning to Lincoln for his senior year.

• He ranks seventh in the Big Ten in assists per game and 12th in steals per game as of Jan. 5.
• Griesel has reached double figures in each of the last three games, and he is averaging 12.8 ppg on 50 percent shooting in that span.
• Griesel collected his second double-double in the win over Iowa with 12 points and team highs in rebounds (10) and assists (five).
• Griesel led NU with 16 points and added three assists and three rebounds in the win over Queens
• The Huskers’ first scholarship recruit from Lincoln since Jake Muhleisen in the early 2000s, Griesel keyed NU’s win at No. 7 Creighton with 18 points, a season-high 12 rebounds and seven assists.
• Against Maine, Griesel scored a season-high 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds while also chipping in 18 points in the win over Omaha.
• Griesel’s 22-point effort against Maine in the season opener was one of the highest-scoring debuts by a Husker in the last 50 seasons.

Walker Looks to Continue Efficient Shooting
Super senior Derrick Walker has made a significant impact on the Huskers since returning to action on Nov. 25. Walker, who missed NU’s first five games, has been a force, averaging 13.7 points on 64 percent shooting, 8.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. The 6-foot-9 forward was NU’s only returning starter entering 2021-22 and has nine double-figure efforts in 10 contests.

• He is one of only two Big Ten players averaging at least 13 points, eight rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
• Walker has a team-high three double-doubles (Memphis, Florida State and No. 4 Purdue) and six for his career.
• He led NU with 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists at Michigan State on Jan. 3.
• Walker is also one of four players nationally averaging 13 points and eight rebounds per game while shooting 65 percent from the field as of Jan. 5.
• His most recent double-double was a 14-point, 10-rebound effort against No. 4 Purdue on Dec. 10.  He also helped limit Zach Edey to a season-low 11 points, snapping his streak of eight straight 20-point games.
• He keyed NU’s win over No. 7 Creighton with a career-high 22 points on 11-of-16 shooting and eight rebounds against Ryan Kalkbrenner, the reigning Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Walker’s efforts helped NU enjoy a 46-16 advantage in points in the paint.
• Walker posted his first career 20-point game in a win over Florida State on Nov. 27, with 20 points on 10-of-12 shooting and matched his career high with 13 rebounds.
• He made his 2022-23 debut against Memphis and had 15 points and 12 boards in a loss to the Tigers.
• Walker averaged 9.5 ppg and 6.0 rpg in 2022, breaking NU’s single-season field goal percentage mark by shooting 68.3 percent from the field. 

 Walker vs. the Bigs
Over a three-game stretch in December, Nebraska’s Derrick Walker battled three of the nation’s top centers in Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis and Purdue’s Zach Edey. Kalkbrenner was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, while Jackson-Davis and Edey are on the short list for National Player of the Year over the first month of the year. In the three-game stretch, Walker matched the trio’s performance as Nebraska squared off against a trio of teams in the top 15 of the Associated Press poll.
 
Centers of Attention

 
Bandoumel Provides Steady Production for Big Red
Senior grad transfer Emmanuel Bandoumel has been a steadying force on both ends of the court for the Huskers this season. He enters the Minnesota game averaging 9.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game while also keying NU’s defensive attack. Before joining the Husker program, the Quebec City, Quebec, native was a three-year starter at SMU, averaging double figures in both 2020-21 and 2021-22.

• Bandoumel, who played off the ball for most of his time at SMU, has nearly a 1.2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and matched his career best with six assists against Boston College on Nov. 30.
• He has reached double figures eight times, which ties for the team lead following a 10-point effort against Iowa. Bandoumel tallied 18 points and five assists in the loss against Memphis on Nov. 15 and had 13 points and five dimes against Oklahoma on Nov. 24.
• Bandoumel enjoyed his best game against Omaha with 18 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in NU’s game-opening 11-0 run.

 Gary is Huskers’ Junkyard Dog
Nebraska’s improvement in defense and rebounding is directly attributable to the arrival of Alabama transfer Juwan Gary. The 6-foot-6 forward is utilized in a number of ways, even playing center when the Huskers go a to a small-ball lineup. On the season, he is averaging 9.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and a team-best 1.6 steals per game, ranking fourth in the Big Ten in that category.

• He has eight double-figure scoring efforts this season, matching his entire 2021-22 total in 29 games at Alabama. He scored a season-high 17 points against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and 16 against Oklahoma.
• Gary led NU with 14 points and nine rebounds in the win over Iowa on Dec. 29
• He has picked up his rebounding in recent games, averaging 8.5 rebounds per game over NU’s last six games since Dec. 4, including 11 rebounds at Kansas State. His 11 boards against K-State matched his career best.
• His three double-figure rebound games (Maine, St. John’s and K-State) ties for ninth in the Big Ten.
• He nearly posted his second double-double of the year with 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting and nine rebounds in the win at No. 7 Creighton on Dec. 4.
• Gary has more steals (24) than in either of his two seasons at Alabama.
• He posted a double-double in his Husker debut with 14 points and 11 boards against Maine on Nov. 7

Tominaga Continues Strong Play
After a summer with the Japanese National Team, junior Keisei Tominaga continued his strong play this season.  Tominaga, a 6-foot-2 guard, has been a spark off the bench, ranking third on the team in scoring at 10.0 points per game while averaging just over 20 minutes per contest.

• Tominaga is second on the team in 3-pointers (23) and 3-point percentage (.359) and has eight double-figure contests.
• He enjoyed one of his best efforts of the year against No. 4 Purdue with 19 points, including four 3-pointers, Dec. 10. He sent the game to OT with a 3-pointer with 9.1 seconds left in regulation.
• Of Tominaga’s 15 double-figure games at Nebraska, 11 have come off the bench, including 23-point efforts against Boston College on Nov. 29 and against South Dakota last season.
• Tominaga shined in NU’s win over Boston College on Nov. 30. He tied his career high of 23 points on just eight field goal attempts (7-8 FG, 4-5 3PT; 5-5 FT) for his second career 20-point game. He had 17 of his 23 markers in the first half, including 11 straight NU points.
• Tominaga also had a team-high 15 points at St. John’s and a 19-point effort against Maine. In that game, he connected on 7-of-12 shots from the field, including a trio of 3-pointers, and added two rebounds and a blocked shot in 20 minutes.
• Over the summer, Tominaga was with the Japanese National Team, making his debut in the FIBA World Cup Asia qualifier in early July and then starred for Japan in the 2022 Asia Cup. In seven games with the Senior National Team, Tominaga averaged 15.9 points per game while shooting 39.3 percent from the 3-point line. His best performance came against Australia in the Asia Cup quarterfinals, when he poured in 33 points on 12-of-20 shooting, including 8-of-15 from 3-point range.

Wilcher Breaks Out
C.J. Wilcher was one of the Big Ten’s top scoring sixth men last year and has moved into the starting lineup in 2022-23. The 6-foot-5 guard is averaging 9.5 points per game and has a team-leading 26 3-pointers.

• He had a 13-point effort in NU’s win over Iowa on Dec. 29.
• Wilcher had a career-high 22-point effort at No. 14 Indiana on Dec. 7, scoring 17 second-half points to keep the Huskers in the game.
• He scored all 14 of his points in the second half in the win over Boston College on Nov. 30, including a quartet of 3-pointers.
• Wilcher was efficient in NU’s win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff with 15 points and three assists on just nine shots. Wilcher was 3-of-3 from 3-point range, the second time this season he had at least three 3-pointers.
• He posted a then-career-high 21 points against Omaha on 8-of-12 shooting, including four 3-pointers. It marked the first 20-point game of his career.
• Last season, he closed the season playing some of his best basketball, shooting 60 percent from the field, including 50 percent from 3-point range, over NU’s final five games. In Big Ten play last season, he shot a team-best 43.0 percent from beyond the arc.

Making Strides On Defense
Nebraska has been much improved on the defensive end this season, jumping nearly 140 spots in defensive efficiency despite facing seven opponents who rank in the top 50 nationally in offensive efficiency as of Jan. 5.

• Nebraska has held 10 opponents to 1.0 point per possession or less. Michigan State snapped a streak of four straight opponents at 1.0 ppp or less on Tuesday night, averaging 1.17 ppp.
• In the overtime loss to No. 4 Purdue on Dec. 10, Nebraska held the Boilermakers to a season-low 0.99 points per possession. Purdue came into the contest leading in the nation in offensive efficiency (118.0).
• Nebraska held Iowa, which was 10th nationally in offensive efficiency, to 0.76 per possession and just 26 percent shooting on Dec. 29.
• In NU’s win at No. 7 Creighton on Dec. 4, the Huskers limited the Bluejays to 0.73 points per possession, the Huskers’ best performance in a road game in over a decade.

A Change of Pace
One typical trait of a Fred Hoiberg team is to play at a fast pace. The Huskers led the Big Ten in pace in each of the last three seasons according to KenPom, including top-20 rankings in 2019-20 (16th) and 2021-22 (19th). NU has been the only Big Ten team to rank in the top-50 in any of the past three seasons.

• • The 2022-23 team has been completely different, as NU is 274th nationally in pace entering this week’s action. NU has had just six games with 70+ possessions in the first 15 contests (St. John’s, Florida State, Creighton, Indiana, Kansas State and Queens), and only one of those opponents finished above 1.0 point per possession.

Playing with Pace (Adjusted Tempo per KenPom)

 
Revamped Husker Coaching Staff
In addition to nine new faces on the Husker roster (six scholarship players and three walk-ons), the Husker staff also has several new faces this season.

• Assistant Coach Adam Howard comes to Nebraska after spending the last four seasons at South Alabama, helping the program to 75 wins in that span after the program had seven straight losing seasons. Last year, South Alabama won 21 games, the school’s highest total since 2008. Howard also coached at Troy, Tennessee, Southern Miss and Morehead State after playing collegiately at Western Kentucky.
• Assistant Coach Ernie Zeigler comes to Lincoln after spending six years on Ben Howland’s staff at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs had four postseason appearances between 2018-22. Zeiger spent six seasons as the head coach at Central Michigan (2007-12) and previously served stints at UCLA, Pittsburgh, Kansas State, Detroit and Bowling Green.

Three Huskers on NBA Rosters in 2022-23
Nebraska is well represented on 2022-23 NBA rosters with Isaiah Roby (San Antonio), Dalano Banton (Toronto) and Bryce McGowens (Charlotte). The group is joined by Tyronn Lue, who begins his third season as head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers.

• Nebraska’s three active NBA players is the most since the 2007-07 season (Eric Piatkowski, Mikki Moore and Lue)
• McGowens became the 15th former Husker to make his NBA debut on Oct. 19, as he saw action in Charlotte’s win over San Antonio.
• Four members of the 2021-22 team are playing professionally, including Bryce McGowens (NBA), Lat Mayen (Australia), Alonzo Verge Jr. (Poland) and Kobe Webster (Netherlands). Trey McGowens was in camp in the G-League but was cut in November.