Huskers Head to No. 3 Purdue on Friday

The Husker men’s basketball team looks to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Illinois, as Nebraska travels to No. 3 Purdue this Friday for a matchup with the Big Ten-leading Boilermakers. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. (central) and Friday’s 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 (9-8, 2-4 Big Ten) looks to bounce back following a 76-50 setback to Illinois Tuesday evening. The Huskers were within 34-29 early in the second half before Illinois used a 21-6 surge to take control of the contest. NU, which lost for just the second time at home this year, got 12 points and six rebounds from Sam Griesel while Wilhelm Breidenbach had 11 points off the bench in a losing effort. Terrance Shannon Jr. led all scorers with 25 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals to pace five Illini in double figures.

Griesel has now been in double figures in each of the past five games for the Huskers, and is averaging 13.4 points per game in that span. The senior guard is second on the team in scoring (11.1 ppg) while also pacing NU in assists (4.2 apg) and ranking third on the team in rebounding (5.4 rpg). Griesel joins senior Derrick Walker (13.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg) in double figures for Nebraska, which has six players averaging at least 8.8 points per game. 

Friday’s game will be the Huskers’ third game in six nights, while Purdue (15-1, 4-1 Big Ten) has been off since a 76-63 win over Penn State in Philadelphia on Sunday evening. Zach Edey led Purdue with 30 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks while Fletcher Loyer (17) and Braden Smith (15) also finished in double figures. Purdue shot 67 percent in the second half to erase a 37-31 halftime deficit. Edey is the frontrunner for National Player of the Year, as he leads the Big Ten in both scoring (21.9 ppg) and rebounding (13.2) and is second in blocked shots (2.1 bpg)

Following Friday’s game, the Huskers return home to host Ohio State on Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 6 p.m. Tickets are available by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets or by calling 800-8-BIGRED. 

About Purdue

Purdue comes into Friday’s matchup with a 15-1 record and is ranked third in this week’s AP and Coaches polls. The Boilermakers have been off since a 73-63 win over Penn State at the Palestra in Philadelphia on Sunday night.

The Boilermakers, who were unranked at the start of the year, posted marquee wins over Marquette, West Virginia, Gonzaga, Duke, Florida State and Davidson in non-conference action. Purdue moved to No. 1 following its three-point OT win in Lincoln and stayed their until Monday following a 2-1 week which included a 65-64 home loss to Rutgers. Purdue bounced back with a 71-69 win at Ohio State before completing the week with a 13-point road win over Penn State. Matt Painter is in his 18th season at Purdue and has guided the Boilermakers to NCAA appearances in seven of the last eight seasons (no NCAA Tournament in 2019-20 because of COVID), including a Sweet 16 appearance last season. 

Purdue’s attack starts with Zach Edey, as the 7-foot-4 center is an early-season frontrunner for National Player of the Year. Edey averages 21.9 points on 63 percent shooting and 13.2 rebounds per game to lead the Big Ten in both scoring and rebounding. Edey has 10 games of at least 20 points and is coming off a 30-point, 13, rebound effort against Penn State. Freshman guard Fletcher Loyer is the only other Boilermaker averaging double figures at 12.4 points per game. In all, seven players average at least 5.7 points per game.

Series History: Friday’s game between the Huskers and Purdue will be the 26th all-time meeting between the two programs in a series that dates back to 1947. Purdue holds a 19-6 lead in the all-time series, including a 13-4 mark (12-3 in regular season; 1-1 in Big Ten Tournament) since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011-12. Nebraska’s last win over Purdue in 2019 featured the first triple-double in school history by Cam Mack. NU is winless in 10 tries in West Lafayette.

Last meeting: Nebraska overcame a 14-point second-half deficit against No. 4 Purdue, but the Boilermakers held off the Huskers in overtime for a 65-62 victory on Dec. 10, 2022. Purdue led 45-31 with 15 minutes left, before Nebraska sprinted out to a 10-0 run, including seven points from Keisei Tominaga to trim the lead to four at 45-41. NU kept chipping away, tying the score at 56 on a 3-pointer from Tominaga with nine seconds left. NU, which held Purdue to one field goal over the last eight-plus minutes of regulation, got one final stop to send the game to an extra period.

Nebraska took a pair of leads in overtime, the last at 60-59 on a Derrick Walker basket with 1:49 remaining. Purdue would respond as Fletcher Loyer hit a jumper to put Purdue ahead 61-60 with 1:30 left. Loyer led all scorers with 22 points, while NU limited Zach Edey to 11 points, snapping a streak of eight straight 20-point efforts for the 7-foot-4 center. Edey made his presence felt with 17 rebounds and seven blocks. 

Nebraska was within 63-62 after Tominaga’s layup with 14 seconds left and looked like it had forced a turnover when Braden Smith lost the ball near midcourt, but the official on the baseline called a foul on C.J. Wilcher with 12 seconds left. Smith then made both free throws to stretch the lead to three. The Huskers had one final chance, but Sam Griesel’s 3-pointer was off the mark, and Purdue escaped with a three-point win.

Numbers to Know

2 – Nebraska has won its last two road games against top-10 teams with victories at No. 10 Wisconsin (3/6/22) and No. 7 Creighton (12/4/2022). 

.642 – 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.

10 – Derrick Walker leads Nebraska with 10 double-figure games, including a trio of 20-point contests. Prior to this season, Walker’s career scoring high was 16 points.

11.5 – Nebraska is allowing its opponents only 11.5 free throw attempts per game. Illinois went to the line 18 times on Tuesday. In NU’s previous three games, Iowa, Michigan State and Minnesota got to the foul line a combined 24

times. 

2 – Nebraska’s Sam Griesel is one of only two Big Ten players – and 21 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. 11.

50 – Nebraska allowed 50 points in 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

•  The Huskers will be looking for their sixth top-10 road win in school history when they take on No. 3 Purdue on Friday. Two of the Huskers’ wins have come under Fred Hoiberg with wins at No. 10 Wisconsin last year and No. 7 Creighton in December. 

Nebraska Top-10 Road Wins

• The last time Nebraska beat a top-five opponent was a 70-67 win over No. 3 Texas at the Devaney Center on Feb, 19, 2011. Nebraska is 4-17 all-time against teams ranked third in the AP poll, posting wins against Kansas in 1992 and 1993, Missouri in the 1994 Big Eight Tournament semifinals in Kansas City and the victory over the Longhorns in 2011. 

• Nebraska has faced one of the nation’s toughest schedules in 2022-23. As of Jan. 12, Nebraska’s NET strength of schedule was 13th nationally. Purdue will be NU’s eighth Quad 1 game of the season and 11th game in the top two quads. 

• The Huskers will look to bounce back after shooting just 37 percent against Illinois on Tuesday. Prior to that effort, NU had shot 47 percent from the field in its previous four games.  In the Huskers’ last road game, NU shot 51 percent in a win at Minnesota, its best road shooting performance since hitting 54 percent in the 2021-22 regular-season finale at No. 10 Wisconsin.

• Derrick Walker is one of only two Big Ten players this year to have a game of at least 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as he did against Minnesota on Saturday.  Jalen Pickett has done it twice (vs. Quinnipiac on Dec. 22 and Sunday vs. Purdue). Over the last three seasons (2020-21 to 2022-23), it has happened just six times, including twice by Huskers.

• Derrick Walker enters Friday’s game as one of just 12 players nationally averaging at least 13 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. Walker was held to a season-low five points in Tuesday’s loss to Illinois. 

• The Huskers broke a couple of overtime losing streaks in the win at Minnesota on Jan. 7. The win snapped a six-game losing streak in overtime games dating back to the 2019-20 season and marked NU’s first road OT win in

conference play since Feb. 17, 2001. 

• The biggest strides Nebraska has made has been in rebounding. NU is currently ninth in the Big Ten in rebounding margin at +2.5 per game and has been out-rebounded just six times in 17 contests.  NU is 150th nationally in rebounding margin after ranking 344th last year. Last month against Iowa, Nebraska grabbed 54 rebounds – its highest total in a conference game since 2000. 

 

Improved Rebounding Margin

• 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 17 opponents to 70 points or less and have climbed nearly 130 spots in adjusted defense in KenPom compared to last season. 

• Nebraska had done an excellent job of not fouling until Tuesday’s loss to Illinois. NU committed 17 fouls – including 12 in the first half. NU is 10th nationally in fewest fouls per game (13.4) while only four opponents have gotten to the line more than Nebraska in the first 16 contests.

• In the first 17 games, Nebraska has 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.). 

• Nebraska comes into the Purdue game with a 1-2 record against ranked opponents this year, while Purdue will be the third top-10 team NU has faced in 2022-23.  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 what made it more impressive was 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. 

• 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 six games, he is averaging 7.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 53 percent from the field, more than doubling his production from his first 10 appearances in 2022-23. He has been in double figures three times, including 11 points against Illinois on Tuesday. 

Last Time Out

Sam Griesel and Wilhelm Breidenbach combined for 23 points, but Illinois used a pair of big second-half runs to post a 76-50 victory at Pinnacle Bank Arena Tuesday night.

Terrence Shannon Jr. led five Illinois players in double figures as he finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds. The Fighting Illini shot 45.9 percent from the field and held Nebraska to 37 percent shooting to improve to 11-5 overall and 2-4 in the Big Ten.

The Huskers (9-8, 2-4 Big Ten) pulled within 34-29 after opening the second half with a 6-0 run before Illinois took control. The Illini (11-5, 2-4) used a 21-5 spurt to seize control and take a 55-35 lead.

Nebraska made one last run behind Breidenbach, who scored eight straight points to get NU with 55-45 with 9:09 left. The Huskers eventually pulled to within 59-49 as Derrick Walker’s 3-point play with 6:20 remaining capped NU’s 14-4 run and got the Pinnacle Bank Arena crowd back into the game. Illinois answered as a RJ Melendez putback and a steal and dunk from Shannon pushed the margin back to 14, and NU was unable to slice into the deficit.

Postgame Notes vs. Illinois

• Sam Griesel’s 12 points tonight marked his fifth consecutive game scoring in double figures and his ninth time in double figures this season.
• Wilhelm Breidenbach scored all of his 11 points in the second half, including eight straight at one point. It was his third game in double figures this season. 
• Behind Breidenbach’s 11 points, Nebraska’s bench scored 20 points, its highest output in five games.
• Before being injured late in the first half, Juwan Gary tied his season-high with two blocks (also at Michigan State on Jan 3).
• Jamarques Lawrence knocked down a 3-pointer in the first half. It marked his fourth 3-pointer of the season but his first made three at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
• Derrick Walker was held to just five points – all in the second half – as he was held to single digits for just the second time this season. 
• Nebraska outscored Illinois 32-30 in the paint, marking the Huskers’ third straight game with more than 30 points in the paint.
• Nebraska fell to 6-2 at home with Tuesday’s loss. 

Hometown Kid Making Good
Senior Sam Griesel has enjoyed quite the homecoming, averaging 11.1 points, 4.2 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 1.2 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 is seventh in the Big Ten in assists per game as of Jan. 11. 
• Griesel has reached double figures in each of the last five games, and he is averaging 13.4 ppg in that span. 
• He came up big in the win at Minnesota with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, while going 6-of-6 from the foul line.
• 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 60 percent shooting, 7.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. The 6-foot-9 forward was NU’s only returning starter entering 2021-22 and has 10 double-figure efforts in 12 contests. 

• Walker is also one of three players nationally averaging 13 points and eight rebounds per game while shooting 64 percent from the field as of Jan. 8.
• He is one of just 12 players nationally averaging at least 13 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
• Walker has a team-high three double-doubles (Memphis, Florida State and No. 4 Purdue) and six for his career. 
• Walker had one of the finest games of his career in NU’s OT win at Minnesota on Jan. 7 with 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. He set or tied personal bests in both points and assists.
• He led NU with 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists at Michigan State on Jan. 3.
• 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 both on the Wooden Award mid-season watch list. 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 averages 8.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while also spearheading 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, matched his career best with six assists against Boston College on Nov. 30. 
• He has reached double figures eight times, most recently a 10-point effort against Iowa on Dec. 29.
• 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 9.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and a team-best 1.4 steals per game, ranking ninth in the Big Ten in that category as of Jan, 11

• He has nine double-figure scoring efforts this season, already bettering his 2021-22 total of eight in 29 games at Alabama. Nebraska is 8-1 in games where Gary scores double figures. 
• Gary had a season-high 18 points, including the go-ahead basket to break a 74-all tie in OT, and six boards at Minnesota.
• Gary led NU with 14 points and nine rebounds in the win over Iowa on Dec. 29
• His three double-figure rebound games (Maine, St. John’s and K-State) ties for 10th in the Big Ten.
• Gary 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. 
• He also had 16 points and seven boards against Oklahoma on Nov. 24.
• 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 9.5 points per game while averaging less than 20 minutes per contest. 

• Tominaga is second on the team in 3-pointers (24) and leads NU in 3-point percentage (.369).
• He has eight double figure games, including seven off the bench. 
• He enjoyed one of his best efforts of the year against No. 4 Purdue on Dec. 10 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 career 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 9.1 points per game and has a team-leading 26 3-pointers.

• He has six double-figure games, including 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 130 spots in defensive efficiency despite facing seven opponents who rank in the top 50 nationally in offensive efficiency as of Jan. 11. 

• Nebraska has held 10 opponents to 1.0 point per possession or less. 
• 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.