Huskers Hit Road to Face No. 6 Hoosiers

Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-2, 2-2 Big Ten)

at 6/5 Indiana Hoosiers (12-2, 4-0 Big Ten)

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, 5 p.m. (CT)

Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall – Bloomington, Indiana

Live TV: BTN
(Matt Schumacker, Meghan McKeown)
Live Radio: Huskers Radio Network (4:45 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln (107.3 FM), Omaha (ESPN 590 AM), Huskers.com, Huskers App

Huskers Hit Road to Face No. 6 Hoosiers Thursday 

• The Nebraska women’s basketball team continues Big Ten Conference road action on Thursday when the Huskers travel to Bloomington to battle No. 6 Indiana.

• Tip-off between the Huskers (13-2, 2-2 Big Ten) and the Hoosiers (12-2, 4-0 Big Ten) in a battle of top-10 NET Ranking teams is set for 5 p.m. (CT) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall with live television coverage provided by the Big Ten Network with Matt Schumacker and Meghan McKeown on the call.

• Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch will provide the call for the Huskers Radio Network (B107.3 FM, Lincoln; ESPN 590 AM, Omaha), Huskers.com and the Huskers App.

• Nebraska will be looking to bounce back from its second Big Ten setback after suffering a 95-86 loss to then-No. 22 Iowa on Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. The Hawkeyes shot nearly 62 percent from the field against a Husker defense that leads the conference in field goal percentage defense. Iowa’s 95 points were 23 more than any other Big Red opponent had mustered this season.

• The Huskers were tied with Iowa at 81 before faltering down the stretch, and took the loss despite attempting 23 more field goals than Iowa thanks to a season-high 23 offensive rebounds and a plus-six turnover margin.

• Sam Haiby, a returning second-team All-Big Ten choice, is the only Husker who has produced double figures in all four conference games after scoring 18 points against Iowa. The 5-9 guard is averaging 11.1 points per game.

• Jaz Shelley, who was mentioned by ESPN.com (Jan. 6) as the No. 2 transfer in the nation so far this season, added her fifth double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds against Iowa. Shelley leads Nebraska in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocked shots and steals. 

• Alexis Markowski, who was named the USBWA National Freshman of the Week on Tuesday after earning her third Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week honor of the season Monday, added 14 points and eight rebounds against Iowa in her second straight start. She made her first start in NU’s 79-58 pounding of No. 8 Michigan (Jan. 4). Markowski put up a career-high 20 points and added seven rebounds against the Wolverines after replacing an injured Bella Cravens in the Husker starting five.

• Isabelle Bourne, an honorable-mention All-Big Ten selection a year ago, has added 10.1 points and 4.4 rebounds as a starter, while Ashley Scoggin has added 9.2 points as one of the Big Ten’s best knock-down shooters.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-2, 2-2 Big Ten)

40 – Alexis Markowski – 6-3 – Fr. – F/C – 9.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg

34 – Isabelle Bourne – 6-2 – So. – F – 10.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg

0 – Ashley Scoggin – 5-7 – RSo. – G – 9.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg

1 – Jaz Shelley – 5-9 – So. – G – 13.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg

4 – Sam Haiby – 5-9 – Jr. – G – 11.1 ppg, 4.3 rpg

Off the Bench

14 – Bella Cravens – 6-3 – Jr. – F – 7.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg

21 – Annika Stewart – 6-3 – Fr. – F – 6.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg    

3 – Allison Weidner – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 5.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg

32 – Kendall Coley – 6-2 – Fr. – F/G – 3.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg

11 – Ruby Porter – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 3.0 ppg, 0.8 rpg

5 – MiCole Cayton – 5-9 – Gr. – G – 2.1 ppg, 0.9 rpg

15 – Kendall Moriarty – 6-1 – Fr. – G – 1.6 ppg, 0.4 rpg

10 – Whitney Brown – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 1.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg

Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)

Sixth Season at Nebraska (85-77); 15th Season Overall (278-186)

6/5 Indiana Hoosiers (12-2, 4-0 Big Ten)

10 – Aleksa Gulbe – 6-3 – Sr. – F – 10.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg

54 – Mackenzie Holmes – 6-2 – Jr. – F – 17.9 ppg, 8.2 rpg

4 – Nicole Cardaño-Hillary – 5-6 – Gr. – G – 10.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg

14 – Ali Patberg – 5-11 – Gr. – G – 12.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg

34 – Grace Berger – 6-0 – Sr. – G – 13.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg

Off the Bench

23 – Kiandra Browne – 6-2 – So. – F – 3.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg

22 – Chloe Moore-McNeil – 5-11 – So. – G – 3.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg

1 – Kaitlin Peterson – 5-9 – Fr. – G – 1.8 ppg, 0.8 rpg

3 – Grace Waggoner – 6-0 – Jr. – G – 0.4 ppg, 0.7 rpg

24 – Mona Zaric – 6-2 – Fr. – F – 0.0 ppg, 0.2 rpg

25 – Arielle Wisne – 6-5 – RSo. – C – 0.0 ppg, 0.3 rpg

21 – Keyarah Berry – 5-9 – Fr. – G – 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg

Head Coach: Teri Moren (Purdue, 1992)

Eighth Season at Indiana (160-82); 19th Season Overall (359-212)

Nebraska Numbers to Watch

• Through games Jan. 9, the Huskers ranked among the top 20 teams nationally in scoring margin (6th, +23.1 ppg), assists (7th, 272), free throws made (8th, 222), scoring offense (8th,82.4 ppg), rebounds (11th, 658), assists per game (12th, 18.1 apg), defensive rebounds per game (13th, 30.5 rpg), free throw attempts (13th, 310), blocked shots (14th, 78), rebounds per game (15th, 43.9 rpg), three-point field goals made (15th, 130), win-loss percentage (16th, .867), assist-to-turnover ratio (16th, 1.27) and field goal percentage (19th, .462).  

• Nebraska leads the Big Ten in scoring margin (+23.1 ppg), rebound margin (+8.5 rpg), rebounds (43.9 rpg), defensive rebounds (30.5 rpg) and field goal percentage defense (.354)

• Nebraska guard Jaz Shelley ranks among the top 20 players in the Big Ten in scoring (17th, 13.7 ppg), rebounding (10th, 7.4 rpg), assists (8th, 4.5 apg), blocked shots (5th, 1.3 bpg), steals (7th, 1.8 spg), three-point field goal percentage (4th, .433), three-pointers made per game (5th, 2.6) and assist-to-turnover ratio (6th, 2.3).

• Jaz Shelley is the only Big Ten player to rank among the top 20 in the conference in all five major statistical categories: scoring (17th), rebounding (10th), assists (8th), blocks (5th), steals (7th).

• Huskers Jaz Shelley (5th, 2.6 pg) and Ashley Scoggin (10th, 2.2 pg) rank among the top players in the Big Ten in three-point field goals made per game. 

• Nebraska is one of just two teams (also Abilene Christian) in the nation with two shooters (Shelley, 21st; Scoggin, 30th) ranked among the top 30 in the nation in three-point field goal percentage.

• Nebraska’s backcourt has taken care of the ball while creating opportunities. Jaz Shelley (2.3) and Sam Haiby (2.0) rank No. 6 and 8, respectively in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio based on the NCAA minimum of 3.0 assists per game. Husker reserves Ruby Porter (3.6) and Allison Weidner (2.7), who don’t meet the NCAA minimums, own better assist-to-turnover ratios.

• Nebraska ranks eighth nationally in scoring offense with 82.4 points per game. The only time in the last 25 years NU has averaged more than 75 points per game in a season came in 2009-10 (77.4 ppg). That Husker team went unbeaten in the regular season, won the Big 12 regular-season title and advanced to Nebraska’s first NCAA Sweet Sixteen as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.    

• Sophomore point guard Jaz Shelley has pulled down 111 total rebounds in 425 minutes this season. In two seasons (971 minutes) at Oregon (2019-20, 2020-21), the 5-9 Shelley totaled 70 rebounds.

• Jaz Shelley leads Nebraska with 19 blocked shots through 15 games. She had six blocks in 55 games over two seasons at Oregon. 

Scouting The No. 6/5 Indiana Hoosiers

• Indiana heads into Thursday’s game with Nebraska riding a seven-game winning streak after a 76-53 victory at Wisconsin (Jan. 5). The Hoosiers have had seven days off from competition to prepare for the Huskers.

• The Hoosiers will be playing just their third game in 25 days after having a non-conference game with Wright State (Dec. 21) canceled and a Big Ten game at Rutgers (Dec. 30) postponed.

• Indiana opened the new year with an impressive 70-63 win over then-No. 6 Maryland in Bloomington (Jan. 2), before running to victory at Wisconsin.

• The Hoosiers opened Big Ten action with a 70-40 pounding of Penn State (Dec. 6), before adding an 86-66 win at then-No. 20 Ohio State (Dec. 12).

• IU played a strong non-conference slate that included an 88-67 win over No. 13 Kentucky (Nov. 14), before suffering its only losses to defending national champion and current AP No. 2 Stanford (69-66, Nov. 25) and then-AP No. 2 (current No. 4) NC State (66-58, Dec. 2).

• Coach Teri Moren, who guided Indiana to its first-ever NCAA Elite Eight in 2021, is in her eighth season leading the Hoosiers and her 19th season overall as a head coach. 

• Moren has a balanced and experienced squad led by a backcourt featuring a pair of graduate students (Ali Patberg, Nicole Cardaño-Hillary) and senior Grace Berger.

• Berger, a preseason All-Big Ten choice and a national player-of-the-year candidate, is averaging 13.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and a team-leading 4.9 assists per game.

• Patberg, a sixth-year guard and a national player-of-the-year candidate, has added 12.6 points 3.9 assists, while fifth-year guard Cardaño-Hillary has contributed 10.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and a team-best 1.7 steals. Cardaño-Hillary also leads IU from long range (23-56, .411) while Patberg has knocked down 38.1 percent (16-42) of her three-point attempts.

• All-Big Ten forward Mackenzie Holmes leads Indiana in scoring (17.9 ppg) and rebounding (8.2 rpg) while making 61.5 percent of her field goals and 77.6 percent (38-49) of her free throws. The 6-3 junior also has knocked down 5-of-11 threes (.455) and ranks among Big Ten leaders with 26 blocks.

• Senior Aleksa Gulbe rounds out a Hoosier lineup that has featured the same five starters for all 14 games this season. The 6-3 Gulbe is averaging 10.4 points and 6.4 rebounds while hitting 15-of-41 three-pointers and a team-best 84.4 percent (27-32) of her free throws.

• Berger, Patberg, Cardaño-Hillary and Gulbe are all averaging about 34 minutes per game, while Holmes has played approximately 29 minutes per contest.

• Indiana’s top three off the bench are 6-2 sophomore forward Kiandra Browne (3.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg), 5-11 sophomore guard Chloe Moore-McNeil (3.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg) and 6-0 junior guard Grace Waggoner (0.4 ppg, 0.7 rpg).

• The Hoosiers are hitting 47.5 percent of their shots from the field, including 34.2 percent from three-point range, while knocking down 74 percent of their free throws. They own a plus-16.4 scoring margin while leading the Big Ten in scoring defense (56.5 ppg) and ranking seventh in the conference in scoring offense (72.9 ppg). They also rank third in the Big Ten in rebound margin (+6.9 rpg).

• Indiana is not a high volume three-point shooting team, matching Michigan for 12th in the Big Ten in threes made per game (4.7 pg).

Nebraska vs. Indiana Series History

• Indiana leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 9-5, including five consecutive wins with three of those coming in Bloomington. Last season, the Hoosiers rolled to an 81-45 victory on Dec. 20, 2020.

• Thursday’s game will mark the fourth time in six meetings that the Huskers have played at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. IU has won the past two meetings by an average of 31 points, scoring 81 points in both contests.

• The games in Lincoln have been much closer, with Indiana holding off the Huskers, 57-53 on Feb. 9, 2020, after escaping Pinnacle Bank Arena with an 82-78 win on Feb. 3, 2019.

• IU’s current five-game streak began with an 83-75 win in Bloomington on Feb. 17, 2018.

• Nebraska’s last win in the series came with a 67-64 victory on Feb. 19, 2017 in Lincoln. NU’s last win in Bloomington was also a 67-64 win on Feb. 21, 2015.

• A total of 12 of the 14 meetings in the series have been as Big Ten foes, beginning with a 62-48 win in Lincoln on Jan. 5, 2012. The Huskers won the first four meetings as conference opponents, including a 67-38 win in Bloomington on Jan. 10, 2013.

• Indiana won the first two games in series history with an 83-80 OT victory in Lincoln (Nov. 26, 1994) and a 67-61 win in Bloomington on Dec. 5, 2010 as part of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge.

Nebraska Streaks

• Sam Haiby has produced double figures in nine consecutive Big Ten games, including all four contests this season. Haiby was held to seven points at Indiana last season (Dec. 20, 2020).

• Nebraska’s game with Indiana will be the fifth of seven straight games against 2021 NCAA Tournament qualifiers for the Huskers. It will be sixth of eight consecutive games versus 2021 postseason tournament qualifiers.

• The Huskers have knocked down at least one three in 413 straight games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008. Nebraska has hit at least two three-pointers in 292 consecutive games.

Deep Bench Boosts Big Red

• The Husker bench has outscored opponent reserves 458-214 (+16.3 ppg) through 15 games, including a 349-166 edge (+18.3 ppg) in 10 games at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

• On the flip side, IU’s bench has totaled just 102 points this season. 

• Indiana’s starters have played 2,300 of Indiana’s 2,825 total minutes. In a combined 525 minutes, the Hoosier reserves have attempted just 86 shots (36-86, .419) including 4-of-30 three-pointers (.133).

• However, Nebraska knows first-hand how deep and dangerous the Hoosier reserves can be. Last year, Hoosier reserves played 98 minutes against Nebraska, including a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes from Kiandra Browne. Indiana’s bench outscored NU’s bench 30-9 last season, as the Huskers had just seven available players in Bloomington.

• A total of 12 Huskers are averaging better than 10.0 points per 40 minutes, including two Huskers (Alexis Markowski, 26.0pp40; Annika Stewart, 25.8 pp40; 5 pp40) who are averaging better than 20 points per 40 minutes. 

• No Husker ranks among the top 25 players in the conference in minutes per game. Jaz Shelley leads Nebraska with 28.3 minutes per game, while McKenna Warnock from Iowa ranks 25th in the conference (30.3 mpg).