Huskers Look for Third Straight Win

The Nebraska men’s basketball team looks for its third straight win on Thursday, as the Huskers travel to No. 5 Iowa. Tipoff from Carver-Hawkeye Arena is slated for shortly after 8 p.m.

Thursday’s game between the Huskers and Hawkeyes will be televised on BTN with Kevin Kugler and Jess Settles on the call. The game can also be streamed via the web, smartphones, tablets and connected devices through the Fox Sports app.

Fans can follow all of the action across the state of Nebraska on the Learfield IMG College Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka and Jake Muhleisen on the call. The game will also be available on Huskers.com, the Huskers app and TuneIn radio. The pregame show begins one hour prior to tipoff.

The Huskers (7-17, 3-14 Big Ten) put together their best performance of the year in a 72-51 win over Rutgers Monday night. Lat Mayen had 20 of his career-high 25 points in the first half, as the Huskers never trailed and built a double-digit lead in the first 10 minutes and were in control most of the night. Nebraska shot 52 percent from the floor, while holding Rutgers to 39 percent shooting, including 3-of-23 from 3-point range. Derrick Walker added a career-high 14 points and six rebounds, while Trey McGowens added 12 points and five assists. 

The Huskers have started to click on offense in recent games, shooting 51 percent from the field and averaging 75.8 points per game over the last four contests entering Thursday’s contest. NU is averaging 16.5 assists in that stretch, compared to just 12.8 in the Huskers’ first 20 contests. Part of that is the emergence of Derrick Walker during the second half of the year. Walker, who sat out last year and played in only one game before NU’s pause, is averaging 10.5 points on 67 percent shooting over the Huskers’ last four games.

Iowa (18-7, 12-6 Big Ten) comes into Thursday’s matchup playing its best basketball of the season, as the Hawkeyes have won five of their last six, including a 16-point win at No. 5 Ohio State last week. The Hawkeyes, who climbed to fifth in this week’s AP poll, are led by reigning Big Ten player of the Year Luka Garza, who had 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting and 11 rebounds against Ohio State. Joe Weiskamp added 19 points, including five 3-pointers, while the Hawkeyes forced 13 turnovers and held Ohio State to 45 percent shooting. 

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

Junior guard Trey McGowens is averaging 13.0 points, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game over the last three games. He went over 1,000 career points in Saturday’s win over Minnesota.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

.371 – The Huskers have made steady shooting improvement from 3-point range since returning from their pause. NU shot .234 in the first three games after returning from its pause, but is shooting .371 over the last nine contests dating back to Feb. 12.

4 – According to KenPom, the Huskers’ strength of schedule ranks fourth nationally as of March 2. According to the site, the Big Ten has 14 of the 16 toughest schedules in the country. 

4 – Lat Mayen’s 25-point night against Rutgers marked the 11th 20-point game for the Huskers in 2020-21. He joins Trey McGowens, Kobe Webster and Teddy Allen as Huskers to accomplish the feat this season. 

6 – Nebraska has six games with at least 10 steals this season following an 11-steal effort against Rutgers. NU had just two in 2019-20. The Huskers are third in the Big Ten with 7.3 steals per game.

10 – The Huskers have had 10 players reach double figures at least once this year as Thorir Thorbjarnarson became the latest to do it in Saturday’s win over Minnesota.

39 – Nebraska is 39th nationally in tempo according to KenPom as of March 2. The Huskers and Illinois (72nd) are the only two Big Ten teams in the top-100 nationally in adjusted tempo.

SCOUTING IOWA

Iowa comes into Thursday’s game with an 18-7 mark, including a 12-6 conference mark. With two wins this week, Iowa can clinch one of the double-byes for next week’s Big Ten Tournament. Iowa is playing some of its best basketball of the season, winning five of its last six games dating back to Feb. 10. The Hawkeyes have played four of their last five games away from home, picking up road wins at Rutgers, Wisconsin and Ohio State, all by double figures.

Iowa is an explosive offensive team, as the Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten in scoring offense at 84.6 points per game. It also leads the conference in 3-point shooting (.401), assists per game (18.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.99-to-1) while ranking third in field goal percentage (.491).

Senior forward Luka Garza is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and the frontrunner for national honors, as he averages 24.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. He is third in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (.551) and shoots 46 percent from 3-point range. The Hawkeyes’ attack also features junior Joe Wieskamp, who averages 15.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Iowa’s top five active scorers all shoot at least 37 percent from 3-point range.

Series History: The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series, 21-13 in a series that dates back to 1907. It is NU’s third-oldest series against a Big Ten foe, as only NU’s series with Minnesota and Wisconsin have been around longer.  The teams had not met since 1976 before NU joined the Big Ten in 2011-12. Nebraska is 6-9 against the Hawkeyes since joining the Big Ten and the home team has won the last eight meetings dating back to 2016. The Huskers are just 2-17 all-time in Iowa City. Nebraska’s last road win in the series was on Jan. 26, 2012, a 79-73 win in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which was its first Big Ten road win.

Last Meeting: Joe Wieskamp and Luka Garza proved too much for the Nebraska men’s basketball team, as No. 17 Iowa salvaged a season split with the Huskers with a 96-72 victory at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Feb. 8, 2020.

 Wieskamp scored a career-high 30 points, while Garza, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, added his ninth straight 20-point game with 22 points. The duo combined for 52 points while going 19-of-28 from the field, including a 6-of-8 performance from Wieskamp in a 20-point second half. As a team, Iowa shot 49 percent and knocked down 11 3-pointers.

Jervay Green led Nebraska with 18 points, while Cam Mack and Dachon Burke Jr. joined Green in double figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Nebraska cut a 16-point first-half deficit to four and was within 36-30 in the final minute of the first half before the Hawkeyes took control. Iowa used a 12-2 spurt spanning the final minute of the first half and the first three minutes of the second stanza to stretch the lead back to 16 after seven straight points from Wieskamp, and NU was unable to pull close the rest of the evening.

LAST TIME OUT

Behind a career-high 25 points from Lat Mayen, Nebraska put together its most complete effort of the season in a 72-51 win over Rutgers Monday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Mayen scorched the nets, hitting 9-of-11 from the field, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range, as Nebraska led wire to wire. He had 20 of his points in the first half, as the Huskers raced out to a 43-25 cushion. Mayen was one of three Huskers in double figures, as Derrick Walker posted a career-high 14 points and six rebounds, while Trey McGowens added 12 points and five assists.

The Huskers (7-17, 3-14 Big Ten) shot 52 percent from the field, including 55 percent in the opening stanza, and had 19 assists, including 14 in the first half.

Nebraska limited Rutgers (13-10, 9-10 Big Ten) to just 39 percent shooting, including 3-of-23 from 3-point range and out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights, 38-28.

The Huskers’ 21-point lead is the largest margin of victory over a conference opponent since they defeated the Scarlet Knights by 24 on Jan. 6, 2016.

Jacob Young led the Scarlet Knights with 12 points on the night while Ron Harper Jr. added 10.

 

STORYLINES

• Nebraska will look for its third straight win on Thursday night against Iowa. A win against the Hawkeyes would be NU’s first in Iowa since 2012, but would give the Huskers three straight conference wins for the first time since NU won its final two games in 2017-18 and its conference opener in 2018-19.

• The Huskers can be seeded from 12th to 14th in next week’s Big Ten Tournament depending on results of the final week of regular-season action. Here are the final week opponents for the teams battling for seeding. 

• Penn State (5-12): Minnesota (Wed.); at Maryland (Sun.)
• Northwestern (4-13): Maryland (Wed.), Nebraska (Sun.)
• Nebraska (3-14): at Iowa (Thurs.), at Northwestern (Sun.)

• Nebraska is winless in five meetings against ranked Iowa teams, as all five had taken place in Iowa City. Thursday’s game will be the second time NU has squared off against a top-five Iowa squad. The other was an 81-64 Hawkeye win on Jan. 6, 1954.

• NU will look to snap a 16-game losing streak against ranked opponents on Thursday evening, as its last win over a ranked team was a 69-61 win over Maryland in the 2019 Big Ten Tournament. A win at Iowa would mark the Huskers’ highest ranked road win since a 67-51 win over No. 1 Missouri on Feb. 6, 1982.

• NU is 2-17 all-time against teams ranked No. 5 in the AP poll with the wins coming against Michigan State (11/28/90) and Kansas State (2/7/53).

• Thursday’s game between the Huskers and Hawkeyes is the second of three games this week. If the Huskers get all three games in this week, NU will have played 14 games in 30 days since returning to action on Feb. 6

following its COVID-19 pause. Nebraska played 11 games in 22 days in February, marking the first time since the 1919-20 season that the program has played double-figure games in February.

• Nebraska’s strength of schedule is now fourth nationally by KenPom entering Tuesday’s action. The 2020-21 season marks the second straight season NU has had a strength of schedule in the top 10 nationally in KenPom. NU’s schedule was eighth in 2019-20. The Huskers are one of only two teams nationally (also Minnesota) to have top-10 strength of schedules by KenPom in each of the last two years.

• Nebraska’s two seniors have stepped up in recent weeks. Kobe Webster is averaging 7.6 points per game and shooting 37 percent from 3-point range over the last eight contests. He reached double figures at Illinois and against Minnesota before grabbing five rebounds against Rutgers.   Thorir Thorbjarnarson is averaging 5.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game in NU’s last five contests. He tied or set season highs in rebounds,

steals and assists in Monday’s win over Rutgers. Thorbjarnarson has played big roles in Nebraska’s last two wins over Iowa, as he blocked Jordan Bohannon’s 3-pointer in overtime in 2019 and matched his career high with 17 points in 2020.

• Nebraska has gotten improved production from its posts in recent games. Derrick Walker is averaging 10.4 ppg on 67 percent shooting and 6.3 rebounds per game over the past four contests, while freshman Eduardo Andre is chipping in 4.5 points and 73 percent shooting and 3.3 rebounds per game in that same span. Against Rutgers, the pair combined for 16 points and nine rebounds.

• The Big Ten had eight teams in the top 40 of the NET rankings on Feb. 28, including four of the top eight spots. This season, 12 of the Huskers’ 17 losses have been Quad 1 losses. Thursday’s game will be NU’s 19th against a Quad 1 or 2 opponent this season.

• Nebraska has been much better defensively since returning from its pause last month. Over the last 12 games, NU has held seven opponents to 40 percent shooting, while only Illinois has shot over 48 percent in that span. NU has allowed 9.4 fewer points per game over the past 12 games, while holding teams to 41 percent shooting, including 29 percent from 3-point range.

Huskers Improve Big Ten Defense

 
• Nebraska is on track for one of its most prolific 3-point shooting seasons in school history. NU enters the Iowa game with 8.0 3-pointers per game which is on pace to rank second in school history.  It is not surprising that Nebraska has relied on its 3-point shooting in Hoiberg’s tenure, as his Iowa State teams led the Big 12 in 3-pointers in four of his five seasons at the school.
 
Most 3-Pointers/Game in School History

  
• The biggest beneficiary of Derrick Walker’s insertion into the Husker attack has been Lat Mayen, who moved to his natural stretch four spot after playing in the post for the first half of the season.  In the 13 games since Walker returned, Mayen is averaging 10.2 points per game on 47 percent shooting and 4.0 rebounds per game. In NU’s first four conference games, he averaged just 5.5 ppg on 31 percent shooting. Mayen comes off a career-high 25-point night against Rutgers on Monday.
 

 
• Six current members of the Nebraska basketball team were honored on Feb. 19 with spots on the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll. The Huskers on the list include Lat Mayen, Chris McGraw, Jace Piatkowski, Bret Porter, Thorir Thorbjarnarson, Derrick Walker and Kobe Webster. All Husker student-athletes combined for a school-record fall GPA of 3.325.

DOC FIXES HUSKER DEFENSE

Nebraska has made significant improvements defensively during the 2020-21 season under assistant coach Doc Sadler. One year after ranking 152nd nationally in adjusted defense by KenPom, NU has climbed to 31st nationally through March 1. In Big Ten action, the Huskers have made significant improvement across the board.

• Nebraska ranks 31st nationally in adjusted defense according to KenPom, which would be the best in Fred Hoiberg‘s seven seasons as a college basketball coach. Previously his best defensive team was the 2013-14 Iowa State squad, when Sadler was on the Cyclone staff.

• According to Bart Torvik’s T-Rank site, the Huskers’ adjusted defense is fourth in the Big Ten and 20th nationally since returning from its pause on Feb. 12.

• In Sadler’s six seasons at Nebraska, the Huskers ranked in the top-25 nationally in defensive efficiency, including 15th nationally in 2008-09 and 19th in 2007-08.

NEWCOMERS MAKING AN IMPACT

Nebraska knew it would be relying on newcomers with only three returnees on the 2020-21 roster. In the offseason, the Huskers added four scholarship players with previous Division I experience, as well as Division II transfer Trevor Lakes.

• Nebraska’s top seven scorers by average are all newcomers. In all, 90 percent of the Huskers’ offense and more than 80 percent of its rebounds have come from players who did not play at Nebraska last season.

• 72 of Nebraska’s 75 double-figure efforts this season have been by players in their first season of competition at NU. Thorir Thorbjarnarson’s 10-point effort against Minnesota was only the second double-figure effort by a Husker returnee this season and first since Yvan Ouedraogo’s double-double vs. Doane on Dec. 17.

• According to KenPom, NU’s returnees have played just 16.9 percent of total minutes this season, a total which ranks 328th nationally and last in the Big Ten. Every other Big Ten team had at least 40 percent or more as of March 1. It is also the fourth-fewest among any power conference team. 

• Nebraska’s newcomers combined for nearly 4,000 points, 1,300 rebounds and 600 assists in their collegiate careers before joining the Husker program.

MAKING THE EXTRA PASS

It is not a coincidence that Nebraska has posted two of its three highest assist totals in Big Ten play in its last two games and has a two-game winning streak. 

• NU has had excellent distribution over the past two games with Trey McGowens (5.0 apg), Thorir Thorbjarnarson (3.5 apg) and Dalano Banton (3.0 apg) all averaging at least three assists per game. 

• In Nebraska’s conference wins over the last two years, NU has averaged 19.0 assists per game, while the number drops to 12.6 in the Huskers’ Big Ten losses under Hoiberg.

• Hoiberg’s first two Iowa State teams ranked third and fourth in the Big 12 in assists before leading the conference in each of his final three seasons at the school (2013-14-15).