Huskers to Battle No. 18 Auburn in Atlanta

The Husker men’s basketball team has one of its biggest tests of the non-conference season on Saturday, as the Huskers travel to Atlanta for a neutral-site matchup with No. 18 Auburn. Tipoff time is set for 10:30 a.m. and the matchup will be on ESPN2 and on the Huskers Radio Network.

The game is part of Holiday Hoopsgiving, a one-day event at State Farm Arena which includes four D-1 matchups that day. To order tickets for Saturday’s game, visit statefarmarena.com.

 

The Huskers (5-4) look to rebound following a tough 102-67 loss to Michigan Tuesday evening. The Wolverines shot 51 percent from the field, including a blistering 15-of-32 from 3-point range. Alonzo Verge Jr. had a game-high 31 points and eight rebounds for Nebraska in a losing effort, as Nebraska shot just 32 percent from the floor, including 5-of-35 from 3-point range. The Huskers had been solid defensively prior to Tuesday’s setback, holding eight of its first nine opponents to under 45 percent shooting, including five below 40 percent.

Verge has been one of the top newcomers in the Big Ten this season, as a grad transfer from Arizona State ranks in the top-10 in the conference in both scoring (16.6 ppg, ninth) and assists (5.6, second) as of Dec. 9. The 6-foot-4 guard is fourth in the Big Ten with three double-doubles and has grabbed eight or more rebounds in two of the Huskers’ past three contests.

Nebraska faces an Auburn team which is 7-1 on the season following an 86-64 win over Yale on Dec. 4. K.D. Johnson’s 19 points led five Tigers in double figures as Auburn built a 17-point halftime lead and cruised to the win. Auburn held Yale to 32 percent shooting and blocked 14 shots on the day. Auburn’s only loss of the season was a 115-109 loss in double overtime on Nov. 24.

B1G Number: 

3- Alonzo Verge Jr. is tied for fourth in the Big Ten with three double-doubles and is the only conference player with two points/assists double-doubles this season (vs. Tennessee State, at NC State).

About Auburn

Auburn makes the short bus trip to Atlanta with a 7-1 record, but has been off since a 22-point win over Yale on Dec. 4. The Tigers are coached by Bruce Pearl, who is in his eighth season at the school and guided the Tigers to the 2019 Final Four. The Tigers returned three starters from a year ago, but also added four transfers, including a trio of starters and one of the nation’s top recruits in Jabari Smith.

Smith, a 6-foot-10 forward who was a top-10 recruit, leads Auburn in scoring (16.9 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 rpg) while recording nearly two steals a game. Georgia transfer K.D. Johnson (Georgia) and Wendell Green Jr. (Eastern Kentucky) join Smith as double-digit scorers, averaging 15.5 and 10.3 points per game, respectively. Auburn uses a 10-man rotation, as Green leads the team in assists (4.4 apg) while coming off the bench.  Allen Flanigan is Auburn’s top returnee, as the preseason All-SEC pick averaged 14.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game last year, but has been out because of an Achilles injury suffered in the offseason. He is expected to return to the Tiger lineup in the coming weeks.

Saturday’s game is the first meeting between the Huskers and Auburn, and Nebraska’s first game against an SEC opponent since a 66-59 loss at Mississippi State in the first round of the 2018 NIT. NU is 117-156 all-time against the current SEC schools, but 239 of the 275 matchups came against former Big 12 foes Missouri and Texas A&M. NU’s last regular-season game against an SEC opponent came in the 2016 Barclay’s Classic when the Huskers downed Tennessee, 81-71.

 

Last Time Out

Alonzo Verge Jr. had a season-high 31 points, but Michigan took control early and posted a 102-67 victory over Nebraska Tuesday evening.

The Huskers shot just 31.9 percent on the night, including 35.1 percent in the first half, as Michigan used a 21-5 run in building a 51-32 halftime lead.

Terrance Williams II and Brandon Johns Jr. had 22 and 20 points, respectively, as Michigan (6-3, 1-0 Big Ten) put five players in double figures and 51 percent from the floor, including 15-of-32 from long range.

Nebraska tied the game at 13 after a Lat Mayen three-pointer with 13:56 left in the half, but the Huskers had just one field goal in the next five minutes of play. During Nebraska’s cold spell, Michigan scored seven straight points to push the lead to 26-15. The Wolverines eventually got their lead to 21, at 49-28, with 4:01 to go. The Huskers missed four of their next eight shots to trail by 19 at the break.

The Huskers got to within 15 after a layup by Verge with 14:05 left in the second half, but could get no closer.

Verge Jr. was one of two Huskers to finish in double figures, as Keisei Tominaga finished with 11 points and shot 3-11 from the field. In all, NU shot just 5-of-35 from 3-point range.

 

 Worth Noting

• The State Farm Center is the home of the Atlanta Hawks and is one of two NBA arenas the Huskers will play in this season. The 2022 Big Ten Tournament will take place in Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in March.

• Auburn assistant Wes Flanigan was a member of Doc Sadler‘s staff at Nebraska for two seasons (2010-11; 2011-12), as the Huskers made the 2011 NIT.

• The Huskers look to snap a 17-game losing streak to ranked teams dating back to the 2019 Big Ten Tournament. The good news for NU is the Huskers are 5-8 all-time against teams ranked 18th in the AP poll, including wins over Ohio State (2014), Kansas (1981 and 1989), Oklahoma (1975) and Colorado (1969).

• The last time Nebraska played a ranked SEC team in non-conference play was on Dec. 30, 1995, in the Far West Classic in Portland Ore., when the Huskers fell to No. 17 Mississippi State 69-66.

• Two of the three top freshmen scorers will face off on Saturday in Auburn’s Jabari Smith and Nebraska’s Bryce McGowens. Both were consensus top-25 players in the class of 2021 and are two of three true freshmen nationally averaging at least 16.0 points per game. McGowens, whose hometown of Pendleton, S.C., is a two-hour drive from Atlanta, leads all Big Ten true freshmen in both scoring and ranks second in rebounding (6.9 rpg) as of Dec. 9. He

is on pace to shatter single-season freshmen marks for the Huskers in both scoring (15.5, Joe McCray, 2004-05) and rebounding (6.3, Yvan Ouedraogo, 2019-20).

 

 
• Nebraska has produced nine 20-point efforts in the first 10 games of the season (Bryce McGowens-4; Alonzo Verge Jr.-3; Kobe Webster-1; Keisei Tominaga-1). Last season, NU had a total of 12 in 27 contests. McGowens’ four 20-point games this season already ranks fourth all-time among Husker freshmen.

• Alonzo Verge Jr. comes into Saturday’s contest as one of seven players nationally – and the only Big Ten player – averaging at least 15.0 points, 5.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game. He joins Duke’s Wendell Moore as the only two power conference players at that plateau.

 

D-1 Players Averaging 15.0 Points, 5.0 Rebounds and 5.0 Assists per Game

H/T – Sports Reference
 
• One area where Nebraska has made significant strides from last season is reducing turnovers. The Huskers are currently averaging just 11.2 turnovers per game as of Dec. 7. Last season, NU was last in the conference with 14.1 turnovers per game.

The Huskers have jumped from 205th to 27th in turnover rate, as Fred Hoiberg‘s teams have traditionally been among the nation’s best in that category. Prior to last season, his last three teams ranked in the top 30 nationally in that category.

• Derrick Walker tied a school record, as he connected on 15 straight field goals from Nov. 21-27. He tied the mark originally set by Ade Dagunduro in 2008-09. Walker is shooting 68 percent from the floor in the 25 games he has played at Nebraska since becoming eligible last January. 

• Nebraska has been opportunistic on the defensive end, forcing a Big Ten-high 16.1 turnovers per game as of Dec. 1. NU is third in the conference in both steals (7.7 spg) and turnover margin (+4.90). NU will be tested against an Auburn squad which is 17th in turnover rate.

• Alonzo Verge Jr. has become more of a playmaker during his time at NU. He is second in the Big Ten with 5.6 assists per game and has a 1.8-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Both numbers are significantly improved from his time at

Arizona State. His 11 assists against NC State on Dec. 1 is the highest total by a Big Ten player in 2021-22. Verge is 22nd nationally in assists per game as of Dec. 9.

• The Huskers look to break out of a cold spell from 3-point range, as NU is just 10-of-57 from beyond the arc in the last two contests. That has played a major role in NU averaging just 61 points per game in that span after averaging nearly 80 points per game in the first eight outings this season.

• Junior college transfer Keisei Tominaga has been playing much better since a slow start. The 6-foot-2 guard is averaging 11.3 points per game in Nebraska’s last seven games after totaling just 3 points on 1-of-9 shooting in his first three games. Tominaga has been in double figures in three of the last four games, including a season-high 23-point effort against South Dakota.

• The return of fifth-year senior Kobe Webster has stabilized the Husker backcourt, especially following the foot injury to Trey McGowens on Nov. 16. Webster is averaging 7.3 ppg on 42 percent shooting, while also dishing out 14 assists with only two turnovers in 163 minutes. Webster enters Saturday’s game with Auburn needing just six points to reach 1,700 for his career.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

 

 
• Nebraska’s 2021-22 roster features a trio of college graduates in Derrick Walker, Alonzo Verge Jr. and Kobe Webster. Walker became the first member of his family to get a degree when he graduated in May of 2021, while Webster (2020, Western Illinois) and Verge (2021, Arizona State) came to Nebraska as graduate transfers.

Four OT Thriller at NC State

Nebraska’s four-overtime game at NC State on Dec. 1, was one for the record books. The four OT game matched Nebraska’s school record set in 1979 and was the longest Big Ten game in at least a decade. It tied for the second-longest Division I game in the past 10 seasons, trailing only a five OT game between Louisville and Notre Dame on Feb. 9. 2013.

•-It was the longest game in Big Ten/ACC Challenge history, but was one of three OT games in the 2021 challenge. The Big Ten won the challenge, 8-6, with three of the six losses coming in overtime.

•-It marked only the eighth time in school history where both teams scored over 100 points.

•-The 100 points NU scored marked the 44th 100-point game in school history, but only the fifth time that NU scored 100 points and lost.

•-Nebraska had a pair of double-doubles from Alonzo Verge (25 points/11 assists) and Derrick Walker (12 points, 13 rebounds). Verge (assists) and Walker (rebounds) both set personal bests on their way to double-doubles

Twice is Nice for Bryce

Bryce McGowens was honored as the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Week for the second time in three weeks on Nov. 29. The 6-foot-7 guard averaged 20.0 points on 50 percent shooting, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in helping the Huskers to a perfect 2-0 week. He is the first Husker men’s basketball player to earn multiple weekly freshman honors since Shavon Shields in 2012-13, as McGowens also was selected on Nov. 15.

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 against Creighton 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.

• Bryce is 10th in the Big Ten in scoring at 16.4 ppg while grabbing a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game as of Dec. 5. He ranks among the B1G leaders in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and minutes played.

• A two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, he leads all conference rookies in scoring and is second in caroms.

• He is the only Big Ten freshman who leads his team in both scoring and rebounding.

• McGowens has reached double figures in scoring six times, including four of 20-point efforts. His most recent 20-point game was a 24-point, nine-rebound effort in the 4OT loss at NC State on Dec. 1.

• He collected his first career double-double on Nov. 21 against Southern with 18 points and 11 rebounds. McGowens also had four assists and two steals in 31 minutes.

• 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 to open the season.

• 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 29 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, as he has started 94 of 96 games at the college level for Pittsburgh and Nebraska and scored over 1,000 career points.

• 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. He helped limit Sam Houston’s Demarkus Lampley, a returning first-team all-conference performer, to 2-of-14 shooting on Nov. 12.

• 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.

• The McGowens brothers are one of 15 brother combos on the same college roster this season.

“Good things happen when we play through Derrick”

Fred Hoiberg understands the importance of having Derrick Walker on the floor for the Big Red, and Walker’s play has been a focal point for the Huskers.  Walker, who is in his third year at NU, has provided the Huskers a much-needed inside threat since becoming eligible last January.

The 6-foot-9 center is enjoying a career year in 2021-22, averaging 9.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 78 percent from the field.

Walker is playing the best basketball of his career over the last six games, averaging 11.3 points while connecting on 34 of his last 40 shots from the floor. He tied or set career highs in three straight games from Nov. 19-23, culminating in a 16-point effort on 8-of-8 shooting vs. Tennessee State on Nov. 23. Walker recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 13 rebounds at NC State on Dec. 1.

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 16.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game. The 6-foot-4 guard from Chicago is second in the Big Ten in assists, ninth in scoring and 12th in assist-to-turnover ratio as of Dec. 8.

• He has a 1.81-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio after posting a 1.29-to-1 ratio in his two seasons at Arizona State.

• Verge ranks fourth in the Big Ten with three double-doubles (vs. W. Illinois; vs. Tennessee State; at NC State).

• He is one of seven Division I players – and one of two power conference performers – averaging at least 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game as of Dec. 8.

• Verge comes off his second career 30-point game against Michigan on Dec. 7, as he had 31 points and eight boards. It was his first 30-point game since the 2019-20 season when he was at Arizona State.

• Verge nearly had a triple-double in the Huskers’ epic game at NC State on Dec. 1 with 25 points, a career-high 11 assists and nine rebounds before fouling out in the fourth OT.

• He led NU with 18 points and 10 assists in the Huskers’ win over Tennessee State on Nov. 23.

• 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.

 

NU Graduation Success Rate Hits All-Time High of 95 Percent

Nebraska student-athletes have posted a 95 percent NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR), continuing the Huskers’ long tradition of being a national leader in the classroom. The NCAA released its GSR scores on Dec. 2, with Nebraska improving its GSR for the 11th straight year.

• The 95 percent GSR rate for all student-athletes ranks third among 14 Big Ten schools. On the national scale, Nebraska’s GSR is tied for 10th out of 130 FBS institutions. The 95 percent GSR rate marks the 11th straight year Nebraska has increased its GSR.

• The Husker men’s basketball program achieved a 100 percent GSR for the second straight season and was one of 13 Husker programs to post a 100 GSR in the latest rankings. NU was one of five Big Ten teams with a perfect GSR this year.

• The 95 percent GSR rate is another milestone for a program that has long been a national leader in academic and athletic achievement. Nebraska leads all Division I programs with 347 CoSIDA Academic All- Americans in school history across all sports. Nebraska also leads the nation with 18 NCAA Today’s Top 10 Award winners.

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 Wilhelm 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. While McGowens has been one of the Big Ten’s top newcomers, Tominaga and Breidenbach have been significant contributors early on. Tominaga has played in all 10 games, averaging 8.2 points per game while shooting 36 percent from 3-point range.  Breidenbach as been the Huskers’ top frontcourt reserve and is chipping in 3.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game, but suffered a knee injury against Michigan and won’t play against Auburn on Saturday.