Nebraska (1-0) faces Providence (1-0) Saturday at 6 p.m. CT in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., on FS1. Pryce Sandfort’s 20 points and the 106-64 opener got the headlines. The connectors are what Fred Hoiberg will need against a Friars team that forced 23 turnovers in its debut.
Leonhardt at the point
Utah Valley transfer Trevan Leonhardt stuffed the box score in his Husker debut: seven points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals with zero turnovers. Per Nebraska’s game notes, it was just the sixth time in Hoiberg’s eight seasons that a Husker had at least seven assists and no turnovers in a game. The last was Rienk Mast against Purdue last February.
Leonhardt was a first-team All-WAC guard who averaged 11.9 points, 6.0 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals last season and ranked among the national leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio. Nebraska ranked sixth nationally in that category a year ago. The Huskers had 24 assists and eight turnovers against Le Moyne.
A Dose of Cale
Cale Jacobsen dropped a career-high 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting, with four rebounds, three assists and three steals, and he combined with Sandfort for 30 first-half points. Jon Rothstein of 247Sports listed him this week among 10 “Glue Guys to Monitor.” Nebraska is 36-7 in Jacobsen’s career when he plays at least 10 minutes.
Why it matters Saturday
Providence opened with an 83-56 win over Maine behind 17 steals, including seven from Miles Byrd. If Nebraska is going to extend its school-record 23-game regular-season non-conference win streak, the ball has to keep moving the way it did Monday. Tip is on FS1 with Adam Giardino and Donny Marshall. Kent Pavelka and Jake Muhleisen have the Huskers Radio Network call.
Featured image: Photo: Marc-Gregor Campredon. CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michigan_vs._Nebraska_Mar_5,_2020.jpg.
