Huskers Take on South Dakota State Friday Night

NEBRASKA VS. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
Date:     Fri., Nov. 15
Time:     8:07 p.m. (CT) 
Location:     Lincoln, Neb.
Arena:     Pinnacle Bank Arena
Tickets:     Sold Out

NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS
2019-20 Record: 0-2
Head coach: Fred Hoiberg
    Record at Nebraska: 0-2 (1st year)
    Career NCAA Record: 115-58 (6th year)

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS
2019-20 Record: 3-1
Head coach: Eric Henderson
    Record at South Dakota State: 3-1 (1st year)
    Career Record: same

BROADCAST INFO
Television: BTN
    Play-by-play: Chris Vosters      
    Analyst: Nick Bahe    
Online Broadcast: Fox Sports App
Radio: Learfield-IMG Husker Sports Network, including 590 AM (Omaha), 1400 AM (Lincoln) and 880 AM (Lexington)
    Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka    
    Analyst: Jake Muhleisen
Online Radio: Available on Huskers.com, Huskers App, TuneIn.com/Huskers and TuneIn App.
SiriusXM (Internet): Ch. 372    XM: Ch. 372

Huskers Host Jackrabbits Friday Night
The Nebraska men's basketball team hopes the third time is the charm this Friday evening, as the Huskers host South Dakota State. Tipoff at Pinnacle Bank Arena is slated for 8 p.m., and Friday's game is sold out. Any returned tickets, if available, will be available at the PBA Ticket Office 90 minutes before tipoff.

Friday's matchup will be carried nationally on BTN with Chris Vosters and Nick Bahe 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 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. 

Nebraska (0-2) had plenty of chances against Southern Utah before dropping a 79-78 heartbreaker to the Thunderbirds on Nov. 9. The Huskers had opportunities with go-ahead baskets in the final seconds of both overtime periods, but could not capitalize before Cameron Oluyitan's basket with 3.5 seconds remaining gave the visitors the win. Sophomore Cam Mack's final attempt rolled off the rim at the buzzer in the second overtime. 

The loss overshadowed the performances of Mack and freshman Kevin Cross. Mack tallied 13 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds in 41 minutes, as his 11 assists were the most by a Husker since 2010. Mack also flirted with a double-double in the opener against UC Riverside. Cross led NU with 19 points off the bench on 8-of-15 shooting and snared five rebounds. His 19-point performance was the most by a Husker freshman since 2013.

Mack's 12.0 ppg leads a balanced attack which has seen four players average double figures in the early going. NU, which returned just 2.0 ppg from last year's roster, will look to generate more offense, shooting just 34 percent from the field in its first two contests. 

South Dakota State (3-1) wraps up a three-game road trip Friday night, as the Jackrabbits fell at USC, 84-66, on Tuesday evening. Douglas Wilson had a team-high 15 points while David Wingett added 10 points off the bench as the Jackrabbits saw their three-game win streak snapped.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT
The 19-point effort by freshman Kevin Cross vs. Southern Utah was the most by a Husker freshman since Shavon Shields had 19 points against Purdue in the 2013 Big Ten Tournament. Over the previous two seasons, NU had just three double-figure performances by freshmen (Brady Heiman-1; Thomas Allen-2). 

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
Under first-year head coach Eric Henderson, South Dakota State is 3-1 on the season heading to Lincoln. Henderson, who was on the SDSU staff for the past three seasons under former head coach T.J. Otzelberger, inherited a team that has one starter back from a team that went 24-9 and won the Summit League regular-season title in each of the past two seasons. The Jackrabbits had to replace 3,000-point scorer Mike Daum as well as David Jenkins, who scored nearly 1,200 points in three seasons. 

The Jackrabbits, who were picked to finish fifth in the Summit League, opened the year with three straight wins, including a 70-57 win over UT Rio Grand Valley and a 93-91 double overtime win at Cal State Bakersfield before falling at USC, 84-66, on Tuesday night. Against USC, the Jacks were within three midway through the second half before the Trojans pulled away down the stretch. 

Junior college transfer Douglas Wilson leads SDSU in both scoring (19.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.3 rpg) as he is shooting 58 percent from the field. Senior point guard Brandon Key is scoring 11.8 points per game while pacing the squad with 4.0 assists per game. Sophomore Matt Dentlinger is the third starter in double figures as he averages 10.0 points and seven caroms per game. 

SDSU also features a pair of Nebraska natives in reserves David Wingett (8.3 ppg) and Baylor Scheierman (8.8 ppg). Wingett began his career at Memphis last year before receiving an NCAA waiver, while Scheierman is from Aurora.

Series history: Nebraska has won all 12 meetings between the two teams, while Friday's matchup is the first since a 76-64 win during the 2011-12 campaign. NU is 69-9 all-time against the current members of the Summit League. 


LAST TIME OUT
Cameron Oluyitan's jumper with 3.5 seconds remaining proved to be the game winner, as Southern Utah escaped with a 79-78 double overtime win over the Huskers on Nov. 9.

Oluyitan, who was one of five Thunderbirds in double figures with 11 points, found a spot the right baseline and knocked down a 15-footer to give SUU the lead for good.
Nebraska had a chance to win at the end of the second overtime, but Cam Mack's shot at the buzzer rolled off the rim, as the Huskers fell to 0-2 on the season.

Mack put the Huskers in position to win, as he recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists, including finding Jervay Green for the game-tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation. Mack, one of four Huskers in double figures, also added seven boards.

Green finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Kevin Cross came off the bench and topped the Huskers with 19 points and added five rebounds. Dachon Burke Jr. rounded out the quartet with 13 points and four boards.

Dwayne Morgan led the visitors (2-0) with 19 points and 11 rebounds, as Nebraska held SUU to 41 percent shooting and forced SUU 18 turnovers, but the Huskers shot just 37 percent and were out-rebounded 58-44.

DID YOU KNOW
• Cam Mack is one of six players nationally averaging at least 10 points, seven rebounds and seven assists per game as of Nov. 13.

• Mack's 13-point, 11-assist performance vs. Southern Utah marked just the sixth time in the last 30 years that a Husker has had a points-assist double-double.

Husker Points/Assists Double-Doubles (Last 30 years)

No.	Pts.	Asst.	Opponent
Cam Mack	13	11	vs. Southern Utah, 11/11/19
Glynn Watson Jr.	10	10	vs. Cal State Fullerton, 12/20/18
Lance Jeter	10	10	vs. Kansas, 2/5/11
Lance Jeter	12	12	at Kansas State, 2/7/10
Sek Henry	11	11	at TCU, 11/21/09
Tom Wald	11	11	vs. Appalachian State, 12/31/94

• Matej Kavas enters the South Dakota State game needing just eight points to reach 1,000 for his collegiate career. 

• Through the first two games, 78.4 percent of the Huskers' offense were from players who were added in the offseason, including five of the top six scorers. 

• Husker senior Haanif Cheatham played against South Dakota State last season at Florida Gulf Coast, scoring a season-high 23 points on 10-16 shooting and five rebounds.

• Friday's game features two teams which have been completely reconstructed in the offseason. NU and South Dakota State rank first and third, respectively in the fewest points per game returning from last season. 

Fewest Returning PPG from 2018-19

No.	School	Returning PPG	Pct. of Scoring
1	Nebraska	2.0 PPG	1.9%
2.	Tulane	10.8 PPG	12.2%
3.	South Dakota St.	15.8 PPG	16.9%
4.	Virginia Tech	13.3 PPG	18.1%
5.	Washington	13.9 PPG	19.8%

H/T Virginia Tech SID office

• Nebraska's 14 first-year players on the roster matches TCU for the most in the nation in research done by the Utah SID John Vu. Only four teams (TCU-14, Nebraska-14, East Carolina-13 and Utah-12) have at least 12 newcomers on their 2019-20 rosters. That does not count players who sat out last season, such as Dachon Burke Jr.

• Nebraska is 102-14 (.879) in non-conference home games since the start of the 2006-07 season, including 39-9 (.813) since Pinnacle Bank Arena opened in 2013.

SETTING A FAST PACE
Not only are the Huskers adjusting to a whole new roster, but playing at a significantly faster pace than in previous years. The Huskers are 44th nationally in adjusted tempo, averaging more than 74 possessions in a 40-minute game. NU is currently second in the Big Ten in tempo after ranking eighth in the Big Ten and 238th nationally in 2018-19. 

• Hoiberg's first Iowa State team in 2010-11 jumped from 93rd to 34th nationally in tempo and ranked in the top 40 nationally in tempo in four of his five seasons in Ames, including top-15 nationally in his last two campaigns.

• In the KenPom era (1997-present), only one Husker team has ranked among the top 100 nationally in tempo - the 1999-2000 Huskers under Danny Nee.

CROSS LIFTS BENCH PRODUCTION 
Freshman Kevin Cross has been an early contributor for the Huskers. The 6-foot-8 freshman from Little Rock, Arkansas, has been the first Husker off the bench in both games, and is second on the team in scoring (11.5 ppg) and third in rebounding (4.0 rpg). 

• Against Southern Utah, Cross had a team-high 19 points, becoming the first freshman in 73 games to pace the Huskers in scoring. 

• Cross has lost nearly 20 pounds since arriving on campus this summer, and showed glimpses of his potential during NU's trip to Italy, reaching double figures twice in four contests. 

• He has helped the NU reserves combine for 21 points per game during the first two contests. 

OUEDRAOGO ADDS NAME TO SHORT LIST OF TRUE FROSH
Freshman Yvan Ouedraogo became the first true freshman to start a season opener at Nebraska since 2013 when he started against UC Riverside on Nov. 5. 

• Ouedraogo, who became the first true freshman to start in the frontcourt since Brandon Ubel in 2009, had nine points, three rebounds and a pair of steals and a blocked shot in 21 minutes of action. 

• He is just the 11th true freshman and 13th freshman overall to start a season opener in the last 25 years at Nebraska, joining a group which includes 1,000-point scorers Tai Webster, Ryan Anderson, Cookie Belcher and Tyronn Lue. 

• He has started both games for the Huskers, averaging 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
Ouedraogo, who doesn't turn 18 until after the 2020 Big Ten Tournament, played for the French U-18 squad at the 2019 European Championships in July, averaging 4.0 points, 3.6 rebounds per game as France went 6-1 and finished fifth. 

JUCO ADDITIONS AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Two of the cornerstones of the Huskers' recruiting class were junior college transfers Cam Mack and Jervay Green. Mack (third) and Green (eighth) were both ranked in the top 10 nationally by JUCORecruiting.com in the 2019 recruiting class and have played a crucial role for the Huskers early in 2019-20.  

Mack, who was listed as the top JC point guard recruit in the country, enters the South Dakota State game leading the Huskers in scoring (12.0 ppg), rebounding (8.0 rpg) and assists (7.0 apg) while posting a nearly 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He is second in the Big Ten in assists and also ranks in the top 20 in rebounding.

• Mack has been the only Husker in double figures in both games, as he had 11 points and nine rebounds in the opener before nearly pulling a triple-double against Southern Utah with 13 points, 11 assists and rebounds. His 11 assists against the Thunderbirds was the most by a Husker since the 2009-10 campaign. 

• Last season at Salt Lake CC, Mack averaged 19.1 points, 7.6 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game, ranking fifth nationally in assists per game. He totaled nine double-doubles and three triple doubles as a freshman and dished out 10-or-more assists nine times. 
Green was rated as the No. 2 combo guard after a stint at Western Nebraska CC, is second on the team in both scoring (11.5 ppg) and rebounding (5.0 rpg), while topping NU in both blocked shots (2.0 bpg) and steals (2.5 spg). 

• Green is one of only five power conference players - and just 17 players in Division I - averaging at least two blocks and steals per game. He is the only Big Ten player at those plateaus.

• He nearly had a double-double of his own against Southern Utah with 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Green sent the game into overtime with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.  

• Green garnered NJCAA All-America honors at WNCC, averaging 23.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. He was eighth nationally in scoring and had six 30-point games, including a school-record 51-point outburst.  

KAVAS IS ONE OF NATION'S TOP SHOOTERS
Senior transfer Matej Kavas comes to Nebraska with a reputation as one of the nation's top 3-point shooters. The 6-foot-8 guard is a career 45 percent shooter from 3-point range, and has shot 40 percent or better in all three of his seasons at Seattle. Kavas' .446 career percentage ranks fourth among active Division I players, as he is shooting 40 percent from long range this season. As a sophomore at Seattle, Kavas led the WAC in both 3-point percentage (.464) and 3-pointers per game (2.8). 

• To put Kavas' shooting in perspective, Nebraska's career mark for career 3-point percentage is .432 by Brian Conklin (2001-04) and only five players in school history have shot 40 percent in their Husker career with a minimum of 100 3-pointers. 

• Kavas' 179 career 3-pointers would ranks sixth on NU's career list while his 91 3-pointers as a sophomore would top NU's single-season mark (Cary Cochran, 89, 2001-02).

Top Active 3-Point Shooters in Division I (as of Nov. 12)

No.	Player, Schools	Yr.	GP	3pt.	Att	Pct.
1	Tyrell Gumbs-Frater, Coastal Carolina	Sr.	50	104	226	0.460
2	Justin Jaworski, Lafayette	Jr.	61	148	327	0.453
3	Nate Darling, Delaware	Jr.	66	96	215	0.447
4	Matej Kavas, Nebraska	Sr.	86	179	401	0.446
5	Jordan Dartis, Ohio	Sr.	94	237	537	0.441

WHAT'S BACK FOR THE HUSKERS
Nebraska returns one letterwinner and one other player from last year's team that went 19-17 and reached the second round of the NIT. Junior guard Thorir Thorbjarnarson was the only player who has seen regular-season action for the Huskers entering the 2019-20 campaign. He averaged 2.0 points and 2.1 rebounds per game last year. 

• According to research by noted basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy, the 50 returning points on Nebraska's 2019-20 roster is the lowest total for a power conference team since 2009, when Indiana returned just 28 points from the previous season. 

• Since 2000, it is only the fourth time where the Huskers have returned less than 40 percent of the team's scoring output from the previous year (also 2012-13, 2009-10 and 2001-02). In that stretch, the lowest was 24 percent in 2012-13. 

• The seven returning starts are the lowest in the last 20 years (41 entering 2001-02).

What's Returning (Last Five Seasons)

Category	2019-20	2018-19	2017-18	2016-17	2015-16
Pct. of scoring	1.9	73.4	50.0	45.8	40.0
Pct. of rebounding	4.2	61.4	44.9	51.9	33.3
Pct. of assists	6.2	71.5	48.9	52.6	51.1
Pct. of blocked shots	3.3	67.2	47.4	64.3	15.6
Pct. of steals	5.4	68.0	61.1	51.6	52.6
Pct. of minutes	4.2	74.5	55.4	52.4	42.4

TRANSFERS BRING MUCH-NEEDED EXPERIENCE
While Nebraska has only one player who has previously played at Nebraska (Thorir Thorbjarnarson), a good portion of the roster has Division I experience. The Huskers feature six transfers who have combined for more than 3,000 points at the Division I level. Dachon Burke Jr. is the only returnee in the group after he began his collegiate career at Robert Morris before sitting out the 2018-19 season at Nebraska.

Experienced Additions (Entering 2019-20)

Player	School	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Dalano Banton ^	Western Kentucky	105	92	65
Dachon Burke Jr.	Robert Morris	813	312	104
Haanif Cheatham	Marquette/FGCU	842	296	170
Matej Kavas	Seattle	980	358	72
Shamiel Stevenson %	Pittsburgh/Nevada	288	148	36
Derrick Walker^	Tennessee	92	107	16
Totals		3,120	1,313	463

^ - Will not be eligible until 2020-21; %-Awaiting NCAA Waiver

FROM COLLEGE TO THE NBA AND BACK AGAIN
Nebraska's Fred Hoiberg is in an exclusive club, as he is one of just 10 current Division I coaches to coach in Division I and in the NBA. He spent three-plus seasons with the Chicago Bulls, guiding the Bulls to the NBA Playoffs in 2016.  Hoiberg's 270 regular-season NBA games are the most of the 10 former NBA coaches in the collegiate ranks. Hoiberg also brings five years of NBA front office experience, as he worked with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2005 to 2010.
 

Coach, School	NBA Head Coach, Years
Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska	Chicago, 2015-18
Larry Krystkowiak, Utah	Milwaukee, 2007-08
Terry Porter, Portland	Milwaukee, 2003-05; Phoenix 2008-09
Lon Kruger, Oklahoma	Atlanta, 2000-03
Eric Musselman, Arkansas	Golden State, 2002-04; Sacramento, 2006-07
Mike Dunlap, Loyola Marymount	Charlotte, 2012-13
Darrell Walker, Ark. Little Rock	Toronto, 1996-98; Washington, 1999-2000
John Calipari, Kentucky	New Jersey, 1996-99
Leonard Hamilton, Miami	Washington, 2000-01
Lindsey Hunter, Miss. Valley State	Phoenix, 2013

HUSKER FAMILY TIES RUN DEEP FOR HOIBERG
While Fred Hoiberg grew up in Ames and played his high school (Ames High School) and college basketball (Iowa State) there, he was born in Lincoln and has numerous ties to the city and to the University of Nebraska. 

• Fred's father (Eric) and mother (Karen) both earned their undergraduate degrees from Nebraska in 1966. In fact, Eric earned his undergraduate degree, Master's degree, and Ph.D. in sociology from the university. His 1973 dissertation was "Socio-economic status, residential location, and intrametropolitan mobility: a longitudinal analysis".

• His maternal grandfather was former Husker basketball coach Jerry Bush. Known as the "Big Bear of the Coliseum," Bush guided NU from 1955 to 1963, and directed two of the greatest upsets ever – a 43-41 victory over top-ranked Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain, and a 55-48 victory over No. 4 Kansas State and Olympian Bob Boozer during the 1957-58 campaign.

• His paternal grandfather (Otto) received his Master's Degree and Ph.D from Nebraska. He joined the faculty of the University of Nebraska in 1948, where he taught sociology and served as director of the community development program in the University of Nebraska Extension Division. 

YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN: PART 2
Assistant Coach Doc Sadler brings a unique perspective to the Husker basketball staff, as he returns to Lincoln after serving as the head coach at Southern Miss for the last five seasons. Sadler helped Southern Miss improve its win total in each of the last four seasons, including a 20-13 mark and Conference USA semifinal appearance in 2018-19. Sadler returns to a program that he served as head coach for six seasons, guiding the Huskers to 101 wins and three postseason appearances in his six-year tenure. 

Its rare for a coach to return to a program as an assistant coach, as the other other known example is Marty Wilson, who was the interim head coach at Pepperdine in 1996 before returning to the school as an assistant coach in 2008. 

FAMILIAR FACES FOR HOIBERG ON HUSKER STAFF
One strength of the Husker coaching staff is a familiarity with each other, as three staff members had worked with Hoiberg as assistant coaches during his previous stint at Iowa State from 2010 to 2015. Matt Abdelmassih also worked under Hoiberg in the front office with the Minnesota Timberwolves, while Bobby Lutz was an assistant coach with the Windy City Bulls in the G League while Hoiberg coached the Chicago Bulls.

Previous Experience with Fred Hoiberg

Staff Member	Coaching Experience with Hoiberg
Matt Abdelmassih, Assistant Coach	Iowa State (2010-15)
Doc Sadler, Assistant Coach	Iowa State (2013-14)
Bobby Lutz, Special Assistant to the Head Coach	Iowa State (2010-11)

PINNACLE BANK ARENA SOLD OUT FOR 2019-20 SEASON
Since moving into Pinnacle Bank Arena in 2013, the Huskers have ranked in the top 15 in attendance nationally in each of the past six seasons. The streak will likely continue into 2019-20, as all available season tickets were sold out in August.

• Last season, Nebraska averaged 15,341 fans per home game to rank 10th nationally in attendance, matching the highest rank in school history. 

• Nebraska is one of nine schools in the country to average 15,000+ fans per contest in each of the last six seasons, joining Kentucky, Syracuse, Louisville, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas and Creighton.

• The Big Ten Conference has led NCAA Basketball in attendance for 43 straight years, dating back to the 1976-77 season. Last season, Big Ten schools drew more than a combined three million fans for the fifth straight year. 

Filling Up Pinnacle Bank Arena

Season	Average	NCAA Rank
2013-14 (1st year of PBA)	15,419	13th
2014-15	15,569	10th
2015-16	15,430	11th
2016-17	15,427	11th
2017-18	15,494	11th
2018-19	15,341	10th