Huskers to Battle George Mason in Cayman Classic Semi

The Nebraska men's basketball team looks for their fourth straight win Tuesday evening when the Huskers take on George Mason in the semifinals of the Cayman Islands Classic.

Tuesday's game between the Huskers and Patriots is slated for 6:30 p.m. (CT) and 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. 

Fans can watch all of the Cayman Islands Classic action online, as FloHoops is video-streaming all 12 tournament contests with Scott Galetti and Kyle Youmans on the call. To sign up for a monthly subscription, visit FloHoops.com. It is available on laptops, desktops, laptop, tablet or mobile devices.

GAME 6: vs. GEORGE MASON Date:Tues., Nov. 26 Time: 630 p.m. (CT)  Location:  George Town,      Grand Cayman Arena:     John Gray Gymnasium NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS 2019-20 Record: 3-2 Head coach: Fred Hoiberg     Record at Nebraska: 3-2 (1st year)     Career NCAA Record: 118-58 (6th year) GEORGE MASON PATRIOTS 2019-20 Record: 6-1 Head coach: Dave Paulsen     Record at George Mason: 71-68 (5th year)     Career Record: 467-282 (26th year) BROADCAST INFO Television: None Online Broadcast: FloHoops.com     Play-by-play: Scott Galetti               Analyst: Kyle Youmans 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): TBA

Nebraska (3-2) comes into the semifinals after beating Washington State, 82-71, on Monday. Senior Haanif Cheatham led five Huskers in double figures with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and seven rebounds, as NU shot 64 percent in the second half. Jervay Green scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, including eight points in a 13-2 Husker run which turned a 40-36 deficit into a seven-point lead. 

Cheatham, who missed the second half of last season at Florida Gulf Coast following shoulder surgery, has rebounded from a slow start and is averaging 13.7 on 69 percent shooting and 6.7 rebounds per game over NU's last three contests. 
The Huskers will be tested against a George Mason team which is 6-1 on the season following a 60-53 win over Old Dominion. Javon Green and AJ Wilson combined for 37 points and 16 rebounds, as the Patriots held Old Dominion to 29 percent shooting in the second half. Green leads a balanced attack with 13.6 ppg as the Patriots have four players averaging double figures. GMU's only loss is a setback at No. 5 Maryland last Friday.

With a win, the Huskers will advance to Wednesday's championship game against the winner of the South Florida/New Mexico State contest. Tipoff for the title game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (central). A loss on Tuesday puts NU in the third-place game against the loser of the USF/NMSU matchup at 4 p.m.

Numbers to Know
0 - Previous meetings between the Huskers and George Mason, as Tuesday's game will be the first between the two teams. NU is 11-11 all-time against the current members of the Atlantic-10 Conference. 

2 - Under Fred Hoiberg, Iowa State won two in-season tournament titles in his five-year tenure, including the 2011 South Padre Island Invitational and the 2013 Diamond Head Classic. 

5 - Double-figure scorers for Nebraska against Washington State, marking the first time this season the Huskers have had five double-figure scorers.

5 - Three-pointers this season for Thorir Thorbjarnarson, as he is 5-of-9 from 3-point range. In his first two seasons, he went a combined 6-of-28 from long range. 

50- Returning point total from last season. That is the lowest by a power conference team since the 2009-10 season.

85.8- Nebraska's scoring average since the opening-night loss to UC Riverside. NU has scored at least 80 points in each of the last three games. 

2000- The last time Nebraska won an in-season tournament, as the Huskers won the 2000 San Juan Shootout, defeating Iona, Kent State and SMU en route to the title. Last season, NU lost in the championship game of the Hall of Fame Classic to eventual national runner-up Texas Tech.

LAST TIME OUT
Haanif Cheatham's 19 points led five Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska used a strong second half to pull away from Washington State, 82-71, Monday evening. 

Cheatham had 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and seven rebounds, as Nebraska shot 64 percent in the second half, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range. Jervay Green had 14 of his 16 points after halftime, as
Nebraska (3-2) out-scored Washington State, 48-34 in the second half. 

Dachon Burke Jr. and Kevin Cross added 14 points while Cam Mack tallied 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Nebraska, which won its third straight game.

Nebraska trailed 40-36 early in the second half before Green scored eight of his points in a 13-2 Husker spurt that gave the Huskers a 49-42 lead with 13:47 left. Washington State (2-3) pulled to within 56-51 before Nebraska put the game away with a 13-3 surge behind six points from Cheatham, taking a 59-53 lead following a Cross 3-pointer with 7:22 remaining and led by double figures the rest of the contest.

CJ Elleby lead Washington State with 27 points and six boards, while Isaac Bonton totaled 17 points and seven boards. 

DID YOU KNOW
• Nebraska has shot the ball better from 3-point range in recent games. The Huskers are shooting 43 percent from 3-point range over the last three contests, including 50 percent or higher in each of the last two games. That marks the first time since Feb. 2-6, 2009 that NU has shot 50 percent or better from 3-point range in consecutive games. The Huskers are now eighth in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting at 33.3 percent.

• Nebraska is averaging 78 points per game, including 85.8 ppg since the loss to UC Riverside on Nov. 5.  NU put up 90-or-more points against South Dakota State (90) and Southern (93), marking the first time that the Huskers have scored 90 or more points in consecutive games since the 1999-2000 season.

• Cam Mack is one of only four power conference players in the nation averaging at least 14.0 points, five rebounds and five assists per game as of Nov. 25.

Power Conference Players Averaging 14.0 Points, 5.0 Rebounds and 5.0 Assists Per Game (as of Nov. 25)

Player	School	PPG	RPG	APG
Cam Mack	Nebraska	14.8	5.6	6.4
Payton Pritchard	Oregon	19.4	5.4	5.6
Marcus Carr	Minnesota	14.5	6.3	6.7
Kira Lewis Jr.	Alabama	21.5	6.5	5.0

• Entering Tuesday's action, Kevin Cross is one of four true freshmen in the Big Ten averaging double figures, as he is at 11.0 ppg on 52 percent shooting. Cross has been in double figures three times, which matches the entire team total of double-figure performances by Nebraska over the past two seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19).

• Nebraska has put at least four players in double figures in each of the last three games, while seven different Huskers have scored double figures through the first five games. Cam Mack is the only Husker to reach double figures in scoring in each of the first five contests. Nebraska's five double-figure scorers marked the first time the Huskers accomplished the feat since a win over Creighton last December. 

• Nebraska enters Tuesday's game sixth in the Big Ten in turnover margin at +3.4 per game, as the Huskers have committed an average of 11.8 turnovers per game - an average which is third in the Big Ten - despite playing at the fastest pace in the conference. 

• Through the first five games, 77.4 percent of the Huskers' offense has come from players who were added in the offseason, including six of Nebraska's top seven scorers. 

• Nebraska has two overtimes games in its first four contests. The school record for OT games is four, set most recently during the 2007-08 campaign. 

• Beginning with Monday's Cayman Islands Classic opener against Washington State, the Huskers are in a stretch of playing five non-conference games away from home (3 in Cayman Islands Classic, at Georgia Tech and at Creighton), the longest stretch of non-conference games away from home since the 2000-01 season. The Huskers' next home game is Dec. 15 against Purdue.

• 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. Nebraska returns a national-low 1.9 percent of its scoring 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%

Courtesy: Virginia Tech SID office

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 64th nationally in adjusted tempo, averaging nearly 72.5 possessions per 40 minutes. NU leads 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.