Huskers Announce Non-Conference Men’s Hoops Schedule

Lincoln –A quartet of high-profile matches and nine home games highlight Nebraska's 2021-22 non-conference schedule released Tuesday.

The 11-game non-conference slate features a neutral-site matchup with Auburn in the Holiday Hoopsgiving event in Atlanta and the start of a three-year series with Kansas State at Pinnacle Bank Arena.  It also includes a pair of conference challenge games with Creighton (Gavitt Games) and at NC State (Big Ten/ACC Challenge).

Men's basketball season-ticket holders should be on the lookout for an email from the Nebraska Ticket Office this week about how to renew their season tickets for the 2021-22 campaign. The 2021-22 home schedule will include 10 Big Ten matchups, nine non-conference home games and a pair of exhibition contests for Coach Fred Hoiberg, who begins his third season in charge of the Huskers.

The Huskers will open the 2021-22 season on Tuesday, Nov. 9, against Western Illinois, the start of a seven-game season-opening homestand. Under second-year coach Rob Jeter, the Leathernecks return five players who started at least 10 games last season. WIU is led by All-Summit League performer Will Carius, who topped WIU in scoring (14.7 ppg) and 3-pointers (53) and Tamell Pearson who averaged 10.4 ppg and topped WIU in rebounds (6.9 rpg) and blocked shots (20).

Sam Houston State makes its first trip to PBA on Friday, Nov. 12. The Bearkats return four starters from a team that went 18-9 and finished third in the Southland Conference with a 13-3 mark. SHSU is led by senior guard Demarkus Lampley, who averaged 14.4 ppg, including 40 percent from 3-point range, on his way to earning first-team All-Southland Conference accolades in 2021.

Following the Gavitt Games matchup with Creighton, NU returns to action on Friday, Nov. 19, to take on an Idaho State team which will be one of the favorites in the Big Sky Conference. The Bengals return all five starters from a team that went 13-11 and finished fourth in the conference with an 8-6 record. Senior guard Tarik Cool earned all-conference accolades after averaging a team-high 14.0 points per game, while Robert Ford III averaged 11.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.

The Huskers will host a multi-team event for the second straight year, as the Huskers will welcome Southern (Nov. 21), Tennessee State (Nov. 23) and South Dakota (Nov. 27) to Pinnacle Bank Arena. South Dakota, which battled the Huskers before falling 76-68 last season, returns three starters from last year's Summit League regular-season runner-ups.

The month of December features several high-profile matchups, including a trip to NC State (Dec. 1) for the Big Ten/ACC Men's Basketball Challenge, the matchup with Auburn (Dec. 11) and non-conference games against Kansas State (Dec. 19) and Kennesaw State (Dec. 22) before resuming Big Ten play in January

The non-conference slate also includes a pair of exhibition contests, including an in-state matchup with Peru State (Oct. 27) and the charity exhibition against Colorado (Oct. 31)
 
 2021-22 Men's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule 

Date	Opponent	Location
Wed., Oct. 27	Peru State (exhibition)	Pinnacle Bank Arena
Sun., Oct. 31	Colorado (charity exhibition)	Pinnacle Bank Arena
Tues., Nov. 9	Western Illinois	Pinnacle Bank Arena
Fri., Nov. 12	Sam Houston State	Pinnacle Bank Arena
Tues., Nov. 16	Creighton (Gavitt Games)	Pinnacle Bank Arena
Fri., Nov. 19	Idaho State	Pinnacle Bank Arena
Sun., Nov. 21	Southern	Pinnacle Bank Arena
Tues., Nov. 23	Tennessee State	Pinnacle Bank Arena
Sat., Nov. 27	South Dakota	Pinnacle Bank Arena
Wed., Dec. 1	at NC State (Big Ten/ACC Challenge)	Raleigh, N.C. (PNC Arena)
Sat., Dec. 11	vs. Auburn (Holiday Hoopsgiving)	Atlanta, Ga. (State Farm Arena)
Sun., Dec. 19	Kansas State	Pinnacle Bank Arena
Wed., Dec. 22	Kennesaw State	Pinnacle Bank Arena