Huskers Open Season with Lindenwood Monday Night

Huskers Open Season with Lindenwood Monday Night
The Nebraska men's basketball team opens the 2023-24 season Monday night, as the Huskers host Lindenwood in a non-conference contest. Tipoff between the Huskers and Lions is set for 7 p.m. and tickets are available for the matchup by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets, calling 800-8-BIGRED during business hours (Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m.-5 p.m.) or at PBA beginning at 5:30 p.m. 

Monday's game is a first of a four-game homestand for the Big Red, as the Huskers will leave Lincoln once before Big Ten Conference play begins on Dec. 6, a neutral-site matchup with Oregon State in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Nov. 18. 

The Huskers battled with injuries heading into the exhibition game with Doane, as NU dressed just six scholarship players in the 84-53 win on Oct. 29.  Sam Hoiberg and C.J. Wilcher were among five Huskers in doubles figures with 15 points apiece, as Nebraska used a 17-2 run early in the second half to take control. Hoiberg, who moved into the lineup when it was learned that Matar Diop would be out earlier that morning with strep throat, hit 7-of-9 shots from the field and had four steals and three assists in a team-high 29 minutes. In all, the Huskers shot 53 percent from the field and forced 16 turnovers against Doane. Another encouraging sign was the Huskers had just eight turnovers and a nearly 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio.  

Nebraska also received strong performances from a trio of newcomers in the win. Freshman Eli Rice led NU with a game-high 18 points, while transfers Jarron Coleman (12 points, three assists) and Brice Williams (10 points, five rebounds) also finished in double figures in their Husker debuts. 

NU's opener is the first-ever meeting between the Huskers and Lindenwood, which moved up to Division I in 2022-23 and is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Lions went 11-21 last season and return a pair of starters for Head Coach Kyle Gerdeman. Keenon Cole is back after earning second-team All-OVC honors by averaging 12.9 points on 52.4 percent shooting in 2022-23. 

Looking at Lindenwood
Lindenwood begins its second season of its Division I transition on Monday when it takes on Nebraska. The Huskers are one of two power conference teams on Lindenwood's schedule, as the Lions will face Iowa State on Thursday. 

Lindenwood, which will be eligible for the NCAA Tournament in 2026-27, was at the NAIA level until 2010 before moving to the Division II ranks. The Lions, who were picked to finish 10th in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll, return two starters and six letterwinners from last season. 

The returnees are led by forward Keenon Cole, as the 6-foot-7 forward earned second-team All-OVC honors in 2022-23 by averaging 12.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while shooting 52 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3-point range. The Lions have added a pair of Division I transfers in Keith Haymond II (Northern Arizona) and Amoro Lado (Hawaii) as well as guard Darius Beane (Cal State Northridge), who sat out last season at Lindenwood.

Kyle Gerdeman is in his fifth season at Lindenwood after serving as an assistant coach at Central Michigan and Southeast Missouri State at the Division I level. He was also the head coach at Moberly (Mo.) Area Community College before taking the position on the SEMO staff. 

Monday's meeting will be the first between the Huskers and Lindenwood on the basketball court. NU is 20-1 all-time against the current members of the Ohio Valley Conference. 

For Openers
Nebraska begins its 128th season of basketball on Monday night against Lindenwood. Here are some facts and figures about season openers for the Husker basketball program.

• Nebraska is 86-41 (.677) all-time in season openers and has won 20 of the past 22 season openers dating back to an 87-83 setback at Oral Roberts to begin the 2000 season.
• The Nov. 6 start is one of the earliest starts in program history. It matches the 2018-19 season opener as the second-earliest start in program history.
• Nebraska has scored 70+ points in nine of the last 10 season openers dating back to the opening of Pinnacle Bank Arena in 2013-14.
• Lindenwood is one of three first-time opponents on the Huskers' 2023-24 schedule, joining Rider (Nov. 13) and Stony Brook (Nov. 15). 

Last Time Out: Huskers Top Doane in Exhibition
Freshman Eli Rice had 18 points to lead five Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska took control in the second half of an 84-53 win over Doane on Oct. 29. 

Rice hit 7-of-14 shots from the floor, including a trio of 3-pointers, as a short-handed Husker team pulled away after halftime. Nebraska, which was down to five scholarship players available after a first-half injury to Keisei Tominaga, shot 57 percent from the floor and outscored Doane, 46-26 after halftime.

C.J. Wilcher and Sam Hoiberg added 15 points, each, combining to hit 13-of-18 shots from the field, while Jarron Coleman and Brice Williams added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Nebraska, which had just one player taller than 6-7, shot 53 percent on the night and forced 16 Doane turners which led to 21 points. Hoiberg had four steals and was one of four players with multiple steals in the win.

Coleman scored seven of his nine second-half points in a decisive 17-2 spurt that turned a 38-32 lead into a 21-point cushion, at 55-34, with 13:24 remaining. The Huskers eventually stretched the margin to 35 before cruising to a 31-point win.  Cam Binder led Doane with 12 points, including four 3-pointers, while River Johnston added 10 markers. 

A Quick Look at the Huskers
Nebraska enters the 2023-24 season with its most experienced roster in Fred Hoiberg's five seasons at the helm. The Huskers returned seven letterwinners and three redshirts while adding seven new players to the roster.

• For the first time since 2018-19 and the third time since 2012-13, the Huskers return more than 50 percent of their scoring from the previous year. 

Category	2023-24	2022-23	2021-22	2020-21	2019-20
Pct. of scoring	50.9	32.8	49.6	21.6	1.9
Pct. of rebounds	37.6	34.2	42.1	33.7	4.2
Pct. of field goals made	49.9	35.3	49.9	22.0	7.0
Pct. of field goals attempted	50.3	31.2	49.8	20.1	2.6
Pct. of 3-point FG made	74.8	40.6	59.6	19.4	1.5
Pct. of 3-point FG attempted	69.1	36.8	55.0	16.5	2.9
Pct. of free throws made	40.2	19.5	40.8	21.6	1.7
Pct. of free throws attempted	39.3	20.5	41.3	22.9	1.7
Pct. of assists	30.4	23.3	41.5	13.1	4.1
Pct. of steals	50.8	35.7	44.6	24.7	5.4
Pct. of blocked shots	34.2	44.8	44.3	24.1	3.3
Pct. of minutes	48.8	35.3	50.6	26.5	4.2

• NU also returns 86 starts, which is the most since the 2018-19 NIT team. That breakdown is as follows:  C.J. Wilcher (26); Keisei Tominaga (25); Juwan Gary (17); Jamarques Lawrence (12); Blaise Keita (5); Sam Hoiberg (1). Wilcher and Tominaga are the only two Huskers who have played in every game the past two seasons.
• The Huskers return five of their top eight scorers from a year ago, as Keisei Tominaga's 13.1 ppg is the highest for a Husker returnee since James Palmer Jr. in 2018-19 (17.2 ppg).  NU also returns its fourth leading scorer (Juwan Gary, 9.5 ppg) as well as C.J. Wilcher (8.0, sixth), Jamarques Lawrence (5.0, seventh) and Sam Hoiberg (4.1, eighth). 
• The 2023-24 Huskers are an experienced bunch with nine of the 13 scholarship players in at least their fourth season of college basketball. The group features one sixth-year senior in Jarron Coleman and five others who are in their fifth season of college basketball.  
• The 2023-24 roster has combined for 766 games, including 409 starts, at the Division I level. That does not include two seasons of junior college basketball for both Keisei Tominaga and Blaise Keita.

Tominaga Named Preseason All-Big Ten
Nebraska senior guard Keisei Tominaga was honored on Oct. 6, as he was one of 10 players selected to the preseason All-Big Ten team.  The 10-member team included four unanimous selections: Terrence Shannon (Illinois), Jahmir Young (Maryland), Boo Buie (Northwestern) and Zach Edey (Purdue). Edey, the reigning national player of the year, was tabbed as the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year. 

Tominaga becomes just the third Husker to be named preseason All-Big Ten since Nebraska joined the conference in 2011-12, joining James Palmer Jr. (2018) and Terran Petteway (2014). Last season, he averaged 13.1 points per game on 53 percent shooting, including 40 percent from 3-point range, while appearing in all 32 contests.  Tominaga led the Huskers in 3-pointers with 66 and was one of only six players nationally to average double figures and shoot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 85 percent from the foul line. 

During Big Ten play, he led NU in scoring at 14.2 ppg to rank 15th in the conference while also ranking among Big Ten leaders in field goal percentage (.512, seventh) and 3-pointers per game (2.3, sixth) as he shot 41 percent from beyond the arc. He had seven of his nine 20-point games during Big Ten contests, including a career-high 30-point effort against Penn State, and added 23 points in NU’s loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament.

3 Quick Keisei Bullets

• • Tominaga had seven of his 10 career 20-point games over the Huskers' final nine contests of 2022-23.
• • He was one of six players in Division I basketball to average double figures while posting 50/40/85 shooting splits in 2022-23.
• • In Big Ten play, Tominaga shot 63.4 percent from 2-point range, the highest percentage for any Big Ten player who averaged double figures on the season (sports-reference.com).

Huskers to Be Challenged in 2023-24
Nebraska will play 12 games this season against ranked teams or teams receiving votes in either the Associated Press or the USA Today Coaches preseason polls. 

• • Nebraska's home schedule features three preseason top-10 opponents in No. 3/2 Purdue, No. 4/4 Michigan State and No. 8/8 Creighton. In addition, NU also hosts three other teams receiving votes: Wisconsin; Indiana; and Ohio State. 
  • Nebraska travels to No. 25/RV Illinois and also makes trips to four other teams that received preseason votes in Kansas State, Maryland, Indiana and Ohio State.
  • Last year, the Big Ten had 12 teams which reached postseason play, including NCAA teams that reached the NCAA Tournament. 

Huskers Complete SPain Trip with 3-0 mark
Nebraska made its first overseas trip since 2019 and went 3-0 against teams in Madrid (89-84, OT), Valencia (86-83) and Barcelona (82-62) despite having just nine players available for the trip.  

C.J. Wilcher led five Huskers who averaged double figures with 17.0 ppg, while Brice Williams (16.3 ppg) and Eli Rice (16.0 ppg) both averaged at least 16 points per game. Redshirt freshman Cale Jacobsen led NU in rebounding at 8.3 per game and tied Jarmarques Lawrence for the team high in assists per game (4.3 apg).

Tominaga, Mast Spend Summers with National Teams
A pair of Huskers spent the summer representing their national teams in international events. Rienk Mast represented the Netherlands in the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Turkey, while Keisei Tominaga played for Japan in the FIBA World Cup.  

• • Mast played in all three games for the Netherlands, averaging 6.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game as the team posted a 1-2 record. His best performance was an eight-point, seven-rebound effort in a win over Belgium.
• • Tominaga played in all five games for Japan, averaging 11.4 points per game in helping the team qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics as the highest finishing team from Asia. He was named player of the game in the win over Cape Verde, finishing with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range. Of the five NCAA players who played in the World Cup, Tominaga was the only one to average double figures. 

NCAA Players in 2023 FIBA World Cup

Player	School/Country	GP	MGP	PPG	RPG	APG
Keisei Tominaga	Nebraska/Japan	5	17.9	11.4	1.2	1.4
Zach Edey	Purdue/Canada	5	4.6	3.8	1.4	0.4
Miro Little	Baylor/ Finland	5	17.5	5.0	1.8	4.6
Olivier Nkamhoua	Michigan/Finland	5	18.2	8.0	3.8	2.0
Adam Moussa	Tarleton State/Egypt	5	11.8	2.0	0.6	1.4

Husker Transfer Haul
Nebraska made a big splash in the transfer portal, adding five players to the roster for 2023-24. The group includes Josiah Allick (New Mexico), Jarron Coleman (Bradley), Rienk Mast (Bradley), Ahron Ulis (Iowa) and Brice Williams (Charlotte). The group brings impressive credentials to the Husker program and has combined for more than 4,300 points and 2,100 rebounds. 

Mast was a two-time All-Missouri Valley Conference pick and finished third in MVC Player of the Year voting in 2022-23. Coleman (Mid American) and Williams (Conference USA) were both second-team all-conference honorees, while Williams was the MVP of the 2023 College Basketball Invitational. Williams (CBI), Ulis (NCAA) Allick (NIT) and Mast (NIT) were all part of postseason teams in 2022-23. 

Adding Experience

Player	Last School	GP/Starts	Points	Rebounds	Assists
Josiah Allick	New Mexico	103/84	1,005	602	104
Jarron Coleman	Ball State	108/86	1,165	467	334
Rienk Mast	Bradley	88/79	1,001	656	151
Ahron Ulis	Iowa	84/27	333	134	160
Brice Williams	Charlotte	88/27	801	329	72
Totals		471/303	4,305	2,188	821

Husker Roster has International Flavor
NU’s roster has had an international flavor in recent seasons and that trend will continue in 2023-24. Four Huskers hail from overseas, including Keisei Tominaga (Moriyama Nagoya Aichi, Japan), Matar Diop (Dakar, Senegal), Blaise Keita (Bamako, Mali), and Rienk Mast (Groningen, Netherlands).  
In five seasons under Hoiberg, NU has had players on its roster from a host of countries, including Australia, Canada, England, France, Iceland, Lithuania and Slovenia. 

Quick Hitters

• Nebraska improved its win total from 10 to 16 games in 2022-23. NU was one of four Big Ten teams which increased its win total by at least six games last season (also Northwestern, Maryland and Penn State). Of Nebraska’s 16 losses this season, 12 were against NCAA Tournament qualifiers. 
Nebraska has impoved its season record in each of the last three years under Fred Hoiberg and increased its win total in each of the last two seasons. If Nebraska can increase its win total in 2023-24, it will mark the first time since the mid-1960s (1963-64 to 1965-66) that the Huskers increased their win total for three straight years.

• The Huskers posted five wins over teams which made the NCAA Tournament (Creighton, Iowa-2; Penn State, Maryland) and two others against teams which made the NIT (Rutgers and Wisconsin).
• Nebraska's nine Big Ten wins were the most since winning a school-record 13 Big Ten games in 2017-18. It was NU's third-highest conference win total since joining the Big Ten in 2021-12. In all, 11 Big Ten teams reached postseason play, including eight NCAA Tournament teams, in 2022-23.
• Nebraska tied a school record with its four overtime games in 2022-23, matching a mark which has been set six other times (also 2019-20, 2007-08, 1996-97, 1986-87, 1979-80 and 1955-66) and went 3-1 in OT games. Nebraska's three overtime wins were the most for the program since the 1986-87 team won a school-record four overtime games.
• Nebraska had multiple All-Big Ten selections with Derrick Walker and Keisei Tominaga. It marked the first time since 2017-18 that NU had multiple all-conference picks. Walker became the first Husker to receive second team or higher All-Big Ten honors since James Palmer Jr. in 2017-18. 
• Derrick Walker became the first Husker to ever lead Nebraska in scoring, rebounding and assists in the same season. He was one of just 11 players nationally - and two in power conferences - that led his team in all three categories. He was selected to the NABC All-Star game at the Final Four, marking the Huskers' first selection to the event since 2019
• Nebraska’s biggest improvement in 2022-23 came on the defensive end of the floor. The Huskers jumped over 100 spots nationally in defensive efficiency from the previous year and ranked in the top 35 nationally before season-ending injuries to Juwan Gary and Emmanuel Bandoumel in January. Nebraska allowed 8.6 fewer points per game in 2022-23, a total which tied for sixth nationally and second most among power conference teams. 

Husker Coaching Staff Returns intact
Nebraska's full-time coaching staff remains the same as it was during the 2022-23 season with Nate Loenser, Adam Howard and Ernie Zeigler joining Head Coach Fred Hoiberg on the Husker bench. 

• • Loenser begins his third season on the Husker staff. He joined the Husker program after spending five seasons with the Chicago Bulls organization. Loenser was an assistant coach for the Bulls under both Fred Hoiberg and Jim Boylan for three seasons. He also served as the Bulls' video coordinator and head coach of the Windy City Bulls. Loenser worked with Hoiberg at Iowa State for two seasons.
• Howard is in his second year on the coaching staff. He was selected to participate in the 2023 TopConnect Basketball Symposium, an event featuring some of the nation’s top assistant coaches. Prior to joining the NU staff, he spent four years at South Alabama, helping the program to 75 wins in that span after the program had seven straight losing seasons. In 2021-22, South Alabama won 21 games, the school's highest total since 2008. Howard also coached at Troy, Tennessee, Southern Miss and Morehead State after playing collegiately at Western Kentucky.
• Zeigler is also in his second year at Nebraska. He joined the NU staff in August of 2022 after spending six years on Ben Howland's staff at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs had four postseason appearances between 2018-22. Zeiger spent six seasons as the head coach at Central Michigan (2007-12) and previously served stints at UCLA, Pittsburgh, Kansas State, Detroit and Bowling Green.

Single-Game Tickets on Sale Now
Single-game tickets for the 2023-24 Nebraska men’s basketball season are on sale now.  300 Level seats are now available for all 2023-24 games. The Big Ten Conference games as well as the matchup against Creighton are priced at $11 apiece, while the remaining non-conference games are priced at $8 per game.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets or calling the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office at 800-8-BIG-RED during business hours (8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday).
The Huskers’ 20-game home schedule features 10 teams that reached postseason play last season, including Big Ten champion Purdue as well as Michigan State and Creighton.