Huskers Look to Bounce Back at Northwestern

Huskers Look to Bounce Back at Northwestern
The Nebraska men's basketball team wraps up a two-game road trip on Wednesday night, as the Huskers travel to Northwestern. Tipoff from Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised on BTN and available on the Huskers Radio Network.

Nebraska (16-7, 6-6 Big Ten) comes off a heart-breaking 87-84 loss at No. 14 Illinois on Sunday evening. The Huskers erased a 10-point deficit with 3:29 remaining with an 11-0 run to take a 73-72 lead on Rienk Mast's basket with less than 10 seconds remaining only to see Marcus Domask hit a free throw with 3.1 seconds to send the game to OT. Nebraska had a chance to send it to a second overtime but Terrance Shannon Jr.'s steal with under 10 seconds left in OT preserved the win over Illinois.

Despite the loss, Keisei Tominaga poured in a career-high 31 points, including five 3-pointers while Rienk Mast added 22 points and six rebounds for Nebraska. It marked Tominaga's second career 30-point game, as he became just the fifth Husker in the Big Ten era to have multiple 30-point games. Prior to Sunday, Tominaga was held to just 14 points over the Huskers' previous three games.  Both Nebraska and Northwestern come into Wednesday's game after playing back-to- back overtime games last week. 

Northwestern (15-7, 6-5 Big Ten) comes off a 75-66 overtime loss at Minnesota on Saturday. Boo Buie had 20 points and seven assists, while Ryan Langborg added 16 points in a losing effort, as the Wildcats were held to 38 percent shooting and committed 17 turnovers.

Numbers to Know
15  - Nebraska has won its 15 games dating back to last season when holding an opponent to 70 points or less. This season, NU is 11-0 following the win over Ohio State on Jan. 24.

3 - Nebraska has gone to overtime in three of the past six games. The school record for overtime games in a season is four, which has been done seven times (2022-23, 2019-20, 2007-08, 1996-97, 1986-87, 1979-80 and 1955-66).

9.7 - NU leads the Big Ten with 9.7 3-pointers per game as of Feb. 5, an average which is on pace to break the single-season school record for 3-pointers per game (9.5/gm, 2001-02). The Huskers are 9-4 this season when hitting at least 10 3-pointers.

2 - Rienk Mast became only the second Husker in the last 25 years to post a 30-point, 10-rebound game with his performance against Ohio State on Jan. 24. He joined Aleks Maric, who accomplished the feat four times in his career from 2005 to 2008.

11- -Rienk Mast became only the second Husker in the last 25 years to post a 30-point, 10-rebound game with his performance against Ohio State on Jan. 24. He joined Aleks Maric, who accomplished the feat four times in his career from 2005 to 2008.

21 - Nebraska has held 21 of 23 opponents under 50 percent shooting. Dating back to last season, NU has held 26 of its last 30 opponents to under 50 percent shooting from the field.

Worth Noting 
• Nebraska matched its 2022-23 win total with 16, and with a win at Northwestern on Wednesday would mark the first time since the mid-1960s (1963-64 to 1965-66) that the Huskers increased their win total for three straight years.

• Nebraska enters the week with three Quad 1 wins (Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin) and Wednesday is a Quad 1 opportunity as Northwestern enters the week No. 58 in the NET. 

• Nebraska enters Wednesday's game with a 16-7 record, NU's best record since also going 16-7 in 1994-95. The last time the Huskers had a better record after 23 games was a 17-6 mark in 1991-92. 

• The Huskers have played two straight OT games (vs. No. 6 Wisconsin, at No. 14 Illinois), but have never played three consecutive overtime contests. 

• With last Thursday's win over No. 6 Wisconsin, Nebraska has two top-10 wins for the first time since 2013-14 and the sixth time in school history (2023-24, 2013-14, 1993-94, 1991-92, 1990-91 and 1957-58).  The 1957-58 team was coached by Jerry Bush, the grandfather of current Husker Head Coach Fred Hoiberg. 

• Nebraska enters the Northwestern game averaging 77.7 points per game to rank fourth in the Big Ten in scoring offense as of Feb. 5.  It is NU's highest points per game average since the 1995-96 season (80.2 ppg). NU has climbed from 149th to 37th nationally in offensive efficiency in KenPom as of Feb. 5. NU's highest average since joining the Big Ten was 73.3 points per game in 2021-22.

• Nebraska has ended a number of long losing streaks to opponents this season. The Huskers have already snapped four streaks of at least seven games this season: Michigan State (11 games); Kansas State (seven games); Indiana (seven games) and Northwestern (seven games). Nebraska looks for its first win in Evanston since 2013-14 on Wednesday (NU's last road win over Northwestern was in Rosemont in 2018). 

•  Nebraska leads the Big Ten and ranks 21st nationally with 9.7 3-pointers per game as of Feb. 5. NU has 222 3-pointers this season, a total which ranks eighth on the school single-season chart. NU is just 10 3-pointers away from the No. 5 spot on NU's single-season list. 

•  The Huskers are 22-10 over the last 32 games dating back to Feb. 1, 2023, which ranks second in the Big Ten in winning percentage as of Jan. 29. 

• A few Huskers are approaching milestones heading into Wednesday's game vs. Northwestern. 
Keisei Tominaga: Needs one 3-pointer to become the ninth Husker with 150 3-pointers in a career...Needs 18 points to reach 900 points for his Husker career...Is nine 3-pointers away from eighth place on NU's career list.  Rienk Mast: Needs six points to reach 1,300 for his career. Juwan Gary: Needs four rebounds to reach 400 for his career.

• Nebraska enters Wednesday's game ranked third in the Big Ten in free throw shooting at 75.8 percent.  It is on pace to be one of NU's highest season percentages. NU has not shot over 74 percent from the foul line since the 2011-12 season when NU shot a school-record 76.6 percent. Nebraska was a perfect 14-of-14 from the foul line in Sunday's OT loss at No. 14 Illinois. 

• One strength of the Huskers has been getting to the free throw line. NU has shot more free throws in 16 of 23 games in 2023-24 and its +87 differential is fifth in the Big Ten as of Feb. 5. 

• NU ranks third in the Big Ten and 40th nationally in fewest fouls per game (15.0).  The Huskers allow just 16.2 free throw attempts per game to rank fourth in the Big Ten as of Feb. 5. 

• The Huskers are now 24-6 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring at least 80 points, including 19-3 over the last three seasons. All three losses have come in overtime (104-100 in 4OT at NC State on Dec. 1, 2021; 87-82 in OT at Rutgers on Jan. 17, 2024; 87-84 at Illinois on Feb. 4). NU had won its last 17 games when reaching the 80-point plateau before the OT loss at Rutgers.

• Nebraska's bench has provided a spark, averaging 23.7 points per game. The Huskers' leading scorer has come from the bench eight times (Hoiberg-Lindenwood; Wilcher-five times; Gary-Stony Brook; Allick-Iowa) and NU has had 22 double-figure efforts from its bench in 2023-24.

• The Huskers finished non-conference action with a 10-1 mark, matching their best non-conference record since joining the Big Ten (also 2018-19).  

About Northwestern
Chris Collins is in his 11th season at Northwestern and brings the Wildcats to Lincoln with a 15-7 record, including a 6-5 Big Ten mark.

The Wildcats returned three starters from a team that won 22 games and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Senior guard Boo Buie is one of the Big Ten's premier players as he averages 18.9 ppg on 41 percent shooting and 5.5 assists per game. He has scored 19 or more points in each of Northwestern's last four games, including a 29-point effort in the win over Illinois. He is one of four Wildcats averaging double figures. Brooks Barnhizer is at 14.5 ppg while Ty Berry (11.9 ppg) and Princeton transfer Ryan Langborg (11.7 ppg) are both shooting over 40 percent from 3-point range. As a team, the Wildcats are shooting 39 percent from long distance. 

Series History: Nebraska and Northwestern meet for the 23rd time on Wednesday, as the Wildcats lead 13-10. NU is just 7-12 against the Wildcats, snapping Northwestern's seven-game win streak in the first matchup. Nebraska
Last Meeting: Josiah Allick had a team-high 15 points to lead five Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska posted a 75-69 win over Northwestern on Jan. 20.

Allick, who replaced an injured Juwan Gary in the lineup, set the tone with 10 first-half points and finished the day hitting 4-of-5 shots from the floor and 7-of-8 from the foul line to help Nebraska snap a two-game losing streak. 
The Huskers, who improved to 12-1 at home, shot a season-high 55.3 percent from the floor, including nearly 70 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. 

Despite the shooting, the game was in doubt until the final minute. C.J. Wilcher’s basket with 3:29 remaining broke a 65-all deadlock before Keisei Tominaga’s putback with 2:45 left made it a four-point game. 

Tominaga had seven of his 14 points in the final four minutes, as his 3-pointer with 25 seconds left iced the contest after the Wildcats pulled to within 71-69. 

Nebraska held Northwestern to just 1-of-12 shooting in the final 6:30 and just 38.1 percent shooting on the day. 

Last Time Out
Keisei Tominaga scored a career-high 31 points while Nebraska outscored No. 14 Illinois 11-1 in the final 3:28 of regulation to get to overtime before the Illini prevailed 87-84 Sunday evening.  Tominaga finished with a game-high 31 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range while Rienk Mast and Juwan Gary finished with 22 and 12 points, respectively for Nebraska. 

Coleman Hawkins led four Illinois players in double figures with 20 points and seven rebounds. Marcus Domask added 19 points, including a game-tying free throw with 3.1 seconds left in regulation. 

The Huskers trailed 72-62 after a 3 pointer from Terrence Shannon Jr. with 3:29 left before mounting a furious comeback. Nebraska scored nine straight points to cut the deficit to one before Josiah Allick's steal on a inbounds pass gave NU the ball with 27.4 seconds left in regulation.  Gary, who posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards got Williams' initial miss before Mast gave NU a 73-72 lead with 9.1 seconds left.  Illinois got the ball to Domask on the baseline, and he was fouled with 3.1 seconds left.  He made the first to tie it up before missing the second to send the game to overtime.  

Nebraska was within 87-84 with under 20 seconds in overtime left before Shannon’s steal preserved the win for the Illini.