Huskers Return Home to Face South Dakota on Wednesday

Huskers Return Home for South Dakota on Wednesday
The Nebraska men's basketball team begins a two-game homestand on Wednesday afternoon, as the Huskers take on South Dakota.  Tipoff from Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 5:30 p.m. and the game will be shown on BTN and carried on the Huskers Radio Network as well as on Huskers.com and the Huskers app. 
Tickets are available for the contest by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets, calling 800-8-BIGRED during business hours (Mon.-Fri., 9-4 p.m.) and at the PBA box office beginning at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. 

Nebraska (4-1) comes off a thrilling 74-63 win over No. 14 Creighton on Friday night. Juwan Gary and Brice Williams had 16 points apiece, as the Huskers put five players in double figures in handing the Bluejays their worst home loss since 2019. NU held preseason All-American Ryan Kalkbrenner without a field goal, just the second time in his career that he has played more than 10 minutes and been held without a field goal attempt. The Huskers smothered the Bluejays, holding Creighton to just 33 percent shooting and 25 points below its season average. 

A big part of Friday's win was the work of junior Connor Essegian off the bench. The 6-foot-4 guard had 15 points in 21 minutes of action, going 4-of-6 from the field and 6-of-9 from the line. Essegian has thrived as the Huskers' sixth man, averaging 10.4 points per game while shooting a career-high 44 percent. Essegian, who is 16-of-19 from the line this season, has been to the line more times in five games than he was in 33 games at Wisconsin last season. 

South Dakota is in the midst of playing four games in an eight-day stretch that wraps up in Lincoln. The Coyotes enter Monday's matchup with Randall with a 5-2 record following a loss at Southern Indiana on Friday night. Kaleb Stewart led four Coyotes in double figures with 21 points, including five 3-pointers, as USD trailed 84-79 with 1:50 left before Southern Indiana pulled away. The Coyotes feature a balanced attach with five double-figure scorers. Isaac Bruns leads USD in scoring at 12.7 points per game while coming off the bench. 

Following Wednesday's game, the Huskers will wrap up the homestand against North Florida on Sunday at 3 p.m.

Numbers to Know
3 - Nebraska is one of three teams since 2019-20 to post multiple road wins in the CHI Health Center against Creighton, joining Marquette and Villanova. Of Crieighton's three double-figure home losses since 2019-20, two are to the Huskers (2022 and 2024).

1991 - Prior to this season, the last time Nebraska had 25-or-more free throw attempts in five straight games was the 1991 NCAA Tournament game against Xavier and the first four games of the 1991-92 season.

4- Friday's win over No. 14 Creighton marked Fred Hoiberg's fourth road win over a ranked opponent. Only Danny Nee (7) has more wins over ranked teams during their coaching tenure at Nebraska. 

29 - Fred Hoiberg has 29 wins over ranked opponents, including 11 career wins against top-10 teams,  in his collegiate coaching career following Friday's win over No. 14 Creighton.

23.0 - Nebraska has gotten great production from its bench in the early going, averaging 23.0 points per game over the first five games. The Huskers led the Big Ten in bench production last season, averaging 21.4 points per game.

70 - Over the last two-plus seasons, Nebraska has been exceptional when holding opponents to 70 points or less. The Huskers are 35-4 (.897) when holding opponents to 70 points, including 30 straight wins, since a 65-62 overtime loss to No. 4 Purdue on Dec. 10, 2022.

5,730 - Career points scored between Brice and his father, Henry, who played at Charlotte from 1988 to 1992. Entering Wednesday's game with USD, Brice (.8256) is just above Henry (.8222) in career free throw percentage.

11/17 - The date of the last two games where a Husker had at least 15 points, three blocks and three steals: Berke Büyüktuncel (15-3-3 vs. Saint Marys, 11/17/24) and Aleks Maric (21-4-4 vs. Alabama A&M, 11/17/07).

.941 - Nebraska is 16-1 at home in non-conference play over the last two-plus seasons and is 29-9 (.757) at home in non-conference action in Fred Hoiberg's six seasons at Nebraska.

92% - Nebraska is tied for fourth in the Big Ten with a 92 percent GSR rate, as the NCAA released its most recent rankings on Nov. 20. That includes all 18 members in the Big Ten Conference for the 2024-25 academic year. 

Scouting South Dakota
South Dakota is 5-2 on the season heading into Monday's home matchup with Randall in Vermillion. The Coyotes game at Nebraska will be their fourth road game of the season and second against a Big Ten team. USD lost to Iowa, 96-77, on Nov. 12. 

Eric Peterson is in his third season at the school and previously served as an assistant coach at South Dakota from 2014-18 under former Husker assistant Craig Smith. Peterson served on Smith's staff at both Utah State (2018-21) and Utah (2021-22) before returning to Vermillion to take over the reins of the Coyote program. Two of the USD assistants have ties to Nebraska, as Brandon Ubel was a four-year performer for the Huskers under Doc Sadler and Tim Miles and was with Peterson at both Utah and Utah State before joining the South Dakota coaching staff.  Assistant coach Dwight Smith is an Omaha native who played for Miles at Colorado State. 

South Dakota returned three starters and seven letterwinners from a year ago while the Coyotes were picked to finish seventh in the Summit League. Senior guard Kaleb Stewart was a preseason All-Summit League pick after averaging 15.6 ppg last season in his first year in the program after transferring from Louisiana Tech. This season, the Coyotes are averaging 84.7 points per game and have five players currently averaging double figures and four others with at least five points per game. Isaac Bruns leads USD in scoring at 12.7 ppg while coming off the bench. 

Nebraska is 34-5 all-time against South Dakota dating back to 1911, while Wednesday's game is the first between the schools since an 83-70 Husker win on Nov. 27, 2021. In that game, Keisei Tominaga led NU with 23 points off the bench, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range, while Bryce McGowens added 22 points in the win. The Huskers are 78-11 all-time against the current Summit League members.

Last Time Out
Juwan Gary and Brice Williams had 16 points apiece, as Nebraska shut down No. 14 Creighton, 74-63, on Nov. 22. Nebraska put five players in double figures and held Creighton to a season-low 63 points, 25 points below its average, as the Bluejays were held to 32.7 percent shooting. 

Gary, who was a starter on the 2022 team that won in Omaha over No. 7 Creighton, shared team-high honors with 16 points with Brice Williams. Connor Essegian came off the bench for 15 points while Berke Büyüktuncel (12) and Rollie Worster (11) finished in double figures for Nebraska, which won back-to-back games at Creighton for the first time since the early 1990s.

Nebraska shot 41 percent and went 22-of-30 from the line against a Creighton team that entered the game leading the nation in fewest fouls committed.
Nebraska’s defense blanked Big East preseason Player-of-the-Year Ryan Kalkbrenner to four points on 0-of-1 shooting in 38 minutes. Kalkbrenner entered Friday’s game with 25.8 points per game on 89 percent shooting. Nebraska forced Creighton (4-1) into a school-record 42 3-point attempts, going 12-of-42 from 3-point range.

Nebraska, which never trailed, controlled the pace, committing a season-low seven turnovers, while forcing Creighton into 17 turnovers which led to 22 Husker points.

Worth Noting

• Nebraska looks to extend its home win streak to 16 games dating back to last December. 
• Nebraska is 68-16 (.810) at home against non-conference opponents since Pinnacle Bank Arena opened in 2013-14. The Huskers are 16-1 at home against non-conference opponents over the last two seasons.
• With Friday's win, Nebraska is 6-7 (.461) in its last 13 games against ranked opponents dating back to the end of the 2021-22 season, including 4-3 in true road games.
• Nebraska has relied on its depth during the early going, with five players averaging double figures. Six different players have posted double-figure efforts while only Brice Williams has reached double figures in all five contests.  In addition, three others have scored at least eight points at least once this season. At 18.2 ppg, Williams is the only Husker in the top 40 of the Big Ten in scoring as of Nov. 25.
• Nebraska has been prolific at getting to the foul line during the early portion of the season. Nebraska ranks in the top 10 nationally in both free throws made and attempted while ranking 30th nationally in free throw percentage. Nebraska has gotten to the foul line at least 25 times in all five games, the longest stretch since 1991.
• Nebraska's 78.4 percent shooting from the line is ahead of last season's mark of 76.0 percent which ranked as the third-highest total in school history. 
• Junior transfer Connor Essegian has given the Huskers a spark off the bench. The 6-foot-4 junior is averaging 10.4 ppg while shooting 36 percent from 3-point range. Essegian leads NU with eight 3-pointers and is now three 3-pointers away from reaching 100 for his career. 
• Sophomore Berke Büyüktuncel has been a factor for the Huskers in the opening three weeks of the season. The 6-foot-10 sophomore leads NU in rebounding (6.8 rpg), blocked shots (1.2 bpg) while chipping in 10.2 ppg on a team-high 60 percent shooting.  Büyüktuncel has tied or set career highs in nearly every offensive category during NU's first five games. He has reached double figures in each of the last three games after posting only two double-figure efforts at UCLA last season.
• One area where Nebraska has excelled early on is converting on opponent turnovers. Nebraska is averaging 21.2 points per game off opponent turnovers in the first five games, nearly doubling its opponent total (11.6 ppg).  Nebraska enjoyed a 22-7 advantage in points off turnovers in the win at Creighton.
• With its 4-1 start, Nebraska is 33-15 over the last 48 games dating back to the start of February 2023. NU's .688 winning percentage is second among all Big Ten teams in that stretch.
• Nebraska is averaging 9.2 steals per game to rank fourth in the Big Ten as of Nov. 24. Juwan Gary (2.40, fourth) and Rollie Worster (1.8, 15th) both rank among the Big Ten leaders in that category.  Gary had a career-best five steals against Bethune Cookman on Nov. 9, marking the ninth time a Husker has had at least five steals in a game under Fred Hoiberg.
• Nebraska enters Wednesday's game with South Dakota averaging 76.6 points per game. The Huskers had scored 80-or-more points in five straight games before the streak was snapped against Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 9. It marked the first time NU had scored 80-or-more points in five consecutive games since a 10-game stretch between Nov. 25-Dec. 19, 1995. 
• Nebraska enters the 2024-25 season coming off one of its most successful seasons in program history. The Huskers went 23-11 in 2023-24 and tied for third in the Big Ten standings before reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013-14. The Huskers’ 23 wins were the most since setting a school-record with 26 wins in 1990-91, while NU’s 12 conference wins also ranked second in school history.
• Nebraska has increased its win total in each of the past three years, marking the first time NU has done that since the mid-1960s (1963-64 to 1965-66). If Nebraska can improve its win total this year, it would mark the first time since a four-year stretch from 1945-46 to 1948-49 that the Huskers improved their win total in four consecutive seasons.
• Over the past two seasons, NU has won 21 conference games, the highest two-year total since the 1965-66 and 1966-67 teams won 22 conference tilts. The last two seasons under Fred Hoiberg mark just the fourth time in school history that Nebraska has won 20 or more conference games in a two-year span.
• Nebraska was one of 24 teams nationally that finished in the top 50 both in offensive and defensive efficiency in KenPom. NU was one of four Big Ten programs to accomplish that in 2023-24, joining Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan State.  It marked the first time that Nebraska has been ranked in the top 50 in both offensive and defensive efficiency in the KenPom era (1996-97).
• Nebraska made its biggest jump on the offensive end in 2023-24, averaging 77.7 points per game. It is an increase of nearly nine points per game from the 2022-23 campaign and NU’s highest scoring average since 1995-96 (80.2 ppg). NU climbed from 149th to 32nd nationally in offensive efficiency in KenPom. Prior to last season, NU’s highest average since joining the Big Ten was 73.3 ppg in 2021-22.  The Huskers are 25-8 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring at least 80 points, including 20-5 over the last three seasons.