Huskers Tangle with Ospreys on Sunday Afternoon

Huskers Host Ospreys on Sunday

The Nebraska men's basketball team continues its homestand Sunday afternoon, as the Huskers take on North Florida.  Tipoff from Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for shortly after 3 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 still available for Sunday's matchup by visiting Huskers.com/Tickets or can get a special Feast Week deal for Sunday's game by visiting Huskers.com/feast. The PBA box office opens at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. 

Sunday's game against North Florida is also the annual U.S. Marines Toys for Tots Drive. Fans can donate new, unwrapped toys or cash during the game, as U.S. Marines will be stationed at both Pinnacle Bank Arena entrances to accept donations.

Nebraska (5-1) comes off its best offensive night of the season in a 96-79 win over North Dakota on Wednesday. The Huskers got a career-high 29 points from Connor Essegian, including six 3-pointers, as NU hit a season-high 13 3-pointers in the win. Brice Williams (21) and Braxton Meah (12) joined Essegian in double figures, as the 96 points marked NU's highest output since 2001. Nebraska, which never trailed, shot 51 percent in the first half, including 10-of-20 from 3-point range, to build a 54-39 halftime lead and led by double figures the rest of the night. 

Essegian led a Husker bench that combined for a season-high 51 points against the Coyotes, as his 29 points are the most by a Husker reserve in at least three decades.  Andrew Morgan had eight points and seven boards in 18 minutes off the bench while Sam Hoiberg added season highs in points (nine) and steals (three) for the Big Red. Essegian, a transfer from Wisconsin is averaging 13.5 points per game this season on a career-best 44 percent shooting, including 22.0 ppg over the last two contests. 

North Florida (5-2) comes to Lincoln following a 78-73 win over SIU-Edwardsville on Friday night. The Ospreys have averaged 86.7 points per game and feature six players averaging double figures. UNF rank second nationally in 3-pointers per game at 13.4 per contest, while shooting over 38 percent from beyond the arc. North Florida already has wins over South Carolina and Georgia Tech in the first month of the season. 

Numbers to Know

96 - Nebraska's 96 points against South Dakota was its highest output since scoring 100 in a 104-100 quadruple overtime loss at NC State on Dec. 1, 2001. NU is 8-2 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring at least 90 points with both losses coming in overtime games.

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 - Nebraska had attempted 25 or more free throws in each of the first five games, the first time it occurred since a five-game stretch spanning the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons. NU was held to 21 attempts from the line against South Dakota.

27.7 - Nebraska has gotten great production from its bench in the early going, averaging 27.7 points per game over the first six 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.

3751 - Career points scored between Brice and his father, Henry, who played at Charlotte from 1988 to 1992. Entering Sunday's game with North Florida, Brice (.8248) is just above Henry (.8222) in career free throw percentage.

.944 - Nebraska is 17-1 at home in non-conference play over the last two-plus seasons and is 31-9 (.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 North Florida
North Florida comes to Lincoln on the back end of a two-game road swing following a 78-73 win over SIU-Edwardsville on Friday night. North Florida opened the college basketball season with two of the biggest wins in the opening week, going on the road to beat both South Carolina (74-71) and Georgia Tech (105-93) as part of a 3-0 opening week. UNF then lost two straight contests, including a loss at Georgia, before winning the last two games. In addition to Sunday's game with the Huskers, the Ospreys also travel to Florida later in December, giving them five power conference teams on their non-conference schedule. UNF was picked seventh in the preseason ASUN poll but was one of four programs to receive a first-place vote after finishing fifth in the league with a 9-7 mark in 2023-24.

Matthew Driscoll is in his 16th season at North Florida and is the winningest coach in Atlantic Sun Conference history. He has guided UNF to three conference regular-season titles and a pair of postseason appearances. Prior to coaching at UNF, he was an assistant under Scott Drew at Baylor and Valparaiso, as well as at Clemson and Wyoming. 

UNF featured a balanced team that has six players in double figures after six games. Freshman Josh Harris leads the Ospreys with 15.4 points on 61 percent shooting and 7.1 rebounds per game. Nate Lliteras is second on the team in scoring at 14.3 ppg, as the Seward, Neb., native spent three seasons at Longwood before transferring to UNF prior to the 2023-24 season. His older brother, Noah, was a basketball manager in the Husker program. Liam Murphy comes off the bench and averages 13.4 points per game while shooting 53 percent from 3-point range on more than three 3-pointers per game. As a team, UNF enters Sunday's game averaging 86.7 points per game and has scored 74-or-more points in all six contests.

Sunday is the first meeting between Nebraska and North Florida. The Huskers are 7-0 all-time against the current Atlantic Sun members.

Last Time Out
Connor Essegian scored a career-high 29 points and added a career-high five assists, as Nebraska bested South Dakota, 96-79, on Nov. 27.  Essegian, whose 29-point outing off the bench was the most by a Husker in at least two decades, hit a career-high six 3-pointers, as Nebraska improved to 5-1 on the season.  His previous career best was 24 points set as a freshman at Wisconsin during the 2022-23 season.

While Essegian enjoyed a career night, it was the Huskers depth that carried Nebraska to its 16th straight home win. Brice Williams added 21 points and four assists, while Braxton Meah added 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting and five boards.

NU got a season-high 51 points from its bench, including a season-high nine markers from Sam Hoiberg and eight points and seven rebounds from Andrew Morgan.  As a team, Nebraska shot nearly 50 percent from the floor, including a season-high 13 3-pointers, dished out 24 assists on 33 field goals. 

Essegian's Big Night
Connor Essegian shined off the bench in Nebraska’s win over South Dakota on Nov. 27, establishing career highs in points (29), assists (five) and 3-pointers (six).

• His 29-point performance is the highest-scoring effort by a Husker reserve in the last 50+ seasons. Over the last 30 years, only two Husker reserves (Jamel White vs. Missouri, 1/28/06; Erick Strickland vs. Missouri, 1/30/93) had scored 28 points off the bench.

• According to CBB reference, the only other Husker in the last 20+ seasons to have at least 29 points, along with five assists and five 3-pointers in a game was Teddy Allen against Penn State in 2021.

• Since 2004-05, only two other Big Ten players have come off the bench and had at least 29 points and five assists in a game (Iowa’s Adam Haluska vs. the Citadel, 11/13/06; Daniel Horton vs. Notre Dame, 3/20/06). 

Worth Noting 
• Nebraska looks to extend its home win streak to 17 games dating back to last December.

• Nebraska is 69-16 (.812) at home against non-conference opponents since Pinnacle Bank Arena opened in 2013-14. The Huskers are 17-1 at home against non-conference opponents over the last two-plus seasons.

• Over the last 10 games dating back to last season, Brice Williams is averaging 19.2 points per game on .474 shooting and has six 20-point efforts in that span. He has reached double figures in 10 straight games, the longest stretch of his career. 

• Nebraska has relied on its depth during the early going, with five players averaging at least nine points per game. Seven different players have posted double-figure efforts while only Brice Williams has reached double figures in all six contests.  In addition, three others have scored at least eight points at least once this season. At 18.7 ppg, Williams is the only Husker in the top 40 of the Big Ten in scoring as of Nov. 29.

• Nebraska has been prolific at getting to the foul line during the early portion of the season. Nebraska ranks in the top 15 nationally in both free throws made and attempted while ranking 24th nationally in free throw percentage. 

• Nebraska's 78.7 percent shooting from the line is ahead of last season's mark of 76.0 percent which was the third-highest total in school history. The Huskers have shot 80 percent or better from the foul line in four of the past five games.

• One area where Nebraska has excelled early on is converting on opponent turnovers. Nebraska is averaging 19.7 points per game off opponent turnovers in the first six games and had at least 12 points off turnovers in each of the first six contests.

•  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 (6.7 rpg), blocked shots (1.0 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 six games. He had reached double figures in each of his last three games and was on his way to his first career double double with six points and six boards before an injury sidelined him after just 12 minutes on Wednesday. Last year at UCLA, Büyüktuncel had just two double-figure games in 26 contests.

•  Junior transfer Connor Essegian has given the Huskers a spark off the bench. The 6-foot-4 junior is averaging 13.5 ppg while shooting 38 percent from 3-point range. He has been in double figures three times, including a career-high 29 against South Dakota. Essegian is averaging 22.0 ppg over Nebraska's last two games.

• With its 5-1 start, Nebraska is 34-15 over the last 48 games dating back to the start of February 2023. NU's .694 winning percentage is third among all Big Ten teams in that stretch. 

• Nebraska is averaging 9.3 steals per game to rank fourth in the Big Ten as of Nov. 28. Juwan Gary (2.0, 10th), Rollie Worster (1.7, 15th) and Sam Hoiberg (1.7, 15th) all 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 Sunday's game with North Florida averaging 80.0 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). 

• The Huskers are 37-2 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring at least 80 points, including 3-0 this season. 

• The Huskers are 31-3 over the last two seasons when out-rebounding opponents. NU had won 27 straight games when out-rebounding opponents before the streak was snapped against Saint Mary's. NU is out-rebounding teams by nearly 6.2 rebounds per game this season.