Huskers Battle Big Ten-Leading Hoosiers Wednesday Evening
The Nebraska men's basketball team looks for its fifth consecutive win Wednesday evening, as the Huskers wrap up a three-game homestand by hosting the Indiana Hoosiers in a Big Ten matchup.
Tipoff between the Huskers and Hoosiers is set for 8:07 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 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The game will be carried on the Huskers Radio Network and televised on BTN with Kevin Kugler and Shon Morris on the call.
Nebraska (11-2, 1-1 Big Ten) comes off a 91-62 win over South Carolina State on Dec. 29. C.J. Wilcher's 18 points led four Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska raced out to a 23-3 lead in the first 10 minutes en route to cruising to a 29-point win. Brice Williams had 16 points and seven rebounds, as no starter played more than 20 minutes. The Huskers led 50-11 at the break and led by as much as 49 in the second half.
Wilcher has provided scoring a punch off the bench, as he is averaging 10.6 points per game on 56 percent shooting over the past five games, including 50 percent from 3-point range. Wilcher comes off back-to-back season highs against North Dakota (16) and South Carolina State (18).
The Huskers' 11-2 mark matches the Huskers' best start since the 1991-92 season when NU opened the year with a 12-1 mark. A win on Wednesday would match NU's best start since the 1990-91 season, but it would also snap a seven-game losing streak to the Hoosiers dating back to 2019.
Indiana (10-3, 2-0 Big Ten) comes to Lincoln on a three-game win streak of its own following a 100-87 win over Kennesaw State on Dec. 29. Malik Reneau led Indiana with 34 points and 11 rebounds and averaging 21.6 points per game on 70 percent shooting over the last three contests.
Worth Noting
• Nebraska's 11-2 record matches NU's best 13-game start since the 1991-92 team opened with a 12-1 mark through the first 13 games. NU also went 11-2 five other times since 1991-92, most recently in 2018-19. Nebraska opened the 2023-24 season with seven straight wins, marking just the fifth time in program history that Nebraska opened the season with seven straight wins. A win on Wednesday night against Indiana would give the Huskers their best 14-game mark since the 1990-91 team went 13-1 en route to a school-record 26-win season.
• Wednesday's game will feature a pair of former NBA coaches with Fred Hoiberg and Indiana's Mike Woodson. Woodson and Hoiberg both spent significant time in the NBA, but their head coaching careers did not overlap.
• The Huskers are 17-5 over the last 22 games dating back to Feb. 1, 2023. The only Big Ten teams with more wins since then are Purdue (20) and Indiana (18) as of Jan. 1. A big reason for that is NU's offense, as NU has averaged 76.3 ppg on 46 percent shooting in that stretch.
• Nebraska enters the Indiana game averaging 77.6 points per game. It is NU's highest points per game average since averaging 80.2 points per game in the 1995-96 season. It is also nearly 10 points per game higher than NU's average at the 13-game mark in 2002-23.
• The Huskers are now 22-4 under Fred Hoiberg when scoring at least 80 points, including 17-1 over the last three seasons. The only loss was a 104-100 quadruple overtime game at North Carolina State on Dec. 1, 2021. NU has won its last 15 games when reaching the 80-point plateau.
• The Huskers held South Carolina State to 11 first-half points on Dec. 29. The 11 points allowed broke a Pinnacle Bank Arena record for fewest points allowed in a half, breaking the mark of 13 set two times. It was also the fewest points NU allowed in a half since allowing nine to Jackson State in 2009.
• Juwan Gary has been exceptional since moving into the starting lineup four games ago. In that stretch, he is averaging 12.5 ppg on 50 percent shooting and 9.0 rebounds per game. He posted double-doubles against Kansas State and North Dakota before playing just 16 minutes in Friday's win.
• Nebraska held Kansas State to 46 points on Dec. 17 in holding the Wildcats to their fewest points since the 2020-21 season and third-fewest total at home since Bramlage Coliseum opened in 1988. It marked the fewest points NU allowed on the road since joining the Big Ten and was only the second time NU had held an opponent under 50 points on the road since the 2011-12 season. Nebraska allowed just 0.68 points per possession, its lowest total in the Big Ten era.
• One strength of the Huskers has been getting to the free throw line. NU has shot more free throws in 11 of 13 games in 2023-24 and its +84 differential ranks fourth in the Big Ten as of Jan. 1. Nebraska has had more free throws made (208) than opponents have attempted (196). NU allows just 15.1 free throw attempts per game to rank third in the Big Ten as of Jan. 1.
• Nebraska enters Wednesday's game ranked fourth in the Big Ten in free throw shooting at 74.3 percent. While it is still early in the season, 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.
Over the last seven games, Nebraska is shooting 80.7 percent (121-of-150) from the charity stripe, including the two best totals in Hoiberg's five seasons. NU's 19-of-20 effort against Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 26 was its best percentage (min. 20 att.) since going 20-of-21 (.952) against Minnesota on Nov. 26, 1995.
• Wednesday's game features a pair of former Ball State teammates in Nebraska's Jarron Coleman and Indiana's Payton Sparks. Coleman comes off an eight-point, six assist effort against South Carolina State, while Sparks had season bests in points (10) and rebounds (eight) against Kennesaw State in Indiana's last game. The pair helped Ball State to a 20-12 record in 202-23, their only season together. The head coach of that team was former Indiana standout Michael Lewis, who was an assistant at Nebraska for three seasons.
• Nebraska's bench has provided a spark, averaging 24.2 points per game in the first 12 contests. The Huskers' leading scorer has come from the bench five times (Hoiberg-Lindenwood; Wilcher-Rider, North Dakota and South Carolina State; Gary-Stony Brook) and NU has had 12 double-figure efforts from its bench in 2023-24.
• Nebraska won its first seven games by 10 or more points. It was just the second time in over 100 years - the other was from Dec. 3-30, 1990 - that the Huskers won seven straight games by double figures.
• C.J. Wilcher graduated in December with a degree in child, youth & family studies but will go through graduation ceremonies during the spring. Wilcher, who began his collegiate career at Xavier before transferring to Nebraska before the 2021-22 season, is a three-time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Roll member and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2023. He will be the fifth college graduate on the 2023-24 Husker roster, joining Josiah Allick, Jarron Coleman, Rienk Mast and Brice Williams.
Numbers to Know
16 - Nebraska had 16 steals in the win over South Carolina State, the most the Huskers have had in a game since also recording 16 against McNeese State in the 2020-21 opener. Six Huskers had multiple steals in the win.
8.8 - NU ranks third in the Big Ten with 8.8 3-pointers per game as of Jan. 1. NU has averaged more than 8.0 3-pointers/game just twice in program history (2001-02 and 2020-21).
13.8 - Nebraska leads the Big Ten and ranks 15th nationally in fewest fouls per game (13.8) entering this week's action. NU and Purdue are the only Big Ten teams in the top 25 nationally. NU also ranked in the top 20 nationally in that category in 2022-23 (14.1, 16th).
2 - Nebraska matched a school record with two turnovers in the win over Duquesne on Nov. 22, matching a record originally set in 2013. As of Jan. 1, it ties for the lowest total by a power conference team in 2023-24.
1.39 - Nebraska's assist-to-turnover ratio this season, which is sixth in the Big Ten as of Jan. 1. NU's best assist-to-turnover ratio in the last decade is 1.32, set in the 2018-19 season. That season, NU had 9.96 turnovers per game, the lowest average since assists were tracked in 1978-79.
About Indiana
Indiana opens 2024 with a 10-3 mark and riding a three-game win streak after downing Kennesaw State, 100-87, on Dec. 29. Indiana shot 61 percent from the field, including 7-of-15 from 3-point range, and put six players in double figures. Malik Reneau had 34 points and 11 rebounds while Trey Galloway had 14 points and seven assists in the victory.
Reneau has been one of the breakout players in the Big Ten, as he averages 16.2 points per game on 60 percent shooting and 5.7 rebounds per game. Ware, an Oregon transfer, is averaging 14.9 ppg on 55 percent shooting and is among the Big Ten leaders in rebounding (8.9 rpg) and blocked shots (1.5 bpg). In all, Indiana has five players averaging double figures. Indiana has done most of it without Xavier Johnson, as he has missed the last seven games because of injury.
Former Indiana All-American Mike Woodson is in his third season at the helm of the Hoosier program. Woodson spent eight-plus seasons as an NBA head coach, guiding the Atlanta Hawks (2004-10) and the New York Knicks (2012-2014). He guided his teams to a trio of Eastern Conference semifinal appearances (2009, 2010, 2013) during his head coaching tenure. Woodson was the 1980 Big Ten Player of the Year before playing 11 seasons in the NBA.
Nebraska and Indiana meet for the 27th time on Wednesday and the 18th time since the Huskers joined the Big Ten in 2011-12. Indiana leads the all-time series, 19-7, but the Huskers are 6-11 against the Hoosiers since NU joined the Big Ten (6-10 regular season; 0-1 Big Ten Tournament). Nebraska looks to snap a seven-game losing streak to the Hoosiers dating back to the start of the 2019-20 season.
