Game Day Essentials
Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-3) at Indiana Hoosiers (6-1)
- Tip Time: Saturday, Noon Eastern
- Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana
- Television: Big Ten Network (Brandon Gaudin and Stephen Bardo)
- Stream: Fox Sports Live
- Radio: IU Radio Network
- Point Spread: Indiana is around an 11.5-point favorite
- KenPom Projected Score: No. 31 Indiana 77, No. 97 Nebraska 66
- Series: Indiana leads 16-7; Last Meeting: IU 84, NEB 76 (Jan. 10, 2021 in Lincoln)
Nebraska Roster at a Glance
Nebraska’s Fred Hoiberg
After coaching stints at Iowa State and with the Chicago Bulls, Fred Hoiberg was hired as Nebraska’s 28th men’s basketball coach on March 30, 2019, a position his grandfather (Jerry Bush) held for nine seasons from 1954 to 1963. He has a 134-104 record as a college head coach.
Hoiberg brought in the highest-ranked recruiting class in school history, as his 2021 class was ranked 13th nationally by ESPN.com.
Storylines
• Saturday’s matchup will be the first between former NBA coaches Mike Woodson and Fred Hoiberg, as both spent significant time in the NBA, but their head coaching careers did not overlap. Hoiberg and Woodson are just two of nine former NBA coaches on the Division I sidelines this year.
• This is the first time two former NBA players and head coaches will lead their respective teams in a Big Ten Conference game. Hoiberg played for Indiana, Chicago and Minnesota and also was the head coach of the Bulls franchise. Purdue’s Fred Schaus and Northwestern’s Tex Winter were both former NBA head coaches, but only Schaus was a former NBA player when they squared off in the mid 70’s.
• Nebraska’s Trey McGowens and Indiana’s Xavier Johnson were teammates at Pitt for two seasons (2018-20). Johnson originally signed with Nebraska in 2017, but decommitted from the Panthers in the spring of 2018 and eventually signed with Pitt.
• Former Husker assistant coach Kenya Hunter is in his second season on the Indiana staff. Hunter was at Nebraska from 2013 to 2018.
• The Huskers come off a heartbreaking 104-100 quadruple overtime loss at NC State on Wednesday evening. The Huskers had chances to win at the end of regulation and in the final second of each of the first three extra sessions before succumbing in the fourth overtime. The four OT game matches Nebraska’s school record set in 1979, and ties for the second-longest Division I game in the past decade, trailing only a five OT game between Louisville and Notre Dame on Feb. 9. 2013.
• Bryce McGowens leads all true freshmen nationally in scoring at 18.5 points per game entering the start of Big Ten play.
• Alonzo Verge Jr. comes into Saturday’s contest as one of six players nationally – and the only Big Ten player – averaging at least 15.0 points, 5.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game.
• Nebraska has been opportunistic on the defensive end, ranking second in the Big Ten in turnover margin (+5.7) and third in steals per game (7.9) as of Dec 1. NU forces a Big Ten high 16.8 turnovers per game and is averaging 22.3 points per game off opponent turnovers.
• Nebraska has gotten great production from its bench over the last six games, as the Husker reserves have averaged 34.4 points per game in that span.
Nebraska KenPom Superlatives
Overall: No. 97
Offense: No. 110
Defense: No. 93
- At 14.5 percent, Nebraska has the 21st lowest turnover rate in the country.
- Their average possession length of 14.9 seconds is the 9th lowest.
- The Huskers are shooting just 27.6 from three (No. 317) but 56.3 from two (No. 31)
- On defensive, Nebraska opponents have a 21.8 percent turnover rate (No. 70) and are making just 44.9 percent of two-pointers (No. 66).
- Nebraska has not defeated anyone ranked higher than No. 215 in KenPom this season.
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