Huskers Return Home to Face Savannah State

>>>Game Information
Game: 13
Game Date: Jan. 3
Release Date: Jan. 2
Television: None
Radio: Husker Sports Network (Kent Pavelka, play-by-play; Matt Davison, color)
Internet: Huskers.com (live radio, stats, video)
Satellite Radio: None
Venue: Bob Devaney Sports Center (13,595)
Halftime Entertainment: Scarlet Dance Team
Anthem: Big Red Express (Nebraska pep band)

>>>Huskers Return Home to Face Savannah State
After its longest road trip of the regular season, the Nebraska men's basketball team returns home to the friendly confines of the Bob Devaney Sports Center for two games this week, starting with Wednesday's contest against Savannah State.

The contest between the Huskers and Tigers will tip off at 7:05 p.m. and can be heard on the radio throughout Nebraska on the 25-station Husker Sports Network, as well as on the Internet at Huskers.com. Kent Pavelka, the voice of the Huskers, will call the action while Matt Davison adds color commentary for the game.

Doors to the Devaney Center open 90 minutes before tipoff, and great tickets are still available. Reserved tickets for the Red Zone ? including seats on the floor level ? still remain for just $15. Fans can purchase tickets on-line at Huskers.com, by contacting the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-8BIGRED or in person at the athletic ticket office across from Memorial Stadium. Tickets can also be purchased at the Devaney Center starting 90 minutes before tipoff at the ticket office located next to the North entrance ramp.

Nebraska looks to continue its winning ways at home as the Huskers already own six wins in their home building. The Huskers have won by an average of 20.6 points per game (73.8 to 53.2) at the Devaney Center this season while hitting a solid 52.9 percent from the floor. NU has forced opponents into twice as many turnovers than assists (119 to 57) while running their non-conference home winning streak to 10 games dating to last year.

Leading the way at the Devaney Center this season has been center Aleks Maric, who has posted averages of 20.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game at home this year while playing just 25.2 minutes per contest. Maric has been nearly unstoppable on his home court as he has hit 71.4 percent (40-of-56) from the floor and 74.2 percent (23-of-31) from the free throw line at the BDSC while adding 1.7 blocked shots per game.

Along with Maric, freshman Ryan Anderson (13.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and sophomore Jamel White (10.8 ppg) have each averaged double figures. Anderson suffered a lower leg strain last week in practice and missed the Miami contest. He will be a game-time decision on Wednesday against Savannah State.

>>>The Series vs. Savannah State
Nebraska and Savannah State are meeting for just the second time in series history and the first time since 2002. That season, the Huskers rolled to a 66-47 victory that snapped a four-game losing streak, including three on the road.

Nebraska owns a 7-0 all-time record against teams that are currently Division I independents. NU's last contest against an independent was a 60-50 victory over Northern Colorado last season in the Huskers' final non-conference game of the regular season.

>>>Scouting the Tigers
Savannah State enters the mid-week contest against the Huskers looking to snap a two-game losing streak. The Tigers dropped a 69-51 decision at No. 18 Marquette last weekend after losing 58-46 the previous week at home against Stetson.

SSU has dropped 12 of its last 13 contests, including 10 straight at one point, after winning its first five games to open the season. The Tigers have three wins over Division I schools this season ? Mercer, Jacksonville and Bethune-Cookman ? but have claimed just eight wins against Division I competition in 109 contests since becoming a Division I member in 2002.

Savannah State has been led Javon Randolph, who has averaged 14.4 points per game but is likely out for the contest against Nebraska with a knee injury. Joseph Flegler has been second on the team in scoring at 10.1 points per game while pacing the Tigers with 45 assists and 30 steals. He is second on the team with 26 3-point baskets and has hit 79.6 percent from the charity stripe.

The Tigers will rotate a lot of players through the lineup as 10 players are averaging at least 10 minutes per game, including six with at least 19 minutes per contest. Joshua Obiajunwa will give SSU its biggest lift in the frontcourt as he has averaged 9.3 points and a team-best 8.1 rebounds per game. Obiajunwa is also one of three players with at least 10 blocks this season.

The Tigers are coached by Horace Broadnax, who is in his second season guiding SSU. Broadnax owns an 8-40 record in two years at Savannah State and a 50-128 career record in seven seasons as a head coach. He was also head coach at Bethune-Cookman College. Broadnax played at Georgetown under coach John Thompson, helping the Hoyas to the 1984 NCAA title.

>>>On the Rise
Coach Doc Sadler took over the Husker program after gaining a reputation as a strong defensive coach at Texas-El Paso. The Miners finished last season ranked 15th nationally by allowing just 59.5 points per game, including setting a Conference USA season record by giving up just 56.0 points per contest in league action. That defensive effort has carried over to Lincoln as the Huskers in their first year under Sadler have held eight of their first 12 opponents to 62 or fewer points.

While that defensive effort has been expected, the Huskers have seen an impressive rise on the offensive end as well under Sadler.

Nebraska has averaged 72.4 points per game this season, including topping the 70-point plateau 10 times in 12 games. The last time the Huskers scored at least 70 points in 10 of their first 12 games came in 1996-97, when the Huskers matched the mark.

Nebraska's current five-game streak scoring at least 70 points is NU's longest since a six-game streak in 2003-04. Last year, the Huskers ? who won advanced to the NIT for the second time in three years ? scored at least 70 points only 11 times in 33 games, including reaching their ninth 70-point game in the 24th game of the season.

>>>Getting to the Point
The Huskers posted a season-high tying 82 points against Miami on Saturday, the most points by a Husker squad away from the Devaney Center since posting 83 in a one-point loss to Hawaii in the 2004 National Invitation Tournament. The last time NU scored at least 82 points away from home during the regular season was also 2004, when the Huskers dropped an 87-83 overtime decision against No. 7 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla.

>>>Plus 20
Nebraska has seen a surge in its team scoring this year as the Huskers have averaged more than 72 points per contest through 12 games. During that span, a Husker has had a least 20 points in a contest eight times.

Junior center Aleks Maric leads the way as he has recorded five games with at least 20 points, including a season-high 29 points in 29 minutes in the season-opener. Along with Maric, a pair of freshmen in Sek Henry and Ryan Anderson have each added games scoring at least 20 points, including 29 points by Anderson against Hawaii, the second-highest single-game scoring total by a Husker freshman in history.

Senior guard Marcus Perry became the most recent 20-point scorer for the Huskers as he dropped in 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting Saturday against Miami. His total included seven 3-pointers ? the second-highest single-game total in school history ? as he nearly doubled his previous career scoring high of 13 points set last season.

>>>Digging the Long Ball
A pair of Husker guards have had impressive nights recently, scoring career highs while scorching the net from long range.

Freshman Ryan Anderson was the first as he scored 29 points against Hawaii. Hitting primarily from long range, the rookie hit seven 3-pointers on a school-record tying 13 attempts. Anderson's 3-point total was the second-highest single-game effort in school history and tied the NU freshman record. He is the first true freshman to ever record seven 3-pointers in a game (Cary Cochran was a redshirt freshman in 1998-99).

Senior Marcus Perry matched Anderson's effort with seven 3-pointers of his own against Miami last weekend. Perry scored a career-best 25 points, 12 more than his previous scoring high, and led Nebraska to a season-best 15 3-pointers on 33 attempts. The school team record for 3-pointers is 18 set against No. 1 Kansas in 2002.

Nebraska Single-Game Record ? 3-pointers Made
Rank Player (season) 3-pointers
1. Cary Cochran (2001-02) 8 (13 att.)
2. Marcus Perry (2006-07) 7 (12 att.)
    *Ryan Anderson (2006-07) 7 (13 att.)
    Cookie Belcher (2000-01) 7 (11 att.)
    *Cary Cochran (1998-99) 7 (9 att.)
    Chris Cresswell (1991-92) 7 (10 att.)
*school freshman single-game record

Anderson currently leads NU with 21 3-pointers, while hitting an impressive 47.7 percent (21-of-44) from long range this year. He needs two 3-pointers to tie for 10th place on the NU freshman chart, matching the 23 treys by Brian Conklin in 2001. Anderson has already had at least five treys in a game twice this season, including a 5-of-5 effort at Rutgers that tied the NU single-game mark for 3-point percentage (minimum of five attempts).

Perry is second on the squad with 19 3-pointers in eight games while hitting 45.2 percent from long range. Last year, he had 31 3-pointers in 32 games.

 

>>>New Day, New Lineup
After opening with the same lineup for the first six games of the season, the Huskers have put a different starting five on the floor each of the past six games. Charles Richardson Jr., Sek Henry, Ryan Anderson, Jamel White and Aleks Maric dominated the lineup while helping the Huskers to a 5-1 start before White, who stayed home to concentrate on academics, was replaced with Marcus Perry at Oregon. The following game against Alabama A&M, Maric was unable to play because of a hip injury and was replaced with Jim Ledsome.

Maric returned for the first round of the Rainbow Classic, but Perry did not play because of a foot injury, leading to Jay-R Strowbridge's first career start. Henry then came off the bench for the first time in his career while White returned to the opening lineup against Hawaii, but Henry returned to the starting five in place of White against Houston. Anderson was hurt before the Miami game and Jim Ledsome made his second career start with White also returning to the lineup in place of Strowbridge.

In the last six games ? including five away from Lincoln ? the Huskers own a 4-2 record while starting different lineups each contest. Last year, the Huskers had 11 different lineups during the season, with only one lineup playing together for more than four games.

>>>3s All Around
Nebraska has knocked down the long ball with amazing frequency through the non-conference schedule. The Huskers rank 38th nationally in 3-point percentage after hitting 40.1 percent from long range this year, including a season-high 64.7 percent against Rutgers.

The Huskers scorched the net against the Scarlet Knights, hitting 11 treys on 17 attempts, connecting on NU's highest percentage in a game since hitting 66.7 percent (10-of-15) against Pacific in 2000. Nebraska's accuracy reached a pinnacle in the second half against RU when the Huskers hit 8-of-11 3-point attempts (72.7 percent).

Anderson tied the school record for 3-point field-goal percentage (minimum five 3-point attempts) in the contest at Rutgers as he hit 5-of-5 from beyond the 3-point line. Anderson also posted the second-highest single-game effort in school history with seven 3-pointers against Hawaii. He was only the fourth player in NU history to record at least seven treys, joining Cary Cochran (twice), Cookie Belcher and Chris Cresswell.

Perry became the fifth player to reach the mark as he hit seven 3-pointers against Miami, helping Nebraska to a season-high 15 treys on the game. The 15 3-pointers were the third-highest total by a Nebraska squad ever, and tied the record for most 3-pointers away from the Devaney Center.

Nebraska Single-Game Team Record ? 3-pointers Made
Rank Opponent (season) 3-pointers
1. vs. Kansas (2001-02) 18 (37 att.)
2. vs. North Carolina A&T (2005-06) 16 (36 att.)
3. vs. Miami* (2006-07) 15 (33 att.)
    at Texas (2001-02) 15 (36 att.)
* neutral site