Nebraska Unveils Exciting Men?s Basketball Schedule

Lincoln ? Coach Doc Sadler will lead the University of Nebraska men’s basketball team against a strong slate of opponents during an exciting 29-game regular-season schedule announced Tuesday. The schedule is highlighted by tilts against eight teams that played in the 2007 postseason (six NCAA, two NIT) and includes home games telecast on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.

 

Renewals for season tickets will go out within the next week. New public season ticket packages can be reserved immediately for seats in the lower back, upper back and Doc’s Crew sections of the DevaneyCenter by contacting the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office at 402-472-3111. A limited amount of lower back seats (donation required) are still available to the public. Doc’s Crew section seats (formerly upper bench seating) will now all include a seatback for each ticket holder.

 

The Huskers return the services of six letterwinners from last year’s 17-14 squad, including 2007 second-team All-Big 12 selection Aleks Maric. The league’s top returning scorer and rebounder, Maric finished last season averaging 18.5 points (fourth in Big 12) and 8.7 rebounds per game (second in Big 12). NU also adds eight scholarship newcomers which form a recruiting class that has been ranked among the top 25 in the nation by several national scouting analysts, including Bob Gibbons (No. 21 on ESPN.com), Van Coleman (No. 10 on CSTV.com) and Clark Francis (No. 5 on Hoopscooponline.com).

 

“We have a strong non-conference schedule right now, and with so many new players, it’s where we need it to be,” Sadler said. “We have to get everyone up to speed early and that schedule in late November through the middle of December will be tough. It has to get us ready for the Big 12, which we all know will be a top conference again.”

 

The Huskers begin play under the second-year mentor on Friday, Nov. 2 when NU hosts Nebraska Wesleyan in the first exhibition game of the season. Sadler and the Huskers continue their trend of playing in-state teams when Nebraska rounds out the exhibition season with a Nov. 6 matchup against WayneState at the DevaneyCenter.

 

After opening the regular-season on Saturday, Nov. 10 at home against first-year provisional Division I opponent Presbyterian, the Huskers’ toughest stretch in the strong non-conference schedule could be an eight-day period with home games against Arizona State (Sunday, Dec. 2, on ESPNU) and Rutgers (Sunday, Dec. 9) sandwiched around NU’s longest non-league road trip with a stop in Bowling Green, Ky., to face Western Kentucky on Wednesday, Dec. 5. Nebraska opens road play against Creighton in the QwestCenter two days after Thanksgiving on Saturday, Nov. 24.

 

The Huskers are also set to play host to possible preseason top-10 opponent Oregon when the teams face off on Saturday, Dec. 15 at the QwestCenter in Omaha. Last year, the Huskers and Ducks played a neutral-site game at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore., home of the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers. Overall, the Huskers will have four first-time opponents (Presbyterian, Norfolk State, North Carolina Central and AlcornState) and own an all-time record of 34-27 against this year’s non-conference foes.

 

Nebraska opens the Big 12 schedule with its second national TV game of the year when it takes on the Kansas Jayhawks at the DevaneyCenter on Saturday, Jan. 12 for a game televised on ESPN. NU hits the road for three of the next four games before playing five of eight games in the month of February at home. Along with Kansas, Big 12 North regulars Missouri, Colorado, IowaState, and KansasState will visit the DevaneyCenter while Big 12 South foes Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Baylor round out the teams making the trek to Lincoln.

 

The Huskers end the season in Lincoln against Colorado on Sunday, March 9, the second straight season the Huskers will play their final regular-season game on the DevaneyCenter court. Previously, Nebraska ended each of the first 10 years of the Big 12 era on the road.

 

NU heads three hours down the road to Kansas City for the 2008 Dr Pepper Big 12 Championships in the soon-to-be-opened SprintCenter. It will be the 27th time the league tournament has been played in the City of Fountains, and first since 2005.