Huskers Face San Jose State in Season Opener

Husker Game Day Info
About the Huskers: Nebraska Game Notes
About the Spartans: San Jose State Game Notes
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Nebraska Opens 2008-09 Campaign at Home Against San Jose State

Following a strong performance in its lone exhibition game of the season, the Nebraska men’s basketball team will hit the ground running this weekend as it opens the 2008-09 season with a home contest against San Jose State on Sunday, Nov. 16. The Huskers and Spartans will tip off at 2:05 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

All of Nebraska’s games can be heard on the IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, consisting of 31 stations around the state, and for free around the world on the Internet at Huskers.com, the official Web site of Nebraska Athletics. Veteran play-by-play man Kent Pavelka and color analyst Matt Davison will call the action.

The Huskers open the season at home for the sixth straight season. Nebraska is looking for its eighth consecutive win in a season opener, since falling on the road to Oral Roberts in the opener for the 2000-01 campaign. The Huskers are 10-2 in season openers during the Big 12 era, including 2-0 under Coach Doc Sadler.

The last time Nebraska lost a season opener at home was to start the 1980-81 season. Since then, Nebraska is 21-5 in season openers overall and 19-0 in season openers at the Devaney Center.

Sadler has helped the Huskers to an impressive home record as Nebraska owns a 29-7 mark at the Devaney Center since he took over the program before the 2006-07 season. The Huskers are a perfect 20-0 against non-conference opponents at home with Sadler on the sideline.

Nebraska will rely on a solid mix of veteran leadership and youthful enthusiasm in Sadler’s third year on the sideline. The Huskers have quietly been laying the foundation in recent years as Nebraska has reached postseason play three times in the past five seasons. Every current Husker has only experienced winning ways at the Division I level, helping NU post 19 wins in 2005-06, 17 in 2006-07 and 20 last season, just the 12th 20-win campaign in 112 years of Nebraska basketball.

Seniors Ade Dagunduro, Steve Harley and Paul Velander will lead Nebraska it starts its quest for a first NCAA Tournament berth since 1998. Dagunduro and Harley combined for 22 points and seven steals in the team’s exhibition victory, helping Nebraska force 27 turnovers while collecting 17 steals. Velander came off the bench to add six points with a team-high-tying three assists.

While that senior trio’s play will be crucial to NU’s success this season, just as important may be the development of the freshman class. If one exhibition game can be any indication, that process is going full speed ahead.

Redshirt freshman Toney McCray led the Huskers in running past Chadron State last weekend. McCray paced all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor while adding a game-high seven rebounds with three steals in just 18 minutes of action. Joining McCray in the spotlight in his first career appearance was true freshman Eshaunte ?Bear’ Jones, who posted 16 points in 16 minutes. He had nine points in less than three minutes off the bench and hit his first five shots from the field.

Despite playing a variety of lineups as NU put 15 players on the court, Nebraska managed to hit 47.4 percent from the floor in the warmup vs. CSC. Nebraska also hit 74.2 percent from the free throw line.

Scouting San Jose State
San Jose State enters the season looking to improve on last year’s 13-19 record, including a 4-12 mark in WAC play.

The Spartans return all five starters from last year, including a pair of all-conference level front court players in forward C.J. Webster and center Chris Oakes. Webster, who was a concensus preseason all-conference pick this year, was a WAC all-newcomer selection last year when he averaged 11.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Oakes (10.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg) adds to the deep front court, and gives SJSU two of the league’s top returning rebounders from last season.

In the back court, guards DaShawn Wright (10.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and Justin Graham (10.7 ppg, 2.9 apg) give San Jose State four returning players who averaged double figures last season. The Spartans will add guard Adrian Oliver, a transfer from Washington who will be eligible after the first semester. San Jose State also boasts the shortest player in Division I in guard Lance Olivier.

Spartans are coached by George Nessen (California, 1981), who is in his fourth year at San Jose State where he owns a 24-69 record.

The Series
Nebraska and San Jose State are meeting for just the fourth time in series history, and the first time since 1988. The teams have traded victories, with SJSU winning in 1947 and 1974 while NU picked up the victory in 1971 and 1988.

Nebraska’s first matchup with SJSU in 1947 was part of a West Coast swing that included three games in four days against Stanford (in San Francisco) and at San Jose State and Nevada-Reno. NU dropped the contest with the Spartans by one point, 39-38.

The Huskers own a 16-14 overall record against current Western Athletic Conference (WAC) schools. The last meeting came two years ago in a loss at Hawaii.

Doc Sadler is 2-0 as a head coach when facing San Jose State. His UTEP teams defeated the Spartans 69-65 at home and 70-62 on the road in 2005.

Youngsters Lead NU in Exhibition
Playing in front of a crowd for the first time this season, the younsters on the Nebraska men’s basketball team found a few new fans as they led the Huskers to an 85-54 romp over Chadron State in NU’s lone exhibition of the season. Leading the way were redshirt freshman Toney McCray and true freshman Eshaunte ?Bear’ Jones, who combined for 34 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals in 34 minutes. They hit a combined 12-of-17 from the floor as Nebraska hit 47.4 percent as a team.

Nebraska’s deep bench filled with newcomers held a 52-16 scoring advantage over their Division II counterparts. Redshirt freshman Brandon Richardson also found his groove late in the game as he finished with seven pionts, two rebounds and an assist in 15 minutes.

Not to be outdone, the upperclassmen were led by senior Steve Harley and junior Sek Henry, who combined for 23 points, five assists without a turnover and five steals.

New Lines Drawn
Entering the 2008-09 season, teams around the country will be adjusting to one new rule that could have a significant impact on the outcome of games, especially for teams like Nebraska that will be playing without the benefit of a deep frontcourt. With the 3-point line moving back one foot ? front 19-9 to 20-9 ? for the first time in men’s college basketball this season, the Huskers’ smaller lineup could benefit from the floor opening up.

Junior Ryan Anderson, who despite standing just 6-4 has played the 4 spot for the Huskers the past two seasons, is one of the Big 12’s top returning rebounders from last season. The Seattle, Wash., native ranked 18th in the league in rebounding last season, averaging 5.6 boards per game.

Nebraska’s other guards, who combined for 14.2 rebounds per game last year, could benefit more from the spread floor, gaining rebounds further from the basket.

Dagunduro, Harley Set To lead
Guards Ade Dagunduro and Steve Harley look to lead NU to its second consecutive postseason appearance in their senior seasons.

The pair came from the junior college ranks, and while it took some time to adjust to the Division I level of play, each finished the 2007-08 campaign on a high note, setting the tone for this season. Both Dagunduro and Harley were named to the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team by the league's sportswriters for their play at the end of last year.

Dagunduro struggled in the early part of league play in 2008 but stepped up down the stretch, helping Nebraska to a 7-5 record in the final 12 Big 12 contests. During that period when the Huskers had the third-best record in the league, Dagunduro averaged 6.6 points per game while hitting 47.0 percent from the field. His offensive output was improved but still modest, yet his defensive intensity was turned up several notches as he was one of the Huskers' best man-to-man defenders. He helped Nebraska lead the league in scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense.

Over the final 12 league games and the postseason, Harley assumed a lead role in the Husker offense, ranking second on the team with 11.0 points per game as he hit 45 percent from the floor including nearly 43 percent from 3-point range. He shot better than 78 percent from the charity stripe in that stretch.

Anderson Nearing Record Book
At 6-4, guard Ryan Anderson may be a little undersized to play in the frontcourt, but he is one of the biggest players on the court when he steps outside the 3-point line.

Anderson has made a living with the long ball in Lincoln, hitting 98 treys in his first two years. He ranked second on the NU freshman list with 48 3-pointers in 2006-07 and last year posted 50 treys to rank third on the Huskers' sophomore chart. Only Nebraska's all-time
3-point leader, Cary Cochran, has made more shots from outside the arc by the end of his sophomore season, as Cochran had 101 through two years. Anderson became the only Husker ever to post at least 48 treys in each of his first two years at NU.

This season, Anderson needs just five
3-pointers to tie Chris Cresswell for 10th on the NU career list. By hitting his average of 49 3-pointers this year, Anderson would move into sixth place on the chart and put himself in position to become just the third Husker in history with at least 200 3-pointers, joining Cochran (268) and Eric Piatkowski (202).

Velander Shows Accuracy
Ryan Anderson is not the only 3-point ace for the Huskers as senior guard Paul Velander has proven to be one of the most accurate long-range shooters in Nebraska history.

The only fifth-year player for the Huskers this season, Velander enters his final year ranked ninth in NU history for 3-point field-goal percentage at 38.0 percent (68-of-179) from beyond the arc in his career. With another year similar to the last two (36 and 32 3-pointers, respectively), Velander will have a shot to reach the NU career top 10 in 3-pointers made.

Miller Ready to Roll
Cookie Miller was the only true freshman to play for the Huskers last year when he posted near-record numbers for assists (109) and steals (58). This year, he will try to take it a step higher as he is one of the top returning point guards in the Big 12 Conference.

Miller ranked sixth in the league for assists per game (3.6) last year and was the only freshman to rank in the top 10 for assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7). He was fourth in the Big 12 for steals per game (1.93), and owned the top spot with 2.0 steals per game in Big 12-only contests.

Former Husker great Cookie Belcher owns the Nebraska freshman record for steals with 87 and holds the NU and Big 12 Conference record with 253 steals in his career. Miller will try to join Belcher and Erick Strickland as the only Huskers with at least 100 steals at the end of their sophomore seasons. Belcher had 162 in his first two years while Strickland had 107.

Adding Talent
Coach Doc Sadler said from early on in his tenure that he would continue to add talented and athletic players to the roster, and his first two scholarship classes have done just that. Nebraska signed eight players for 2007-08 and added two more for this season.

Among the eight last year, four redshirted and will make their debut in 2008-09, including Alex Chapman, Alonzo Edwards, Toney McCray and Brandon Richardson. Among the four who did not redshirt, three ? Steve Harley, Ade Dagunduro and Cookie Miller ? played significant roles as they combined to make 76 starts last year. Harley (9.1 ppg, 20 starts) and Dagunduro (8.9 ppg, 32 starts) ranked second and third on the team in scoring, while Miller led the squad in assists (109, 3.6 apg) and steals (58, 1.9 spg).

This year's newcomers include freshmen Eshaunte Jones and Christopher Niemann. Jones is athletic and possesses a tremendous basketball IQ, but due to a foot injury, he could opt to redshirt. Niemann will not play in 2008-09 as he must sit out under an NCAA ruling.

Jones, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind., played last season at Hargrave Military Academy where he averaged 15 points over the first 12 games before a season-ending injury. He was a first-team all-state player as a senior in Indiana.

Niemann came to Nebraska from Germany and will be the fourth foreign-born player to compete at NU under Sadler. According to Sadler, Niemann is expected to provide an offensive force in the paint in future seasons.

Schedule Notes
? Nebraska faces a rugged schedule as it will play 13 of its 29 regular-season games against teams that reached the 2008 postseason. Eight of the 13 game against postseason teams will be played at the Devaney Center. Among the Huskers' opponents that reached last year's NCAA Tournament were: NCAA champion Kansas (twice), Elite Eight participant Texas, NCAA second-round qualifiers Kansas State (twice) and Texas A&M along with NCAA qualifiers Baylor, Oklahoma and UMBC. NU will also face Arizona State, Creighton, Alabama State and Oklahoma State, all of which played in the postseason NIT.

? The Huskers will play 18 regular-season games at the Devaney Center for the second straight season. Last year, NU went 15-3 in the building. Last year, the Huskers went 15-3 in the building with the only losses coming to eventual national champion Kansas and NCAA qualifier Baylor, along with an overtime setback to Missouri.

?Nebraska played its 500th game in the Bob Devaney Sports Center last season and will be gunning for its 400th win in building history in 2008-09. The Huskers enter the season with a 384-121 record in 32 seasons at the Devaney Center, good for an impressive .760 winning percentage.

? Nebraska will look to keep an outstanding home winning streak alive in 2008-09 as the Huskers' look for their 33rd straight winning season at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Huskers have never had a losing season in the Devaney Center since the building opened for the 1976-77 campaign.

? The Huskers will play three true road games during the non-conference slate, facing Arizona State in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series along with Oregon State and TCU. It will be the sixth time in the Big 12 era that the Huskers have played at least three true road games in non-league action and the first time since 2004-05 when Nebraska played at UAB, Marquette and Tennessee.

? The Huskers will be seen on television within the state at least 24 times during the season, including every road game for the second straight year. Every conference road game will be televised for the third consecutive season. The Huskers have averaged more than 13 televised contests (national, regional and local) each of the past seven years.

? Nebraska will be seen nationally at least eight times this season on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FSN and CBS College Sports. More than 10 additional games will also be available around the country on satellite.