Huskers Ready to Open Regular Season

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Game notes: Game 1
2009-10 Record: 0-0

Head coach: Doc Sadler

Record at Nebraska: 55-40 (4th year)

Record at Division I: 103-58 (6th year)

Career Record: 223-97 (11th year)

 

South Carolina Upstate Spartans

Game notes: Game 1

2009-10 Record: 0-0

Head coach: Eddie Payne

Record at USCU: 100-77 (8th year)

Career Record: 369-331 (25th year)

 

Huskers on TV/Radio/Internet

Television: None           

Radio: IMG Husker Sports Radio Network

            Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka

            Color: Andy Markowski

Internet Radio/Stats: Free on Huskers.com

Satellite Radio: None

 

 

Huskers Ready to Open Regular Season

The Nebraska basketball team opens the 114th season in program history this weekend when it plays host to South Carolina Upstate on Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The contest will tip off at 7:06 p.m. and will be broadcast by the IMG Husker Sports Radio Network.

 

Calling the action this week will be Kent Pavelka while former Husker letterwinner Andy Markowski joins the broadcast to add color commentary. The game will be heard for free on Huskers.com. While the majority of the network is required to carry the postgame shows following the Nebraska football team’s contest at Kansas (2:30 p.m.), the game will be heard in Lincoln on 105.3 FM and in Omaha on 93.3 FM.

 

Nebraska hopes to see a recent string of season-opening wins continue as the Huskers have won eight straight to open a season. The Huskers also are looking for their 399th all-time win at the Devaney Center, where they have called home since the 1976-77 campaign.

 

To try to make it nine straight season-opening wins, Nebraska will put a number of new faces on the floor. In total, nine Huskers will be eligible for their first official participation in an NU uniform on Saturday, including two juniors, a sophomore, three redshirt-freshmen and three freshmen.

 

One Husker who will not be in uniform for the next 15 games is freshman Christian Standhardinger, who led Nebraska with 17.5 points while adding 7.0 rebounds over two exhibition games. The Munich, Germany, native hit 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from the floor and 86.7 percent (13-of-15) from the line while averaging just 19.5 minutes per game in the exhibition season. But an NCAA ruling will force Standhardinger to sit out 15 games, missing all of the non-conference slate.

 

With Standhardinger will be on the bench, the Huskers will have to adjust offensively. Leading the way to try to pick up some of the offensive slack could be senior guard Ryan Anderson. Nebraska’s active career leader in scoring, rebounding, steals and 3-pointers, Anderson averaged 10.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in exhibition play, and hit 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from the floor. Anderson’s numbers helped the Huskers hit 50.9 percent (56-of-110) from the floor in exhibition play. He was 2-of-4 from 3-point range, although the rest of his teammates were just 4-of-22.

 

Scouting South Carolina Upstate

The USC Upstate Spartans enter the season with seven returning letterwinners, including three starters, from last year’s 9-21 squad. Last season, USCU won just one true road game, a 70-59 victory at Jacksonville. It was one of just two victories away from the Spartanburg, S.C., campus.

 

The Spartans averaged 60.4 points per game last season with departed forward Bobby Davis leading the charge with 14.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest. Center Nick Schneiders, who stands 7-3, was second on the team with 9.5 points per game while adding 6.1 rebounds per game. Despite his size, Schneiders hit just 44.6 percent from the floor while also hitting only 53.1 percent at the charity stripe, but did lead the league in blocked shots with 79 in 30 contests (2.63 per game). He was selected to the 2009-10 Atlantic Sun preseason all-conference team, the first Spartan to earn the honor since USCU moved to Division I two years ago.

 

Along with Schneiders, the Spartans return guard Josh Chavis, the team’s third-leading scorer last year (8.3 ppg). Chavis paced the squad with 59 3-pointers and 80.4-percent shooting at the free throw line while ranking second on the team in assists with 69.

 

USC Upstate is guided by veteran coach Eddie Payne, who is entering his 25th season on the sideline. He owns a 369-331 career record, including a 100-77 mark in seven seasons with the Spartans.

 

USC Upstate did not play any exhibition games during the preseason but instead conducted closed scrimmages against  Presbyterian and UNC Asheville.

 

Opening Up

Nebraska opens the 2009-10 season at home against South Carolina Upstate looking to earn its ninth straight win in a season opener. A couple other notes about Husker season openers:

 

? The Nov. 14 opener is the second-earliest season-opening date in school history, only behind the Nov. 10 season opener in 2007. Nebraska has also opened a season on Nov. 14 twice before, in the 2006 and 1998 seasons.

? Nebraska has won eight straight season openers since an 87-83 setback at Oral Roberts in 2000. Overall, Nebraska is 11-2 in season openers during the Big 12 era, and 74-39 all-time.

? The last time Nebraska lost a season opener at home was 1980 when NU fell to Wyoming, 62-59, in overtime. The Huskers have won 19 straight season openers at home since that loss.

 

Upon Further Review

In a change to what was published in the 2009-10 Nebraska media and recruiting guide, please note that redshirt-freshman Jorge Brian Diaz would like to be referred to by his full name instead of just Brian Diaz. Also, the pronunciation for freshman Ray Gallegos’s last name should be Guy-eh-goes. The previous pronunciation listed in the media guide is incorrect. We appreciate the media’s assistance in these matters.

 

Fresh Faces

Nebraska has an inexperienced roster entering 2009-10, as the Huskers return only four scholarship players from last season’s 18-win campaign. Among the veterans on the squad this season will be seniors Ryan Anderson and Sek Henry, along with sophomores Toney McCray and Brandon Richardson.

 

When NU hits the court for the season opener, it could see two freshmen in the starting lineup as forward Brandon Ubel and center Jorge Brian Diaz both started in the exhibition opener. The last time Nebraska had two freshmen start in a season opener was coach Doc Sadler’s first year at Nebraska as Anderson and Henry opened the season in the starting lineup.

 

That season, they started 14 games together including the first nine of the year. Along with Anderson and Henry, former Husker Jay-R Strowbridge made it three freshmen in the same starting lineup on Dec. 23, 2006, in a 70-56 win over Houston in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii. During the Big 12 era, three sets of freshmen have started games together, including:

 

? 2006-07 with Anderson (25 starts), Henry (18) and Strowbridge (13)

? 2004-05 with Joe McCray (24) and Aleks Maric (10)

? 2001-02 with Jake Muhleisen (27) and John Turek (15)

 

If Ubel and Diaz start for the Huskers Saturday against USC Upstate, they will be the seventh and eighth freshmen to start a season opener for Nebraska in the Big 12 era. They will be only the second and third freshmen players over 6-4 to start for the Huskers in a season opener in the Big 12 era, joining 6-11 Brian Conklin, who started six games as a redshirt freshman in 2000-01, including the opener at Oral Roberts. The full list of frosh starters in an opener since 1996-97 includes:

? Cookie Miller, 5-7, PG, 2007-08; Sek Henry, 6-3, G, 2006-07; Ryan Anderson, 6-4, G, 2006-07; Marcus Walker, 6-2, PG, 2005-06; Jake Muhleisen, 6-4, PG, 2001-02; Brian Conklin, 6-11, F, 2000-01; Cookie Belcher, 6-3, G, 1996-97.

 

Overall, Nebraska has had 18 freshmen start games during the Big 12 era. That list includes:

? Toney McCray, 2008-09 (3 starts); Alonzo Edwards, 2008-09 (1); Cookie Miller, 2007-08 (24); Ryan Anderson, 2006-07 (25); Sek Henry, 2006-07 (18); Jay-R Strowbridge, 2006-07 (13); Jamel White, 2005-06 (13); Marcus Walker, 2005-06 (12); Joe McCray, 2004-05 (24); Aleks Maric, 2004-05 (10); Charles Richardson Jr., 2003-04 (10); Jason Dourisseau, 2002-03 (3); Wes Wilkinson, 2002-03 (2); Jake Muhleisen, 2001-02 (27); John Turek, 2001-02 (15); Brian Conklin, 2000-01 (6); Chad Johnson, 1997-98 (10); Cookie Belcher, 1996-97 (33).

 

Youth Movement

While it still remains to be seen how many freshmen start games and how many play significant roles, one thing for certain is that Nebraska will have two of the youngest players in their respective classes.

 

Freshman Brandon Ubel is the third-youngest player overall in the Big 12 Conference this season. Born on Aug. 29, 1991, only Jaye Crockett of Texas Tech (Oct. 16, 1991) and Tyler Stone of Missouri (Sept. 8, 1991) are younger than Ubel.

 

While Ubel is one of the youngest in his class, another Husker is the youngest. Junior college transfer Quincy Hankins-Cole, who graduated high school when he was 16 and played the past two years at Polk (Fla.) CC, will not turn 20 years old until Feb. 18, 2010. The next youngest junior in the Big 12 is Kansas State’s Jacob Pullen, who turned 20 on Nov. 10. In fact, Hankins-Cole is three months younger than redshirt-freshman Jorge Brian Diaz, who turns 20 this week on Friday, Nov. 13.

 

Reaching Higher

According to statistics provided by kenpom.com, Nebraska was the shortest team in Division I basketball (344 teams) last season. The Huskers’ active roster in 2008-09 had just two scholarship players who stood at least 6-7, while the average height of the 20 players on the full roster was just over 6-4.

 

This season, Nebraska has a taller lineup across the board as the average height for all 18 players on the roster is 6-5 1/2. NU has four active players available in the non-conference slate who stand at least 6-8, with another ? Christian Standhardinger ? who will be eligible at the start of the Big 12 season.

 

Standhardinger Sitting Down

Although it was expected all along, Nebraska is in the unenviable position to have to replace the scoring punch provided during the exhibition season by freshman forward Christian Standhardinger.

 

After leading the Cornhuskers with 17.5 points per game in the exhibition season, Standhardinger must sit out 50 percent of the Huskers’ games this season ? a total of 15 games, equalling all of the non-conference schedule ? because of a ruling by the NCAA regarding his amateur status when he played with a club team in his native Germany. He will be allowed to practice with the Huskers during the non-conference slate but will not be able to travel with the team until he is eligible for competition.

 

Standhardinger came from the same school and club team that produced sophomore center Christopher Niemann, who was forced to sit out all of his first season with the Huskers.

 

Board Support

During Nebraska’s two exhibition games, one area that jumped out on the box score, especially in comparison to last year, was the rebound column. Nebraska held a 45.5-28.5 advantage on the glass against Arkansas-Fort Smith and Hastings College.

 

While the new-look Huskers are much taller across the board than last year, the statistical advantage was still a sight for sore eyes. Nebraska posted 48 and 43 rebounds in the two games, respectively, easily surpassing last year’s season high of 42 rebounds in the regular-season. That total came in the season opener against San Jose State and NU had just three more games all year with more than 35 rebounds.

 

Leading the way in the exhibition slate was redshirt-freshman Jorge Brian Diaz, who had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Arkansas-Fort Smith and added eight points and nine rebounds vs. Hastings. NU did not have a player with a double-double last season as Ryan Anderson had the team’s high for single-game rebounds with 10 boards against Missouri on Jan. 10, when he had just eight points.

 

Niemann Out for Season

After making what looked to be a successful return from a torn ACL suffered in the final week of the regular season last year, sophomore center Christopher Niemann had a major setback as he tore the same ACL for a second time in late August. After surgery to repair the damage that occurred during a non-basketball conditioning workout, Niemann will be out for all of the 2009-10 campaign.

 

Niemann is currently making good progress through rehab again, and is on pace to join the team for offseason workouts in late spring. He will have three years remaining on his original eligibility clock to play three seasons with the Huskers.

 

Nebraska Receives Rare Waiver

Nebraska petitioned the NCAA with a waiver that was granted in early September, allowing the Huskers to have 14 players on scholarship for the 2009-10 season. The rare allowance given to NU is only for this season and Nebraska will be required to return to 13 scholarships for the 2010-11 season.

 

New Faces Line Husker Roster

While the Huskers will rely on their four returning scholarship players for leadership early in the season, most of the eyes will be focused on the faces of several newcomers who will dot the NU roster in 2009-10.

 

Among those scholarship newcomers looking for playing time are two juniors (Lance Jeter and Quincy Hankins-Cole), a sophomore (Myles Holley), a redshirt freshman (Jorge Brian Diaz) and four freshmen (Adrien Coleman, Ray Gallegos, Christian Standhardinger, Brandon Ubel). Also back this season is another “newcomer” in Eshaunte Jones, who played four games as a true freshman last year before undergoing foot surgery and redshirting the season.

 

2009-10 Scholarship Breakdown

Seniors: 2

Juniors: 2

Sophomores: 4

Freshmen and Redshirt Freshmen: 6

 

NU Looking for Fifth Postseason Berth in Seven Years

Despite their lack of experience entering the year, the 2009-10 Huskers will be shooting for the program’s fifth postseason berth in seven years and third straight under coach Doc Sadler. Overall, Nebraska’s NIT bid at the end of the 2008-09 campaign was the Huskers’ 22nd all-time postseason appearance. NU has 16 appearances in the NIT, including the 1996 title, and six berths in the NCAA Tournament.

 

Huskers Look to Build on 8-8 League Mark

While the Huskers have more than two months before they start league action, Nebraska will have one thing in mind while it prepares for facing arguably the nation’s toughest conference: continuing its upward momentum against Big 12 foes.

 

Last year, the Huskers finished with an 8-8 record in Big 12 Conference play, their best mark in a decade and just the third time since the formation of the league that NU has finished at .500 or better. That mark came as the Huskers won each of their last two regular-season games, giving Nebraska its third straight season with a better league mark. NU had six league wins in 2007 and seven in 2008.

 

Since the start of the 2007 conference season, only three teams in the Big 12 have improved their win total in league play each of the past three years. That small group includes Nebraska, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

 

This year, Nebraska will try to do something done only once before in program history as the only other time the Huskers improved their conference win total for four straight years was from 1952 to 1955.

Sadler Setting New Marks

Nebraska coach Doc Sadler has said from the beginning that he hopes to do something at Nebraska that’s never been accomplished before: get to the NCAA Tournament and win a game. Since he’s been at NU, his record has spoken volumes as he has reached marks never before seen.

 

Over his first three years, Sadler has more victories than any Husker coach to open a career. Entering 2009-10, he owns a 55-40 mark in Lincoln, two more wins than Moe Iba had in his first three years and four more than Danny Nee. Sadler also had the most wins in the first two years at NU (37) and is the first coach in school history to win at least 17 games in each of his first three years guiding the Cornhuskers.