NU Set to Face Tough Las Vegas Classic Field

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Game Date: Dec. 22, 2009
Tipoff Time: 4:30 p.m. CT (2:30 p.m. PT)
Venue: Orleans Arena

Huskers on TV/Radio/Internet
Television: None
Radio: IMG Husker Sports Radio Network (Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka; Color: Matt Davison)
Internet Radio/Stats: Free on Huskers.com
Internet Video: HoopTV.net (subscription)

Nebraska Cornhuskers
Game 11 Notes
2009-10 Record: 8-2
Head coach: Doc Sadler
Record at Nebraska: 63-42 (4th year)
Record at Division I: 111-60 (6th year)
Career Record: 231-99 (11th year)

Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Game 11
2009-10 Record: 9-1
Head coach: Doug Wojcik
Record at UT: 90-54 (5th year)
Career Record: 90-54 (5th year)

NU's Possible Starting Lineup                             2009-10 stats         
No.          Name      Yr.           Ht.           Wt.          Pts.          Rbs.       
5              Sek Henry              Sr.           6-4           200          7.8           4.7          
15            Ray Gallegos         Fr.           6-3           175          5.4           1.8          
21            Jorge Brian Diaz    RFr.         6-11         235          8.4           4.7          
34            Lance Jeter            Jr.            6-3           225          9.1           3.5*         
44            Ryan Anderson     Sr.           6-4           195          11.0         5.2          
*assists per game

UT's Possible Starting Lineup                              2009-10 stats         
No.          Name      Yr.           Ht.           Wt.          Pts.          Rbs.       
1              Ben Uzoh               Sr.           6-3           205          16.3         4.5*         
12            Bishop Wheatley   Sr.           6-6           225          7.5           4.3          
15            Justin Hurtt             Jr.            6-4           195          14.9         4.1          
23            Jerome Jordan      Sr.           7-0           250          14.4         8.6          
33            Joe Richard           So.          6-7           235          6.6           6.6          
*assists per game

Huskers Face Tough Field at HoopTV Las Vegas Classic
The Nebraska basketball team takes to the road for the fourth time this season as it heads West to take on a difficult field at the HoopTV Las Vegas Classic on Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 22-23.

Playing at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, the Huskers will face Conference USA preseason favorite Tulsa (9-1) in the first round on Dec. 22 at 4:30 p.m. CT/2:30 p.m. PT and then will match up with either BYU (10-1) or Nevada (6-4) the following day. Both of the Huskers' games this week will be heard live on the IMG Husker Sports Network and for free around the world on the Internet at Huskers.com. Veteran play-by-play man Kent Pavelka will call the action while former Husker Matt Davison adds color commentary.

The games this week will be video streamed on the Internet at HoopTV.net, with all eight games available for $10. The BYU and Nevada games will be televised in their local markets.

The Huskers bring a three-game win streak into their first holiday tournament since 2006. NU has held each of its last three opponents to 44 or fewer points, the first time NU has matched that feat since 1943. The Huskers should enter the week ranked first nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 53.5 points per game.

Despite having an inexperienced team - seven of Nebraska's 11 active scholarship players are freshmen or sophomores - the Huskers do understand the difficulties of playing away from home as NU has already made three road trips this season. The Huskers fell by 14 points at Saint Louis in their first road game and dropped a six-point contest in front of nearly 17,000 fans in an in-state battle with Creighton two weeks ago. Nebraska does own a win on the road with a last-second victory at USC when redshirt freshman Eshaunte Jones drilled a 3-pointer with 11.7 seconds left to give the Huskers a 51-48 victory.

The Cornhuskers are 4-4 in neutral site games under coach Doc Sadler, including 3-1 against non-conference opponents. The Huskers won two games against Wyoming and Houston to finish 2-1 at the 2006 Rainbow Classic, their most recent regular-season tournament.

Hooptv.net to Stream Games from Las Vegas
While the Huskers will not have television coverage of their games at the Las Vegas Classic, tournament sponsor HoopTV.net will offer live video streaming available on the Internet for games on both days. Fans can log on to http://hooptv.net/general-information/hooptv-las-vegas-classic-viewing-packages.html and purchase streaming packages for either one day for $7 or two days for $10.

Scouting the Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Tulsa enters the holiday tournament riding a strong start as the Golden Hurricane own a 9-1 record including four straight victories. All but one of UT's victories have been by double figures and have come at home, while its only loss was an eight-point setback on the road against Missouri State, one of the last unbeaten teams in the country.

This season, UT owns a potent offense that has averaged 79.5 points per game while hitting a solid 47.7 percent from the field. The Golden Hurricane have proven a capable long-distance shooting team, as Tulsa has hit 40.9 percent from beyond the arc. UT is also making opponents pay at the free throw stripe as it has gotten to the line nearly twice as often as opponents and is hitting better than 70 percent on its charity shots.

Defensively, Tulsa has allowed just 58.4 points per game this season while limiting opponents ability from the field. Foes have hit just 35.7 percent against the difficult Golden Hurricane defense, including only 30.9 percent from 3-point range. In an amazing statistically oddity, the Golden Hurricane have blocked 77 shots through 10 games, while having just 17 of their own shots blocked.

Leading the defensive charge is 7-footer Jerome Jordan, a likely first-round NBA prospect. Jordan is among the top 10 shot blockers in the country this season as he averages 3.5 blocks per game. His 35 blocks are just four less than the Cornhuskers' team total in the same amount of games.

Jordan also pulls down 8.6 rebounds per game to go with 14.4 points per contest. He is one of three double-figure scorers for the Golden Hurricane, along with Ben Uzoh (16.3 ppg) and Justin Hurtt (14.9 ppg). Uzoh adds 5.8 rebounds per contest, giving the Golden Hurricane four players with at least 5.8 rebounds per contest as UT holds a 44.4-30.7 rebounding advantage.

Uzoh has hit 49.5 percent from the floor and leads the squad with 45 assists and 12 steals. Hurtt paces the team with 23 3-pointers, four more than Uzoh, and has connected on 78.6 percent at the charity stripe.

Tulsa is coached by Doug Wojcik (Navy, 1986), who is in his fifth year guiding the Golden Hurricane. Wojcik owns a 90-54 record at UT.

Series History vs. the HoopTV Las Vegas Classic Field
Nebraska comes into the holiday tournament looking to make up ground in the series against the Las Vegas Classic field. The Huskers own a 4-6 all-time record against the other three teams in their bracket, including an 0-2 mark against Tulsa, a 1-3 deficit vs. Brigham Young and a 3-1 advantage over Nevada.

The last time the Huskers faced off against the Golden Hurricane was 1998, when they completed a home-and-home series in Lincoln. Tulsa pulled out a 52-49 victory to complete the two-game sweep of Nebraska.

The Huskers have not played BYU since the 1930s. All four games were played in a five-year span, including a pair of contests in the 1935-36 campaign. BYU took the first two matchups in Lincoln before Nebraska finally got a victory. The Cougars then won the last meeting to hold a 3-1 lead in the series.

It's nearly the opposite for the series with Nevada as the Huskers have won three straight over the Wolf Pack. The last meeting came in 1997 as the Huskers earned a 78-68 road victory over Nevada in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Before that, the teams met twice in the 1970s in Lincoln (both Husker wins) and started the series with a five-point Wolf Pack home victory in 1947.

The Cornhuskers own a 9-13 (.409) all-time record against current members of Conference USA, and hold a 35-21 advantage (.625) against teams from the Mountain West Conference. NU leads 17-14 (.548) against members of the Western Athletic Conference.

50 is the New 60
Nebraska has made it a habit of holding teams to 50 points or less since coach Doc Sadler took over in 2006-07. Since his arrival, the Huskers have held opponents to 50 or fewer points 22 times. In the first 10 years of the Big 12 era before Sadler arrived, Nebraska managed the feat on 26 occasions.

The most times NU has held teams to 50 or fewer points in a season under Sadler is nine times in 2007-08.  This season, the Huskers have already held six teams below 50 points, including each of the last three  straight. That defensive effort has helped the Huskers allow just 53.5 points per game, an average that is expected to lead the nation this week.

During Nebraska's current three-game win streak, the Huskers have held all three teams to 44 or fewer points, including 39 points by Chicago State, 44 by Oregon State and 41 by Jackson State. The last time a Nebraska squad matched that mark was 1943.

In fact, the last time the Cornhuskers even held three straight teams to below 50 points was 1958 as NU won three straight games over Colorado (41 points), No. 4 Kansas (41 points) and No. 1 Kansas State (48) as part of a four-game win streak. The Huskers have not held four straight teams below 50 points since a streak of seven straight games below 50 in 1948-49.

Fast Starts
Nebraska has jumped out to fast starts under coach Doc Sadler. Each of his four seasons in Lincoln (including this year), the Huskers have opened with at least seven wins before picking up their third loss of the year.

This year's squad has tied the program's second-best mark through 10 games to open a season since the formation of the Big 12 Conference for the 1996-97 season. The only better mark through 10 games since then was in 2003-04 when the Huskers opened with a 9-1 mark. The last time the Huskers were 9-2 through 11 games was the 2007-08 campaign, when NU completed non-conference play with an 11-2 record. 

Defense Taking Shape
Coach Doc Sadler's squads have led the Big 12 Conference in scoring defense each of the past two seasons and ranked among the top 25 defenses in the country at the end of those years. After giving up 69 points at Saint Louis and 77 at home against TCU, Sadler put the Cornhuskers back to work on the defensive end as they tried to continue their reputation of defensive dominance.

Sadler's efforts have been rewarded as Nebraska has held six of its last seven opponents to less than 55 points. The best mark came against Chicago State as the Huskers allowed only 39 points, the 10th fewest points given up by a Nebraska squad since 1947. It was the third time a Sadler-led Nebraska team held an opponent to less than 40 points.

Under Sadler, Nebraska is now 44-4 when holding teams to 60 or fewer points, including 37-1 at home.

The Husker defense is again tops in the Big 12 Conference, as the 53.5 points per game Nebraska has allowed ranks first in the league. The Huskers moved ahead of Texas (57.4 ppg) as the Longhorns allowed 90 points against North Carolina.

Nebraska entered the week expecting to be ranked No. 1 in the nation in scoring defense when the official statistics are released.

Huskers Finding the Mark
Nebraska coach Doc Sadler has said from Day One that he thought this team "could shoot the ball well," and through the first 10 games this season, they've proven their mentor right.

The Huskers are hitting a solid 47.3 percent from the field early in the season, knocking down 241-of-509 shots from the floor.  Nebraska has hit at least 50.0 percent from the field five times in 10 games this season, including three of the past five contests. In 2008-09, NU hit at least 50.0 percent of its shots in just 5-of-13 games during non-conference play. At Creighton on Dec. 6, the Huskers hit 50.0 percent (24-of-48) from the floor for its best effort on the road since last season at Texas Tech.

Part of the Huskers' offensive effectiveness has come behind solid shooting from beyond the arc, where Nebraska has nailed 56-of-145 from 3-point range (38.6 percent). Despite going 6-of-33 from long range over the last two games, Nebraska ranks among to the top 75 teams in the country in 3-point percentage this week.

Nebraska's strong shooting from outside was on display as it tied a Devaney Center record and set a team building record by hitting 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from 3-point range against Texas-Pan American on Dec. 2. The Huskers hit seven straight at one point and bettered the previous team mark of 66.7 percent set three times. 

The Cornhuskers are led in the field by junior Lance Jeter, who has hit 54.8 percent (34-of-62) from the field. He has also hit a team-best 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from 3-point range. Jeter is one of three Huskers hitting at least 50 percent from the floor, including Ryan Anderson (50.0) and Jorge Brian Diaz (52.2).

Block Party
Redshirt freshman Jorge Brian Diaz quickly made a name for himself as he posted one of just two Husker 20-point games this season when he had 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting against TCU in his third career game. But it is on the defensive end that he is quickly - and quietly - starting to look like one of the top freshmen in school history.

Diaz currently leads the Cornhuskers with 18 blocked shots, and his 1.8 blocks per game ranked fourth in the Big 12 Conference entering the week. His 18 blocks in 10 games match last year's team-leading total of 18 by Toney McCray reached in 30 games.

Diaz's 18 blocks are already tied for seventh in the Nebraska freshman record book. He is just two away from reaching third place on the rookie chart. Venson Hamilton (1996) and John Turek (2002) hold the Nebraska freshman record with 39 blocks in their initial season.

As a team, the Huskers own 39 blocked shots this season, averaging 3.9 per game. Last year, Nebraska had just 52 blocks in 31 games.

Bench Production
The Cornhuskers have spread the scoring around this season with only one player averaging double figures while eight other active Huskers are averaging at least 5.0 points per game. Much of that production has come from the bench, as Nebraska has a deeper roster than many recent seasons.

The Husker bench outscored opponents in each of the first eight games this season. The top production came as Nebraska held a +28 advantage in bench scoring against Chicago State and NU has had two other games (TCU, +19; UTPA, +20) with at least 19 more points off the bench than the opponent.

On the season, Nebraska has gotten 259 points from its bench. That's 38.9 percent of the production that has come from outside the starting lineup. The most points by a Husker off the bench this year is 22 by Jorge Brian Diaz, who went 9-of-10 against TCU after coming in as a sub.

Senior Moments
Coach Doc Sadler has said that he's been trying to find ways to get his team to be more aggressive since the start of practice in September, letting them know that he wants them going after other teams and not sitting back and waiting for opponents to come at them. Senior guards Sek Henry and Ryan Anderson have each had a turn taking the coach's words to heart this season while leading their team to victory.

Henry's strong play was highlighted against TCU as he distributed the ball efficiently, posting a career-best 11 assists, becoming the first Husker since Charles Richardson Jr. (15 at Rutgers in 2006) to post more than 10 assists in a game. Overall, Henry's assist total ranks second on the Nebraska single-game chart for the Big 12 era, and ties for the ninth-best total by a Husker in any game since the 1983-84 season.

Along with his 11 assists, Henry posted 11 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots in 30 minutes of action. He missed the school's first regular-season triple-double by three rebounds. The only known triple-double by a Husker came when Brennon Clemmons had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in an exhibition game in 2002 vs. Northwest Sports Tours. In the 15 years before that, the closest a Husker came to a triple-double in a game that counted was Beau Reid's 14-point, 12-rebound, 8-assist performance against Toledo in 1990.

Henry came back the next contest against UMKC to produce a game-high 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including drilling both of his 3-point attempts. The treys came less than 30 seconds apart and started a game-changing 21-5 run to end the first half. Henry added five rebounds, four assists and two blocks against the Kanagroos.

Anderson had his first moment against Texas-Pan American on Dec. 2, as he helped bust the game open in the middle of the second half. After UTPA pulled within five, 45-40, Anderson guided Nebraska on a 22-2 run to put the game out of reach, scoring 11 points while adding three steals, two rebounds and an assist in less than four minutes. He finished the game with 21 points, the second-highest scoring effort of his career, on 8-of-9 shooting as Nebraska pulled away for an 81-53 win.

The Seattle, Wash., native added another veteran contest as he produced 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds in the Huskers' 50-44 victory over Oregon State. Anderson had seven rebounds in the first eight minutes of the game and collected his final one of the night with less than five seconds remaining. He was fouled after grabbing the board and hit two free throws for the final margin, helping Nebraska defeat its second Pac-10 team of the season.

Anderson leads the squad with 11.0 points per game while getting to the free throw line more frequently than any Husker, where he has hit 24-of-31 (77.4 percent). He is also tops on the squad with 22 steals to rank second in the Big 12 Conference at 2.2 steals per game. Henry is fourth on the squad in scoring (7.8 ppg) and is second in assists (30) and rebounding (4.7 rpg) and third in 3-pointers (8).

Off to the Races
While the season is still young and the Huskers have yet to enter the meat-grinder portion of the schedule known as the Big 12 Conference slate, Nebraska has shown the potential to be an efficient force on the offensive end with its revamped roster.

The best example came as the Huskers posted 90 points against TCU, making it the highest-scoring game for the Huskers in the Doc Sadler era at Nebraska. In fact, the last time NU topped the 90-point plateau was 2006 when the Huskers earned a 93-77 victory over Colorado.

The Husker offense was running in high gear against the Horned Frogs as Nebraska hit 54.0 percent (27-of-50) from the field. The trend has continued as Nebraska has hit at least 50.0 percent from the field in four games at the Devaney Center, and five games overall.

The Huskers scored 81 points against Texas-Pan American on Dec. 2 while hitting 53.7 percent from the field, including tying the Devaney Center record by hitting 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from 3-point range. During the victory, the Huskers improved to 15-0 under Sadler when reaching 80 points.

In Nebraska's 74-39 win over Chicago State on Dec. 10, the Huskers hit a season-high 55.6 percent from the floor. The mark moved NU to 30-3 - including 28-0 at home - under Sadler when connecting on 50.0 percent of its shots from the floor.

Nebraska scored at least 70 points in each of five its first five home games this season (5-of-7 at home overall). Last year it took nine games at the Devaney Center before the Huskers recorded their fifth 70-point effort.

Board Support
Nebraska has won the rebounding advantage six times this season, all at home. The Huskers are 6-0 in those contests. In the three road games, Nebraska was outrebounded at USC and Creighton and tied with Saint Louis.

NU started the season on a strong note as it held a 39-27 rebounding advantage in the season opener against South Carolina Upstate. The total against USCU was the best for the Huskers since last season's opener when NU had 42 rebounds vs. San Jose State and the +12 advantage was also better than all but one game last year (+14 vs. Florida A&M).

Nebraska came back to post 35 boards against both Saint Louis and TCU, giving the Huskers three straight games of at least 35 rebounds for the first time since the final three games of non-conference play in the 2007-08 campaign. Last year, the Huskers did not have consecutive games with at least 35 rebounds.

Nebraska posted a season-high 41 rebounds against each Chicago State and Jackson State. Overall, the Huskers have recorded at least 35 rebounds in five of the first 10 games, after reaching the mark in only six games all of last year. 

In the regular-season opener, Jorge Brian Diaz had 11 rebounds to go with nine points in his first career game. He added a second double-figure rebounding game with 12 boards against Chicago State and has recorded 8.0 boards per game over his last three contests.

At the time, Diaz's season high was the most by a Husker since 2007-08 as NU did not have a player with a double-double last season. Ryan Anderson had the team's high for single-game rebounds last year with 10 boards against Missouri on Jan. 10, when he had just eight points.

Diaz is currently second on the team with 4.7 rebounds per game, including three games with at least seven boards each. Senior Ryan Anderson jumped to the team lead after he produced 14 rebounds, including four offensive, in a six-point win over Oregon State. He is now averaging 5.2 rebounds per game this season, and needs 28 rebounds to reach 500 in his career.

Versatile Anderson in Elite Company
Ryan Anderson joined an elite club last year as he became just the seventh Husker to record at least 100 3-pointers, 100 assists and 100 steals in a career. Among that short list are Eric Piatkowski, Tyronn Lue, Erick Strickland, Cookie Belcher, Cary Cochran and Jaron Boone, along with Anderson.

He showed exactly that versatility when he had an uncommon stat line that included five points, five rebounds, five assists and six steals in 27 minutes of action in the season opener against USC Upstate. The six steals were a career high for Anderson and were the most by a Husker since 2001 (Cookie Belcher had season high of eight that year).

For his career, Anderson now has 139 3-pointers, 135 steals and 179 assists and needs 11 treys and 15 steals to join Strickland as the only two Huskers ever with at least 150 in each of the three categories.

Freshman Highlight
A game after playing just four minutes at Saint Louis because of an injury that included a pair of loosened front teeth and a cut inside his mouth, redshirt freshman Jorge Brian Diaz made his presence felt early and often as the Huskers raced past TCU on Nov. 21 in a 90-77 victory.

The newcomer from Caguas, Puerto Rico, set a team season high with 22 points as Nebraska reached the 90-point plateau for the first time since 2006. He was the first Husker this season to hit the 20-point mark.

Diaz became the first freshman since Sek Henry in 2006 to post a 20-point contest for the Huskers. Henry's outburst came one day after Ryan Anderson put his name on the list with 29 points, the second-highest total by a Husker freshman ever.

Overall, Diaz is the 21st freshman to record a 20-point game for the Huskers since freshmen were reinstated by the NCAA for the 1972-73 season. Joe McCray set the record with the most 20-point games by a Husker freshman when he had 10 contests with at least 20 points in 2004-05. Only six Husker freshmen in history have had multiple 20-point contests.

Against TCU, Diaz connected on 9-of-10 shots from the floor, with only a first-half miss keeping him from the NU record book. The Husker single-game record for most field-goals attempted without a miss is nine set on five occasions, including last year by Ade Dagunduro. Diaz's .900 shooting percentage is the second highest in the Big 12 this season, trailing only Texas's Dexter Pittman, who hit 10-of-11 in a contest.

Taking the Shot
With so many new faces on the squad, it was only a matter of time before one of the youngsters was asked to step up and make a game-changing play. At USC on Nov. 29, it was more than just a game-changing play... it was a game-deciding shot.

Redshirt freshman Eshaunte Jones, playing in his ninth career game, had made just two field goals in the first half and had only been off the bench for a total of five minutes in the second period before being called upon with less than a minute to play in a tie game. Jones didn't hesitate as the buried the game-winning shot from the corner, a 3-pointer with 11.7 seconds remaining. The shot was reviewed at length by the officials who determined it was indeed a 3-pointer. From there, the Huskers defended the perimeter well and USC only managed to get off an off-balance desperation shot at the buzzer.

Jones finished with seven points, and his 3-pointer gave the Huskers their first road win of the season, and just the second true road win over a non-conference opponent under fourth-year coach Doc Sadler. It was NU's first road victory over a non-conference BCS team since defeating Tennessee, 62-61, in Knoxville in 2004.

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. This season, kenpom.com lists the Huskers as No. 91 in average height.

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 on Jan. 9 at Texas A&M.

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.

Niemann, McCray 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, 6-10, 265-pound sophomore center Christopher Niemann had a major setback as he tore the same ACL for a second time in the first week of September. 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 coach Doc Sadler announced following Nebraska's game against UMKC on Nov. 24 that sophomore guard Toney McCray would have surgery on his elbow and be out for the remainder of the season. McCray injured the elbow in a pickup game in early September, sustaining a torn ligament. McCray tried to play through the pain as doctors assured him that it would get no worse if he waited until after the season to have surgery. But Sadler said that McCray indicated he had little confidence in his elbow and wasn't able to help the team the way he wanted to and thought it would be better to have surgery now and be ready for the offseason in the spring of 2010.

McCray had successful surgery on Dec. 7 to repair the UCL in his elbow. He started rehab that week and is doing well, as he is on pace to try to join the team in the spring during offseason workouts.

Both Niemann and McCray were looked at as possible starters heading into the start of the season. McCray averaged 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds over three games this year, hitting 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from the field. He played 18.3 minutes per game. Niemann has yet to play a game in a Husker uniform.

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.

While the Huskers were able to receive the waiver, the stipulation was that one player had to redshirt to get the active roster down to 13 scholarship players. Unfortunately with Christopher Niemann's preseason injury, he is out for the year and it was determined that he would count as the one who would sit out. 

New Faces Line Husker Roster

While the Huskers will rely on their 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 inexperienced Nebraska roster.

Among those scholarship newcomers who have already seen action for the first time in their Husker careers are juniors Lance Jeter and Quincy Hankins-Cole, sophomore Myles Holley, redshirt freshman Jorge Brian Diaz and freshmen Ray Gallegos, Brandon Ubel and Adrien Coleman. Freshman Christian Standhardinger (sitting out because of NCAA ruling) is still counting the games until he becomes available to play on Jan. 9.

Including walk-ons Matt Karn and Mike Fox, more than 50 percent (9 of 15; 60.0 percent) of the Huskers who have recorded time during the regular season are playing for the first time in a Nebraska uniform. Another Husker - Eshaunte Jones - played only four games last year before an injury forced him to redshirt.

2009-10 Scholarship Breakdown
Seniors: 2 (returnees Sek Henry and Ryan Anderson)
Juniors: 2 (transfers Lance Jeter and Quincy Hankins-Cole)
Sophomores: 4 (returnees Toney McCray, Brandon Richardson and Christopher Niemann*; newcomer Myles Holley)
Redshirt Freshmen: 2 (Eshaunte Jones and Jorge Brian Diaz)
True Freshmen: 4 (Brandon Ubel, Ray Gallegos, Christian Standhardinger, Adrien Coleman)
*sat out last season per NCAA ruling on amateur status; has not played at Nebraska

Youth Movement
While Nebraska entered the season knowing it will have a number of young players in the lineup on any given night, it did not realize it would 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 the league, another Husker is the youngest for his class. 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 turned 20 on Friday, Nov. 13.

NU Looks for Defensive 3-peat
In 2009-10, Nebraska looks to continue its dominance on the defensive end under coach Doc Sadler. Each of the past two seasons, the Huskers have led the Big 12 Conference in scoring defense and ranked among the national leaders.

The Huskers started this year in solid fashion, allowing just 49 points on 19-of-49 shooting (38.8 percent) in the season opener against South Carolina Upstate. Over its next two games, Nebraska allowed 69 and 77 points, before getting back on track by holding three straight opponents under 55 points, including 48 (UMKC), 48 (USC) and 53 (Texas-Pan American) points.

Nebraska gave up a season-low 39 points to Chicago State and then held Oregon State to just 44 points before allowing only 41 points to Jackson State, including a season-low nine points in the first half. On the season Nebraska has now allowed opponents 53.5 points per game on 37.6-percent shooting. The Huskers' scoring defense was expected to enter the week ranked first nationally.

Last year, Nebraska allowed just 60.4 points per game to rank 22nd nationally while a year earlier, it gave up 60.7 ppg to rank No. 18 in the nation. Nebraska also led the league in conference-only defense in 2009 by giving up just 62.5 ppg to league teams.

The Huskers' top-ranked defense last year marked the first time NU had led the league in scoring defense in the Big 12 era. Dating to the 2007-08 season, Nebraska has held seven of its last 10 Big 12 Conference opponents in the Devaney Center to 57 or fewer points, including three times under 50 points. NU held five teams to less than 57 points in Big 12 play last year, including Missouri (51), Kansas State (51), at Colorado (53), Texas (55) and vs. Colorado (41).

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 six weeks 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.

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 in Lincoln.

Over his first three years, Sadler had more victories than any Husker coach to open a career. Through his first three seasons, Sadler owned a 55-40 mark, 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.

The Huskers' win over Texas Tech on the road on Jan. 31, 2009, marked Sadler's 50th victory at Nebraska. He was the fourth-fastest coach to reach 50 wins at NU in program history and among the three who reached the mark faster at NU, two of those men coached in Lincoln before World War I.

Coaching Wins at Nebraska (first three seasons only)
No.       Coach, First Three Years            Wins     Record
1.         Doc Sadler, 2007-09      55         55-40
2.         Moe Iba, 1981-83           53         53-34
3.         Danny Nee, 1987-89      51         51-46

All-Time Coaching Wins at Nebraska
No.       Coach, Years    Wins     Record
1.         Danny Nee, 1987-2000   254       254-190 (.572)
2.         Joe Cipriano, 1964-80    253       253-197 (.562)
3.         Moe Iba, 1981-86           106       106-71 (.599)
4.         Barry Collier, 2001-06     89         89-91 (.494)
5.         Harry C. Good, 1947-54 86         86-99 (.465)
6.         Jerry Bush, 1955-63       81         81-132 (.380)
7.         William Browne, 1933-40            64         64-87 (.424)
8.         Doc Sadler, 2007-pres.  63         63-42 (.592)