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2015-16 Season: Notes2015-16 Season: Notes
Men's Basketball

2015-16 Season: Notes

 

 

Shields Give Huskers Returning 1,000-Point Scorer
For the first time since 2007, Nebraska returns a 1,000-point scorer to the lineup, as Shavon Shields enters his senior year with 1,127 career points. It marks the first time since All-Big 12 center Aleks Maric began his season with 1,111 career points. It is also the ninth time in program history that the Huskers had a returning 1,000-point scorer.

Returning 1,000-Point Scorers

Player

Season

Entering Sr. Year

Shavon Shields

2015-16

1,127

Aleks Maric

2007-08

1,111

Cookie Belcher

2000-01

1,060

Erick Strickland

1995-96

1,070

Jaron Boone

1995-96

1,140

Eric Piatkowski

1993-94

1,288

Dave Hoppen

1985-86

1,747

Andre Smith

1980-81

1,242

Jerry Fort

1975-76

1,369

Husker Legacies
The 2015-16 Huskers have a number of players with relatives in college athletics. Junior Shavon Shields is the son of former Husker and Kansas City Chiefs great Will Shields, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last August. Four other Husker players have fathers who played basketball collegiately (Anton Gill, Michael Jacobson, Tai Webster and Andrew White III), while Ed Morrow Jr.’s mother, Nafeesah Brown, was a star player at Nebraska in the mid-1990s.

Parents of Husker Players

Player

Relative

Sport-School

Worth Noting

Shavon Shields

Will Shields

FB-Nebraska

College and Pro Football Hall of Fame Member

Anton Gill

Anton Gill Sr.

MBB-East Carolina

1st-team All-Colonial Athletic Conference (1995)

Tai Webster

Tony Webster

MBB-Hawaii

First-team All-Western Athletic Conference (1983)

Andrew White III

Andrew White Jr.

MBB-Morehouse

 

Ed Morrow Jr.

Ed Morrow Sr.

FB-Nebraska

Member of 1994 National Championship Team

 

Nafeesah Brown

WBB-Nebraska

First-team All-Big Eight (1994); 1,089 points at NU

Michael Jacobson

Bill Jacobson

MBB-Nebraska-Omaha

 

Hanging Their Hat On Defense
One of the keys to Nebraska’s success over last two seasons has been an emphasis on improved defense. In 2013-14, NU’s midseason turnaround was keyed on the defensive end, as a team that was last in field goal defense entering Big Ten play finished second in the conference in field goal percentage. Last year, it was the Huskers’ defense that kept the team in nearly every game. NU finished the season fourth in scoring defense, allowing 63.1 points per game in 2014-15.

  • NU finished the season 24th nationally in defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com, marking the second straight year that Nebraska has had a top-25 defense.
  • Nebraska’s field goal defense was one of its best in recent memory, as the Huskers held opponents to 40.4 percent shooting, which is the fifth-lowest total by a Husker defense in the 3-point era (since 1986-87).
  • Nebraska allowed only one team to shoot over 50 percent in 2014-15.
  • Under Miles, NU is 30-10 over the past three seasons when holding opponents to under 40 percent shooting.

Drawing Big Numbers to Pinnacle Bank Arena
Nebraska basketball has become one of the toughest tickets in the Big Ten since the program moved into Pinnacle Bank Arena. For the second straight year, the Huskers broke their own single-season record for average attendance, averaging 15,569 fans per game at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

  • Nebraska finished the regular season ranked 10th nationally in attendance, the highest Nebraska has finished in national attendance since the NCAA began listing it in 1977-78.
  • Nebraska is one of three Big Ten schools ranked in the top-10 nationally in attendance, joining Wisconsin (fifth) and Indiana (eighth), while six Big Ten schools are among the top 16 nationally.
  • In 2014-15, the Big Ten set conference records for total attendance (3,076,641) and attendance in conference games only (1,677,589). It marked the first time in history that the conference has eclipsed the three million mark in total attendance.

Success in the Classroom
The Huskers have enjoyed success in the classroom under Tim Miles. In 2014-15, Nebraska placed a Big Ten-high five players (Nick Fuller, Kye Kurkowski, Trevor Menke, Shavon Shields and Leslee Smith) on the Academic All-Big Ten team. Over the last three years, 11 Huskers have earned Academic All-Big Ten accolades.