Huskers Host Lions Sunday Evening

NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS 2015-16 Record: 2-1 Head coach: Tim Miles Record at Nebraska: 49-50 (4th year) Career Record: 332-270 (21st year) SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA LIONS 2015-16 Record: 1-2 Head coach: Jay Ladner Record at SELA: 10-25 (2nd year) Career Record: Same BROADCAST INFO Television: BTN Play-by-play: Jeff Levering Expert Analysis: Stephen Bardo  Online: BTN2GO Radio: IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN (1400 AM) in Lincoln, KXSP (590 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington.  Sirius: Ch. 145 Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka Expert Analysis: Matt Davison Also available online at Huskers.com, on the Huskers App and on TuneIn Radio and the TuneIn Radio App.

The Nebraska basketball team continues its early-season slate Sunday evening, as the Huskers welcome Southeastern Louisiana to Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised on BTN and carried on the IMG Husker Sports Radio Network. Live video will also be available at BTN2Go.

A limited number of returned tickets for Sunday’s game are available by visiting Huskers.com or at the Pinnacle Bank Arena box office beginning at 4:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

Sunday’s game against Southeastern Louisiana is the start of the Barclays Classic, as Nebraska will play two games in Lincoln (also Tuesday vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff) before completing the tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn next weekend.

Nebraska bounced back from a defeat against No. 11 Villanova with a 75-60 win over Delaware State on Thursday night. In that game, Shavon Shields and Andrew White III combined for 41 points, as the Huskers saw a 25-point lead cut to four before closing the contest on a 12-1 run, as the Huskers held DSU without a field goal for the final 5:23. The Huskers showed good movement on offense with 19 assists, including seven by Shields and four by Tai Webster, on 22 field goals.

Entering this weekend’s action, White and Shields both rank among the Big Ten scoring leaders. White, who began his career at Kansas, ranks third in the Big Ten with 18.7 points per game and leads the Big Ten in 3-pointers, while Shields is 14th at 15.3 points per game. Shields enters the weekend as one of only four Big Ten players averaging 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

Southeastern Louisiana is 1-2 on the season and is coming off a 76-69 win over Mississippi College on Tuesday evening. The Huskers will be the third power conference team the Lions have faced this season, as they lost games at TCU and against Texas A&M. They have upcoming games against Cincinnati, Florida State and Georgia Tech before beginning Southland Conference action in January.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
12 - Nebraska hit 12 3-pointers in Thursday’s win, which is the most by a Husker team since the 2011-12 season. NU is fourth in the Big Ten, hitting 9.7 3-pointers per game.

10 - Shavon Shields needs 10 points on Sunday to move past Brian Carr for 18th place on NU’s career scoring list. He is now also 29 points away from 17th on the Husker career scoring list. Shields ranks third among active Big Ten players in scoring and fourth in rebounding,

19 - Nebraska’s assist total from Thursday’s win over Delaware State, matching the most by a Husker team under Tim Miles.

49 - Nebraska coach Tim Miles is seeking his 50th win at Nebraska on Sunday. It will also be Miles’ 100th game at Nebraska.

100 - Benny Parker will play in his 100th consecutive game at Nebraska on Sunday. Parker has played in every game over the last three-plus seasons.

.794 - Nebraska is 27-7 at Pinnacle Bank Arena since the facility opened in the fall of 2013, including a 14-2 mark against non-conference opponents.

PREVIEWING SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
Southeastern Louisiana comes into tonight’s game with a 1-2 record following a 76-69 victory over Mississippi College on Tuesday night. Mike Hawkins led four Lions in double figures with 13 points, including 3-of-4 from long range in Tuesday’s win. Nebraska will be the third power conference team the Lions have faced, as Southeastern Louisiana lost to TCU and Texas A&M in its first two games.

The Lions were picked seventh in the Southland Conference preseason poll. Second-year coach Jay Ladner brings back six letterwinners, including a pair of starters, from a team that went 9-23 in 2014-15. Senior Zay Jackson leads Southeastern Louisiana with 13.3 points and 5.0 assists per game. As a junior, Jackson averaged 15.4 points and 4.6 assists per game to earn honorable-mention All-Southland honors. Jackson backed up current NBA performer Isaiah Canaan as a freshman at Murray State.

Series history: Nebraska won the only previous meeting, 77-59, on Jan. 5, 2010. In that game, Brandon Richardson had 15 points, while Ryan Anderson added 14 for the Huskers. The Huskers are 7-2 all-time against the current members of the Southland Conference.

LAST TIME OUT
Behind a game-high 21 points from Shavon Shields and 20 from Andrew White III, Nebraska improved to 2-1 on the season with a 70-65 win over Delaware State.

The Huskers (2-1) built a 25-point second-half lead, only to see the Hornets feverishly cut the deficit to four at 63-59 with 5:09 remaining after a basket from Jason Owens. Shields then ended the nearly seven minute dryspell with a basket before White’s 3-pointer from the wing pushed the lead back to nine, at 68-59, with 4:16 remaining.

The Huskers closed the game on a 12-1 run, all by Shields and White, as Nebraska held DSU without a field goal in the final five minutes.

Shields finished with 21 points, seven assists and five rebounds for his 16th career 20-point game. White tied or set a career high for the third straight outing with 20 points, including four 3-pointers, and four rebounds. The Huskers had 19 assists on 22 field goals and went 12-of-28 from the 3-point line, the most 3-pointers made by a Nebraska team since the 2011-12 season.
Nebraska, which led by 14 at the break, opened the second half on a 19-6 run, as Tai Webster’s 3-pointer gave the Huskers their largest lead of the night, at 63-38 with 11:54 left. From there, the Hornets run off 22 straight points, taking advantage of five Husker turnovers and six straight misses to whittle the lead to four before Shields’ basket steadied the attack.

After falling behind early, Glynn Watson keyed a 7-2 Husker run with five points and an assist, as Nebraska took a 12-11 lead. It took a while for the Huskers to find an offensive groove, but the Huskers ran off seven straight points, as a 3-pointer by Andrew White III gave the Huskers a 27-21 lead.

Delaware State pulled to within 31-26 after a Malik Carter jumper with 4:21 left in the half, but the Huskers took control in the final four minutes. Nebraska closed on a 15-6 surge behind six points from Shields and five from Jack McVeigh, capping the run on Jake Hammond’s tip in to beat the halftime buzzer.

NEWCOMERS SHOWING SCORING PUNCH
With the departure of three starters who are playing professionally, including two in the NBA D-League (Terran Petteway and Walter Pitchford), the biggest question was who could fill the scoring void for the Huskers, especially Petteway’s team-high 18.1 ppg.

Nebraska’s class of newcomers have shown the ability to provide offense in the early going. In the opener, the Huskers placed four players in double figures, a feat which happened only once during the 2014-15 season.

• Four of Nebraska’s top five scorers are in thier first year of competition as a Husker
• Newcomers have accounted for 63 percent of the Huskers’ scoring in the first three games.

Andrew White III has shown early that he could be a go-to scorer for the Big Red. The 6-foot-7 wing is third in the Big Ten in scoring at 18.7 points per game and is shooting 61 percent from the field. He has scored 18 or more points in all three games, including a career-high 20 points against Delaware State on Thursday. He has provided much-needed 3-point shooting, as he is second in the Big Ten with 3.7 3-pointers per game and is seventh in 3-point percentage.

Against Villanova, White had 18 points and matched his career high with six rebounds. Against Mississippi Valley State, White was efficient, hitting 7-of-10 shots from the field, including four 3-pointers, in just 16 minutes of action. It was the most points by a Husker making his debut since Andre Almeida had 20 points in his debut in 2010-11.

NU’s freshman class has played a significant role early on. Jack McVeigh is third on the team in scoring (9.7 ppg) and is shooting 53 percent from 3-point range. He came off the bench and totaled 16 points, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range, in just 13 minutes of action against MVSU. His 16 point effort was the highest total by a true freshman since Joe McCray had 23 points in his collegiate debut in 2004 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Glynn Watson Jr. is averaging 8.3 points per game and is third on the team with 2.7 assists per game. Watson had 12 points in the loss at No. 11 Villanova and had seven points and three assists against Delaware State. Ed Morrow Jr. is second on the squad in rebounding at 4.7 boards per game and is averaging 4.3 points per game on 60 percent shooting.