Huskers Take on Vols at Barclays Center Classic

NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS 2015-16 Record: 4-2 Head coach: Tim Miles Record at Nebraska: 51-51 (4th year) Career Record: 334-271 (21st year) TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS 2015-16 Record: 4-2 Head coach: Rick Barnes Record at Tenn.: 4-2 (1st year) Career Record: 608-315 (29th year) BROADCAST INFO Television: None Online: None Radio: IMG Husker Sports Radio Network, including KLIN (1400 AM) in Lincoln, KXSP (590 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington. Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka Also available online at Huskers.com, on the Huskers App and TuneIn Radio

The Nebraska basketball team looks to return to its winning ways Saturday afternoon, as the Huskers face Tennessee for third place in the Barclays Center Classic presented by Honda.

Tipoff from the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn is set for 11 a.m. central, and there will be no television or video. Fans can listen to the action on the Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka on the call, including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln and KSXP 590 AM in Omaha. It is the only game of the 2015-16 season that won’t have television or Internet video coverage.

Nebraska, which is 4-2 on the season with both of its losses coming to ranked teams, gave No. 24 Cincinnati all it could handle before falling 65-61. Junior Tai Webster turned in a strong performance, finishing with career highs in both points (21) and rebounds (eight), while Shavon Shields finished with 14 points before fouling out. 

Webster’s effort against the Bearcats continued a string of solid outings, as he is 10.8 points per game on 54 percent shooting along with 5.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists over the Huskers last four contests. 

Behind the play of Webster and Shields, Nebraska led 49-47 with under eight minutes remaining, but was unable to close the game out as the Bearcats went on a 10-0 run. The Huskers held Cincinnati to 39 percent shooting, but were out-rebounded, 39-29 and that led to 22 second-chance points for the Bearcats. It marked the first time in six games this season that the Huskers were out-rebounded.

Tennessee comes into Saturday’s matchup with a 4-2 record after falling to George Washington, 73-70, Friday evening. In that game, Kevin Punter led Tennessee with 24 points, but the Volunteers allowed GW to shoot 45 percent and enjoy a 47-30 advantage on the glass. Punter is one of the SEC’s top scorers, averaging 22.0 points per game and connecting on over 40 percent from 3-point range. He is one of four Tennessee players in double figures for Rick Barnes, who spent the previous 17 seasons at Texas.

Following Saturday’s game, the seventh in the last 15 days for NU, the Huskers return home to face No. 15 Miami Tuesday at 8 p.m. as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
3 - Tai Webster became the third different Husker to score 20 points in a game this season. The last time NU had thre players score at least 20 points came in 2012-13.

1 - Nebraska coach Tim Miles has faced one SEC team in his tenure. On Nov. 24, 2013, the Huskers defeated Georgia, 73-65, at the Charleston Classic.

7 - Nebraska’s seven games in November matches the most ever in program history (also 2013).

9 - Number of Huskers who have reached double figures during the first six games of 2015-16. Last year, NU had only eight players reach double figures in 31 games.

12-1 - Assist to turnover ratio for freshman Glynn Watson Jr. over the last four games. Watson is also averaging 8.0 points per game in that stretch.

1,210 - Career points for Shavon Shields entering Saturday’s game with Tennessee. Shields, who is third among active Big Ten players in scoring, moved past Jack Moore (1,204, 1979-82) for 18th place on NU’s career scoring chart. He is now 13 points away from Larry Florence (1,223, 1997-2000.) for 17th place.

LAST TIME OUT
Behind a career-high 21 points from Tai Webster, Nebraska took No. 24 Cincinnati to the limit before falling, 65-61 at the Barclays Center Classic Friday night.
Webster, was spectacular in defeat, hitting 7-of-12 from the field and adding eight rebounds, as Nebraska (4-2) was in position to upset the Bearcats until the final minutes. The effort was more impressive considering that Webster was under the weather most of Friday and missed the team’s shootaround earlier in the day.
Troy Caupain led three Bearcats in double figures for Cincinnati (6-0) with 17 points while Shaq Thomas and Octavious Ellis added 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Ellis was key down the stretch, scoring 10 of his 12 points in a 10-0 spurt after Nebraska took a 49-47 lead after three Webster free throws with 7:23 remaining. Nebraska battled back, cutting the deficit to 59-54 after a pair of Webster free throws with 1:02 left.
NU, which was forced to foul, kept getting closer, as UC went 5-of-8 from the line in the final minute. NU got a 3-pointer from Glynn Watson Jr. and two baskets from Webster to pull within 64-61 with nine seconds left. NU fouled Kevin Johnson with seven seconds left, and he split the pair and NU was unable to get closer.
The Huskers hung tough despite Shavon Shields playing only 20 minutes because of foul trouble. Shields scored 11 of 14 points in the second half before fouling out with 1:29 left.

HUSKERS TO PLAY IN 2016 WOODEN LEGACY
The Nebraska men’s basketball team will be on the West Coast next year for Thanksgiving, as ESPN announced the field for the DIRECTV Wooden Legacy on Nov. 27.
The event takes place next November (Nov. 24, 25 and 27) in Orange County, Calif. The first two days will be held on the campus of Cal-State Fullerton and the final day of competition will be at Honda Center in Anaheim. The 2016 field consists of Cal State Northridge, Dayton, Nebraska, New Mexico, Portland, Texas A&M, UCLA and Virginia Tech.
Four of the teams reached postseason play in 2015, including UCLA, which advanced to the Sweet 16, while Dayton reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M, which is ranked 25th this week in the AP poll, was in the 2015 NIT while Portland appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
Nebraska has faced five of the eight teams in the field, compiling a 16-15 record. Of the 21 matchups, 20 came against former Big 12 member Texas A&M, but the teams have not met since both left the conference. Nebraska also played UCLA five times, but not since 1985.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
With only five returning players who saw time for the Huskers last year, Nebraska is one of the youngest teams in the country in 2015-16. Nebraska’s 10 newcomers, which includes Andrew White III, who did not play last year, tie for third most nationally. The Huskers also have seven freshmen, which ties for fourth nationally. Of the nine programs with seven or more freshmen in 2015-16, three (Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin) are in the Big Ten.

QUICK HITTERS
*-Nebraska is 2-0 all-time against Tennessee, posting wins in the 2002-03 season (77-62 in Lincoln) and 2003-04 season (62-61 in Knoxville).
*-Nebraska is 115-166 all-time against the SEC, but a majority of those matchups came against former Big 12 rivals Missouri and Texas A&M.
*-The Huskers and adidas will debut their White Ice jersey today. The uniforms feature a diamond pattern—inspired by basketball nets - with a reflective finish running along the sides of the jersey top and shorts. The Husker jersey also includes sleeves.
*-Entering Saturday’s game, 58 percent of Nebraska’s scoring has been done by players in their first year of competition as a Husker.
*-Webster’s 21-point effort on Friday marked the first time in 68 career games he led NU in scoring and only the second time he paced the Huskers in rebounding, as he topped NU with eight caroms.
*-Andrew White III has scored 89 points in six games for the Huskers, reaching double figures four times. He is 11 points away from matching his entire two-year point total at Kansas (100 points in 44 appearances).
*-Andrew White III looks to continue a trend of high-impact transfers under Miles who have gone on to first-team All-conference honors, including Terran Petteway (2014) at NU and Andy Ogide (2011) and Wes Eikmeier (2012) during Miles’ tenure at Colorado State. White’s 14.8 points per game is the highest for any newcomer in the Big Ten entering Saturday’s action.
*-Nebraska has had its two lowest turnover efforts in the last two games, committing 11 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and 12 against Cincinnati. In the previous four games, NU averaged 17.8 turnovers per game.
*-Dating back to 2013-14, only one team has shot over 50 percent against the Huskers in the last 49 contests.