Huskers Host Hoosiers on Saturday

GAME 15: INDIANA Date: Saturday, Jan. 2 Time: 3:06 p.m. Location: Pinnacle Bank Arena Tickets: Huskers.com/Tickets NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS 2015-16 Record: 8-6 Head coach: Tim Miles Record at Nebraska: 55-55 (4th year) Career Record: 338-275 (21st year) INDIANA HOOSIERS 2015-16 Record: 11-3 Head coach: Tom Crean Record at Indiana: 131-114 (8th year) Career Record: 322-210 (17th year) BROADCAST INFO Television: BTN Play-by-play: Steve Physioc Expert Analysis: Bob Wenzel 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. Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka Expert Analysis: Matt Davison Satellite Radio: Sirius-135 XM-195 Also available online at Huskers.com, on the Huskers App and TuneIn Radio

The Nebraska men’s basketball team looks to bounce back after Wednesday’s loss to Northwestern, as the Huskers host Indiana at Pinnacle Bank Arena Saturday afternoon.

Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. and tickets are available for the contest by calling the NU Athletics Ticket Office at 800-8-BIGRED, visiting Huskers.com or at the Pinnacle Bank Arena box office beginning at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The game will be televised nationally on BTN with Steve Physioc and Bob Wenzel on the call. The game between the Huskers and Hoosiers will also be available on BTN2Go on laptops, tablets and mobile devices.

Saturday’s contest will also air across the state on the Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka and Matt Davison, including KLIN 1400 AM in Lincoln, KXSP 590 AM in Omaha and KRVN 880 in Lexington and is also available on Huskers.com and the Huskers App.

The Huskers (8-6, 0-1 Big Ten) put three players in double figures, but were unable to hold a lead down the stretch, as the Huskers lost to Northwestern, 81-72, in the Big Ten opener for both teams. Nebraska received a career day from Benny Parker, as the senior tied or set personal bests in both points (17) and assists (seven), and grabbed five rebounds in a losing effort. Nebraska led 51-39 with 17:43 left, but Northwestern shot 55 percent in the second half to rally down the stretch. Andrew White III continued his strong early season play with 22 points, including five 3-pointers, while Tai Webster added 11 points off the bench. Nebraska had 18 assists and a season-low six turnovers, but was out-rebounded, 40-25, on the glass in the loss.

Indiana (11-3, 1-0 Big Ten) comes to town riding a six-game win streak following a 79-72 win at Rutgers Wednesday afternoon. Yogi Ferrell had 20 points and seven assists for the Hoosiers, while Max Bielfeldt had 18 points and 14 points off the bench. Indiana leads the Big Ten in offense, averaging 88.4 points per game and shoots 45 percent from 3-point range.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

17 - Career high points for Benny Parker against Northwestern. The senior went 5-10 from 3-point range and added seven assists and two steals in the loss.

8 - Benny Parker became the eighth different player to lead NU in rebounding in 2015-16, as he grabbed a season-high five boards against Northwestern. It marked the first time in 110 career games that Parker tied or led the team in rebounding.

9 - Nebraska has scored 70+ points nine times this season, which matches the number of times the Huskers did it during the entire 2014-15 season.

11 - Nebraska hit 11 3-pointers in Wednesday’s loss to Northwestern, the third time this season NU hit 10-or-more 3-pointers in a game.

3-to-1 - Nebraska’s 18 assists compared to six turnovers gave NU a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. It was NU’s best effort since posting a 3.5-to-1 ratio against Purdue during the 2012-13 season. In that game, NU had just seven assists, but set a school record with just two turnovers. Here are the five best assist-to-turnover ratio games under Miles at NU.

No.	Opponent	Year
3.5	Purdue	2012-13
3.0	Northwestern	2014-15
2.5	vs. Purdue	2012-13 (B1G)
2.2	South Carolina State	2013-14
2.0	at Michigan State	2013-14

SCOUTING INDIANA
Indiana enters Saturday’s game with an 11-3 mark following a seven-point win at Rutgers on Wednesday. The Hoosiers have won six straight since a loss at Duke on Dec. 2, including a win over Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis. The Hoosiers’ other two losses came against Wake Forest and UNLV in the Maui Invitational.

Indiana returned four starters and nine letterwinners from a team that went 20-14 before losing to Wichita State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Under eighth-year coach Tom Crean, Indiana has the Big Ten’s top offensive attack, leading the conference in points per game (88.4), field goal percentage (.533) and 3-point percentage (.449) while ranking fourth in rebounding (+7.8 per game).

Senior point guard Yogi Ferrell is one of the Big Ten’s top performers, as he averages 16.4 points and 6.0 assists per game to rank in the top six in both categories. He is one of four Indiana players averaging double figures. Troy Williams averages 13.6 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game, while freshman Thomas Bryant averages 11.5 points on 72 percent shooting and 4.9 caroms per game. The Hoosiers may be without one of their top players, as James Blackmon Jr. (15.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg) missed the Rutgers game with an injury and his status is undetermined.

SERIES HISTORY
Nebraska and Indiana meet for the 15th time on Saturday, and sixth since the Huskers joined the Big Ten. Indiana leads the all-time series, 10-4, but Nebraska has won three of the five meetings since joining the conference. Indiana won the only meeting of 2015-16, and the teams will meet again in Bloomington on Feb. 17.

Last Meeting: Nebraska erased a 16-point first-half deficit, but could not complete the comeback, as the Huskers lost a hard-fought battle to Indiana, 70-65, in the 2014-15 Big Ten Conference opener. Nebraska used a 26-6 run to take a 46-42 lead with 15:38 left after a Walter Pitchford 3-pointer. With the score deadlocked at 49, Indiana used a 12-3 run to take a nine-point lead and never trailed again. Terran Petteway had a game-high 23 points for Nebraska, while Shavon Shields added 20 points. Robert Johnson led three Hoosiers in double figures with 14 points, while Mosquera-Perea tied his career high with 12 points and posted a double-double by adding 10 rebounds.

LAST TIME OUT
Despite a career performance from senior Benny Parker, the Nebraska men’s basketball team fell to Northwestern, 81-72, in the Huskers’ Big Ten opener. Parker put together the finest effort his Husker career, setting career highs in both points (17) and assists (seven), as the guard hit a career-high five 3-pointers in a losing effort.

Nebraska was unable to control Northwestern, as the Wildcats overcome a 12-point second-half deficit to improve to 13-1 on the season. Derek Pardon led the Northwestern comeback, scoring 23 of 28 points in the second half on 9-of-10 shooting, as the Wildcats shot 55 percent in the second half and put four players in double figures.

Andrew White III added 22 points, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range for the Huskers, as Nebraska used a 21-4 spurt to erase a five-point deficit and take a 51-39 lead after a steal and layup from Parker with 17:43 left.

Nebraska led 54-44 after White’s 3-pointer with 15:56 left, but the Wildcats would not go away. NU led 66-63 after White’s fifth 3-pointer of the game with 5:14 left, but Northwestern would take control, running off eight straight points, capped by a jumper with Tre Demps to make it 71-66 with 2:25 remaining.

DID YOU KNOW

• Saturday’s game features two of the most opportunistic defenses in the Big Ten, as Indiana leads the Big Ten in steals (7.9 per game) while Nebraska is second at 7.4 steals per contest. The Huskers have four players averaging at least one steal per game.
• Nebraska has done a much better job with ball movement in the last two games, averaging 17.5 assists per game after averaging 12.1 assists per game in the first 12 contests. Benny Parker and Glynn Watson have combined for 17 assists and just three turnovers in that span, a big reason NU has a 1.84-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in that stretch.
• Nebraska is the only school in the Big Ten with multiple players averaging at least 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game, as both Andrew White and Shavon Shields have reached that plateau. Entering the week, only 62 players in Division I have averaged that in 2015-16.
• Six of Nebraska’s 1,000-point scorers hail from the state of Indiana (Carl McPipe-Hammond; Tom Baack-Fort Wayne; Jack Moore--Muncie; Brian Carr-Muncie; Brian Banks-Hammond; Herschell Turner-Indianapolis).
• Saturday marks the fifth matchup between Tom Crean and Nebraska Coach Tim Miles. In addition to the four meetings since Miles was hired at Nebraska before the 2012-13 season, Miles’ North Dakota State team upset eighth-ranked Marquette, 64-60, in the championship game of the 2006 Blue and Gold Classic in Milwaukee.
• Much of Nebraska’s inconsistency can be attributed to you, as freshmen have accounted for 35 percent of the Huskers’ minutes in 2015-16.

IMPROVED OFFENSE IN 2015-16
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 entering the season was who could fill the scoring void for the Huskers. Nebraska’s newcomers have shown the ability to provide offense in the early going, as Nebraska’s 73.6 points per game is nearly seven points higher than NU’s average through its first 14 games of 2015-16 (66.9 ppg)

• NU’s 73.6 average is the highest scoring average since the 2006-07 team averaged 73.7 points per game through the first 14 games of the season.
• Ten different Huskers have reached double figures at least once, a total which ties for second nationally, while three players (Shields, Webster and White) have also recorded 20-point efforts.
• Nebraska has two 90-point games, the first two times in Miles’ four seasons that Nebraska has scored at least 90 points in a game, and two others with at least 80 points.
• The biggest improvement has come from the 3-point line, as the Huskers were 340th in that category last season (.284) and are 105th (.363) entering Saturday’s game with Indiana.
• Four of Nebraska’s top-seven scorers are in their first year of competition as a Husker, as newcomers have accounted for 52.2 percent of NU’s total offense in the first 13 games.
• Five of NU’s newcomers have already posted double-digit efforts, including a team-high 12 by Andrew White III and five by Glynn Watson Jr.

ANDREW IS WHITE HOT
Junior Andrew White III has become one of the Big Ten’s top newcomers in 2015-16. The 6-foot-7 wing is fifth in the Big Ten in scoring at 17.4 points per game, which leads all conference newcomers. He is also 17th in steals (1.1 spg) and 20th in rebounding (5.5 rpg), pacing the Huskers in scoring and rebounding.

• White is one of the Big Ten’s top 3-point shooters, ranking fifth in 3-pointers per game (2.6) while shooting 43.5 percent from long range to rank 13th in the Big Ten.
• White has four games with at least four 3-pointers, including a career-high five 3-pointers against Northwestern on Dec. 30.
• White has been in double figures in 12 of NU’s 14 games, including a trio of 20-point efforts.
• He has been in double figures in each of the Huskers’ last eight contests dating back to Nov. 28, averaging 19.4 ppg on 53 percent shooting and 6.3 rebounds per game.
• White recorded his first career 30-point effort against Abilene Christian on Dec. 5, finishing with 30 points, including 14-of-16 from the foul line, seven rebounds and four steals.
• He has two double-doubles on the year, posting them against Creighton (28 points and 10 rebounds) and Samford (17 points and 11 rebounds).
• He made an impressive debut against Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 14, totaling 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting in just 16 minutes. It was the most points by a Husker making his debut since Andre Almeida’s 20-point effort in his debut in 2010-11.
• White 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 was ranked as one of 20 Impact Transfers by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports prio­r to the start of the season.

SHIELDS IS HUSKERS' JACK OF ALL TRADES
For the first time since 2007, Nebraska returned a 1,000-point scorer to the lineup, as Shavon Shields now has 1,348 points to rank 12th on NU’s career scoring list. Shields has climbed from 24th to 12th during his senior year and is in position to finish his career in the top-10 all-time.
On the season, the 6-foot-7 senior is averaging 15.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Shields ranks 10th in the Big Ten in scoring and seventh in steals, and is first or second on the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.

• He enters Saturday's game needing 11 rebounds to become just the eighth person in school history with 1,300 points and 600 rebounds.
• Shields is one of only 14 players nationally averaging 15.5 ppg, 5.25 rpg, 2.75 apg and 1.25 spg, a list that also features Kris Dunn of Providence, Ben Simmons of LSU, Malcolm Hill of Illinois and Gary Payton III of Oregon State.
• He has reached double figures in 11 of NU’s 14 games, including a season-high 28-point, five-rebound effort against No. 21 Miami on Dec. 1.
• Shields has four 20-point games this season, including a 25-point effort against Samford on Dec. 20 and 21 points against Delaware State (Nov. 19) and Abilene Christian (Dec. 5).
• He turned in a strong performance against Rhode Island with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in the 70-67 win.
• Shields has 66 career games in double figures, including 18 career 20-point performances and a pair of 30-point efforts. He scored a career-high 35 against Omaha (11/25/14) and had 33 points against Illinois (2/14/14) and is one of just 14 players in school history with multiple 30-point games
• Shields is just the second player in school history to be a three-year captain and is a returning first-team Academic All-American. In 2014, he was also one of 16 national finalists across all of Division I athletics for the 2014 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award.
• As a junior, he may have been one of the most underrated players in the Big Ten, as the 6-foot-7 wing averaged 15.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. He led NU in rebounding for the second straight year and was second on the team in both scoring and assists. He ranked among the Big Ten leaders in scoring (ninth), rebounding (14th) and free throw percentage (.827, fifth).
• Shields was one of only three players from a power conference to average 15.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in 2014-15, joining National Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin) and Tyrone Wallace (Cal).
• Shavon is also a nominee for the Senior Class Award and the NABC Good Works Team and is active in the community. That should be no surprise as his father, Will, is a former NFL Man of the Year for his efforts in the Kansas City Community. The elder Shields was enshrined into the NFL Hall of Fame last August and was already a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

TAI’S TAKING CHARGE
After a slow start, junior Tai Webster has played some of the best basketball of his career over the last six weeks. The 6-foot-4 guard has averaged 11.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game over the last 11 games after averaging just 3.0 points in NU’s first three games. Throughout the year, Webster has been exceptional defensively averaging 1.1 steals per game and limiting opposing guards with his combination of size and speed.

• Webster has been in double figures seven times in his last 10 games after reaching it a total of seven times in his first two seasons.
• He has been effective as a scoring guard off the bench, averaging 10.5 points per game on 54 percent shooting over the last two games, adding an experienced scorer to the Huskers’ second unit.
• Webster had 10 points, three steals and two assists in 21 minutes off the bench against Prairie View A&M and had 11 points against Northwestern.
• He had 15 points and three assists at Creighton on Dec. 9.
• Webster scored all 10 of his points in the second half against Abilene Christian on Dec. 5 while adding five boards and a pair of blocked shots.
• Webster earned all-tournament honors at the Barclays Center Classic in November, averaging 19.5 points on 56 percent shooting and 5.0 rebounds per game against No. 24 Cincinnati and Tennessee.
• He enjoyed his breakout performance in the loss to No. 24 Cincinnati on Nov. 27, posting career highs in points (21) and rebounds (eight) while battling a stomach virus that kept him out of shootaround earlier that day. One day later against Tennessee, he added 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting against Tennessee.

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, ties 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.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
Nebraska’s freshman class has provided an early impact for the Big Red. The class, which was ranked among the nation’s best, has accounted for nearly 30 percent of Nebraska’s point production. Glynn Watson Jr., Jack McVeigh, Ed Morrow Jr. and Michael Jacobson have played in all 14 games, while Bakari Evelyn has appeared in eight contests.

• Three of the freshmen have started at least one game, while Michael Jacobson has started NU’s last five games. During the last two games, Glynn Watson Jr. has joined Jacobson in the Huskers’ lineup. In addition, Ed Morrow started at center against Abilene Christian on Dec. 5.
• Watson has seen time at both guard spots, averaging 7.1 points and 2.7 assists per game while posting a team-best 2.9-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He is also second on the team with 1.1 steals per game.
•  He has been in double figures five times, including a season-high 17 points in the win ver Rhode Island on Dec. 13. In that game, he scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half to rally the Huskers from an 11-point deficit.
• Watson had 11 points, including a game-tying 3-pointer with 18 seconds left, in the overtime loss to No. 21 Miami on Dec. 1, and tallied 14 points against Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 22.
• Jacobson, who missed nearly two months with a foot injury, has averaged 4.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in just 13.1 minutes per outing. He had 11 points and seven rebounds against Southeastern Louisiana and totaled a season-best eight caroms against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
• Jacobson moved into the starting lineup the past four games and is averaging 5.4 points on 53 and 3.8 rebounds in that stretch, including 11 points in the win over Rhode Island on Dec. 13.
• McVeigh has been one of the primary scorers for the second unit, averaging 4.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. He is third on the team with 13 3-pointers while shooting 35 percent from long range.
• McVeigh made a quick first impression, coming off the bench for 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.
• McVeigh has scored eight or more points five times, and had eight points and five rebounds in the win over Tennessee on Nov. 28.
• Ed Morrow Jr. joins Jacobson in adding depth on the post. Morrow has played in all 14 games and averages 3.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while ranking second on the team with nine blocked shots.
• Morrow has provided a strong rebounder in his limited action, totaling four or more rebounds eight times while averaging 13.6 minutes per game.
• Morrow had a season-high 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting against Southeastern Louisiana and had seven points against Mississippi Valley State.