Huskers Look for Third Straight Win

GAME 19: AT ILLINOIS Date: Saturday, Jan. 16 Time: 1:36 p.m. Arena State Farm Center Location: Champaign, Ill. NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS 2015-16 Record: 10-8, 2-3 Big Ten Head coach: Tim Miles Record at Nebraska: 57-57 (4th year) Career Record: 340-277 (21st year) ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI 2015-16 Record: 9-8, 1-3 Big Ten Head coach: John Groce Record at Illinois: 70-50 (4th year) Career Record: 156-104 (8th year) BROADCAST INFO Television: BTN Play-by-play: Jeff Levering Expert Analysis: Shon Morris Online: BTN2Go and on BTN.com 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 (Illinois feed): Sirius-135; XM-195 Also available online at Huskers.com, on the Huskers App and TuneIn Radio

The Nebraska men’s basketball team goes for three wins in a row Saturday afternoon, as the Huskers travel to Champaign to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Tipoff from the State Farm Center is slated for 1:36 p.m. and the contest will be televised nationally on BTN with Jeff Levering and Shon Morris on the call. The contest will also be available on BTN2Go on laptops, tablets and mobile devices.

Saturday’s contest will also air across the state of Nebraska 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 (10-8, 2-3 Big Ten) come into Saturday’s contest after scoring 80 or more points in consecutive conference games for the first time in 14 years. In Tuesday’s 84-59 win over Minnesota, Shavon Shields led NU with 24 points and eight rebounds as Nebraska shot 52 percent and enjoyed a 40-22 advantage on the glass. Shields was 7-of-10 from the floor in Tuesday’s win and is averaging 16.0 ppg on 63 percent shooting over the Huskers’ last three contests.

If the Huskers are to pick up their third straight win and first-ever Big Ten victory in Champaign, the Huskers will need another solid defensive effort. After allowing its first two opponents to shoot 52 percent, NU has held its last three opponents to a combined 39 percent from the floor.

Illinois (9-8, 1-3 Big Ten) comes off its best performance of the season, an 84-70 win over Purdue last Sunday and has six days off heading into Saturday’s game. The Illini shot 54 percent against a Boilermaker defense which was leading the country in field goal defense.
Illinois features one of the Big Ten’s top offensive duos in juniors Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill. Nunn is averaging 18.8 ppg and is shooting 43 percent from 3-point range, while Hill is at 18.1 ppg and leads Illinois with 3.4 assists per game.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
1994 - The last time the Huskers scored 80 or more points in three straight conference games. That year, NU has six straight games of at least 80 points from Feb. 12-March 2.

.813 - Freshman Ed Morrow Jr. is shooting 81.3 percent in Big Ten play and is averaging 9.5 ppg in NU’s last two games. NU’s two primary freshman posts, Morrow and Jacobson, are combining for 10.8 points on 62 percent shooting and 6.6 rebounds per game in Big Ten games.

1.6 - Blocked shots per game for Michael Jacobson in Big Ten play. The freshman had a career-high three blocked shots in Tuesday’s win over Minnesota. In Big Ten play, he is averaging 5.2 points on 50 percent shooting and 4.2 rebounds per game.

2000-01 - The last time a Husker averaged at least 15.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 3.0 apg in a season (Cookie Belcher), numbers which Shavon Shields (15.5 ppg; 5.4 rpg; 2.9 apg) is threatening in 2015-16.

11 - Nebraska has scored 70+ points 10 times this season, which tops the number of times the Huskers did it during the entire 2014-15 season (nine).

12- Number of 20-point games by the Huskers in 2015-16 (5-White III and Shields; 2-Webster). Prior to this season, the last time NU had three players with multiple 20-point games in a season was 2005-06.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS
Under fourth-year Coach John Groce, Illinois is 9-8 on the season following a 84-70 win over No. 20 Purdue on Jan. 10. The win snapped a three-game losing streak to open Big Ten play for Illinois, which has been plagued by injuries during the year. as they missed three potential starters for long stretches of the year.

The Illini features a high-scoring combo of Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn, as the pair accounts for nearly 37 points and over 11 rebounds per contest. Against Purdue, the pair combined for 52 points, including a 30-point, eight-rebound effort from Hill. An honorable-mention All-Big Ten pick in 2015, Hill has been in double figures in all 17 games, including a pair of 30-point efforts.

Saturday’s matchup is the only one between the schools in 2015-16.

SERIES HISTORY
Illinois leads the all-time series, 12-5, over Nebraska in a series that dates back to 1921. The Illini have won five of the eight matchups since the Huskers joined the Big Ten. The home team has won the last five meetings and seven of the last eight meetings. Prior to Nebraska joining the conference, the Huskers and Illini had played only once since 1976 - a 100-73 Husker victory in the 1990 San Juan Shootout. Nebraska is 1-8 in Champaign and has not won there since a 30-25 Husker victory on Jan. 1, 1921 - the first-ever meeting between the schools.

LAST SEASON
Nebraska 53, Illinois 43 (Jan. 11, 2015):  Nebraska put together its best defensive effort in the Tim Miles era, holding Illinois to 27 percent shooting in a 53-43 win. Nebraska held Illinois to 15-of-55 shooting, including 6-of-29 from 3-point range. The shooting percentage was the lowest by a Husker foe in conference play in over nine years. Terran Petteway led the Huskers with 18 points and four assists, while Shavon Shields added 11 points, eight rebounds and matched his career high with five assists for the victors. Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn led Illinois with 12 points apiece.

Illinois 69, Nebraska 57 (March 4, 2015): Shavon Shields led three Huskers in double figures with 14 points, but Illinois pulled away in the final minutes for a 69-57 win over the Huskers. Ravonte Rice scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer with 1:30 left after Nebraska was within 56-50. The Huskers had three players finish in double figures, as Terran Petteway added 13 points, while David Rivers finished with 10 points and five rebounds. Illinois won the game from the 3-point line and the foul line, as the hosts went 7-of-16 from long range and 20-23 from the line, compared to just 4-of-5 for Nebraska.

LAST TIME OUT
Shavon Shields’ 24 points and eight rebounds paced Nebraska to an 84-59 romp of Minnesota. Shields, who was making his 100th consecutive start for the Huskers, scored 19 of his points in the first half on 6-of-9 shooting, as the Huskers raced to a 21-point halftime lead.

Nebraska took control midway through the first half, using a 29-4 spurt to erase an early deficit, behind Shields, who scored nine points in the run to help NU take a 20-point lead in the first 14 minutes of the contest.

The Huskers, who shot 51 percent on the night, used an 8-0 lead to take the lead following a 3-point play from freshman Edward Morrow Jr., before a 15-0 spurt later in the run provided the Huskers a comfortable margin, as Nebraska put up 47 first-half points, its highest total in a conference game since 2001.

The 25-point win, along with Saturday’s 34-point win at Rutgers, gave the Huskers consecutive 20+ point wins in conference play for the first time since 1971. Nebraska also cracked 80 points in back-to-back conference games for the first time since 2001.

Andrew White III joined Shields in double figures with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Michael Jacobson, Morrow and Tai Webster finished with nine points each, as 10 players broke into the scoring column. NU held the Gophers to 41 percent shooting and outrebounded Minnesota, 40-22.

DID YOU KNOW

• Nebraska’s roster features a pair of Illinois natives in Glynn Watson Jr. and Ed Morrow Jr. (Chicago). In fact, Watson’s older brother is former Illinois standout Demetri McCamey, who is currently in the D-League, while Watson and Illinois guard D.J. Williams were teammates last year at Simeon High School.
• Glynn Watson Jr. has been one of the Big Ten’s best newcomers at point guard this season. The Bellwood, Ill., product is averaging 7.3 ppg and 2.7 apg while his assist-to-turnover ratio is one of the best by a Husker in recent seasons. In fact, Watson could be the first Husker in over two decades to finish with better than a 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Here are the top three totals since 1993, noting that both Johnson and Richardson accomplished those numbers during their senior season.

Huskers with 2.5 Assist-to-Turnover Ratio Since 1993

Ratio	Player	Asst.-TO’s	Year
2.73	Jamar Johnson	125-45	1993-94
2.67	Glynn Watson Jr.	48-18	2015-16
2.52	Charles Richadson Jr.	179-71	2006-07

minimum 2 assists/gm

• Nebraska Coach Jim Molinari is no stranger to the state of Illinois, having served as a head coach at Northern Illinois, Bradley and Western Illinois in addition to his longtime stint as an assistant coach at DePaul.
• Andrew White III is one of only 19 players nationally averaging at least 15 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 75 percent from the foul line through Wednesday’s games.
• Nebraska is the only school in the Big Ten and one of four in the nation (Duke, Florida State and Washington) 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 Thursday’s action, only 61 players in Division I reach those averages.
• Nebraska’s ball movement has been better since putting freshman Glynn Watson Jr. into the starting lineup five games ago. NU has averaged 14.3 assists per game over the last six games, as compared to 12.1 for NU’s first 12 contests. Benny Parker and Watson have combined for 35 assists and just 10 turnovers in that span, while Shavon Shields is averaging 3.2 assists per game.
• Nebraska is second in the Big Ten with 7.4 steals per game and features five players who average at least a steal per game.
• Much of Nebraska’s inconsistency can be attributed to youth, as freshmen account for 36 percent of the Huskers’ minutes in 2015-16. In Big Ten action, that number jumps to 39 percent of the Huskers’ total playing time.
• Nebraska's 3-point shooting has jumped from 28.4 percent to 36.1 percent this season, which is on track to be the second-highest increase for the Huskers since the 3-point line was instituted in the 1986-87 season. NU jumped from 27.6 percent to 38.9 percent between the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.
• Nebraska has three 90-point games this season, which matches the team’s total for the previous eight seasons.

IMPROVED OFFENSE KEY FOR HUSKERS
With the departure of three starters who played professionally, including Terran Petteway, who is with Fort Wayne in the NBA D-League, 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 73.8 points per game entering Saturday’s game at Illinois is nearly 10 points higher than NU’s average through its first 18 games of 2014-15 (64.5 ppg)

• NU’s 74.4 average is the highest scoring average after 18 games since the 1996-97 season (74.6 ppg).
• At this pace, it would be Nebraska’s highest scoring average since the 1995-96 team averaged 80.2 points per game. Since 2000, only the 2003-04 (70.5 ppg) and 2000-01 (71.1 ppg) teams have eclipsed the 70-points per game mark.
• Ten Huskers have reached double figures at least once, while three players (Shields, Webster and White) have also recorded multiple 20-point efforts. It marks the first time in 10 years that NU had three players with multiple 20-point games.
• Nebraska has three 90-point games and three 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 109th (.361) entering Saturday’s game with Illinois.
• Five of Nebraska’s top-eight scorers are in their first year of competition as a Husker, as newcomers have accounted for 53 percent of NU’s total offense in the first 17 games.
• Five of NU’s newcomers have already posted double-digit efforts, including a team-high 15 by Andrew White III and six by Glynn Watson Jr.

WHITE MAKES IMMEDIATE IMPACT
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 17.5 points per game, which leads all conference newcomers. He is also 16th in rebounding (5.9 rpg), pacing the Huskers in scoring and rebounding.

• White is one of the Big Ten’s top 3-point shooters, ranking third in 3-pointers per game (2.8) while shooting 44.6 percent from long range.
• According to STATS Inc., White is one of only four players in the last 20 years to score 75 points and grab 25 rebounds in their first four Big Ten games, joining Kris Humphries, Michael Redd and Diamond Stone.
• White has been in double figures in 15 of NU’s 18 games, including five 20-point efforts.
• He has two double-doubles on the year, posting them against Creighton (28 points and 10 rebounds) and Samford (17 points and 11 rebounds).
• White nearly picked up his third double-double of the year at Rutgers on Jan. 9, finishing with 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting and nine rebounds.
• 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.
• White has five games with at least four 3-pointers, including a career-high five 3-pointers against Northwestern on Dec. 30 and at Rutgers on Jan. 9.
• 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 MAKING CLIMB TO TOP-10
One of the most efficient players in school history, senior Shavon Shields has a chance to finish his career on NU’s top-10 list in both points and rebounds. The 6-foot-7 forward has 1,406 points to rank 12th on NU’s career scoring list. Shields has climbed from 24th to 12th during his senior year and sits in 16th place with 611 career rebounds.

On the season, the 6-foot-7 senior is averaging 15.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Shields ranks 11th in the Big Ten in scoring and sixth in steals, and is first or second on the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.

• Shields is one of only 19 players nationally averaging 15.0 ppg, 5.0 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. No Husker has finished the year with those numbers since Cookie Belcher in 2000-01.
• He could climb career charts in two categories on Saturday, as he needs 11 points to pass former Big 12 Player of the Year Venson Hamilton for 11th on NU’s points list and is eight rebounds away from moving past Bruce Chubick for 15th on NU’s rebounds list.
• Against Minnesota on Jan. 12, Shields became just the seventh Husker to score 1,400 points and grab 600 rebounds as a Husker, as he celebrated his 100th consecutive start with 24 points and a season-high eight rebounds.
• He has reached double figures in 15 of NU’s 18 games, including a season-high 28-point, five-rebound effort against No. 21 Miami on Dec. 1.
• Shields has 70 career games in double figures, including 19 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 has five 20-point games this season, including a 24-point effort in the win over Minnesota on Jan. 12.
• 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.

DURIBILITY IS SHIELDS’ STANDARD
Shavon Shields joined an exclusive club for Nebraska on Tuesday, as he started his 100th consecutive game against Minnesota. He joined Dave Hoppen as the only Huskers to reach that plateau, as Hoppen started all 111 games of his career before suffering a knee injury late in his senior year.

• Shields became the sixth Husker basketball player to start 100 career games, and will move into fifth place on Saturday as he matches Ryan Anderson (2007-10).
• Shields’ father, Will, started a Kansas City Chiefs’ franchise record 223 straight games in his career, a streak which is the fifth-longest in NFL history.

TAI’S TAKING CHARGE
Tai Webster has emerged as a valuable scoring option for the Huskers during the 2015-16 season. The 6-foot-4 guard has averaged 10.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game over the last 14 games after averaging just 3.0 points in NU’s first three games this season. 

• Webster has been in double figures eight times in his last 15 games after reaching it a total of seven times in his first 65 games at Nebraska.
• He has been effective as a scoring guard off the bench, averaging 10.0 points per game on 51 percent shooting over the last six games, adding an experienced scorer to the Huskers’ second unit.
• He collected his second 20-point game of the year at No. 19 Iowa on Jan. 5, finishing with a career-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting and five rebounds.
• 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. In the win over Minnesota on Jan. 12, Webster had nine points, five rebounds and matched his career high with five assists.
• 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 a then-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 more than 30 percent of Nebraska’s point production.  Glynn Watson Jr., Jack McVeigh, Ed Morrow Jr. and Michael Jacobson have played in all 18 games, while Bakari Evelyn has appeared in 10 contests.

• For the past six games, Glynn Watson Jr. and Michael Jacobson have been in the starting lineup. Jacobson has started NU’s last nine games, while Ed Morrow Jr. made one start on Dec. 5. NU has started at least one freshmen each of the past 10 games.

Watson has seen time at both guard spots, averaging 7.3 points and 2.7 assists per game while posting a team-best 2.7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He is tied for the team lead with 23 steals and needs only two more to crack NU’s freshman top-10 list.

• He has been in double figures six times, including a season-high 17 points in the win over 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 a 12-point, four-assist performance against Rutgers on Saturday and followed it up with eight points, four assists and four steals against Minnesota on Tuesday.
• 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 of preseason practice with a foot injury, has averaged 4.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in just 14.6 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 nine games and is averaging 5.1 points on 48 percent shooting, 4.0 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots per game in that stretch. He matched his season high with 11 points against Rhode Island on Dec. 9 and had nine points, five rebounds and a season-high three blocked shots against Minnesota on Jan. 12.

McVeigh has been one of the primary scorers for the second unit, averaging 5.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. He is second on the team with 18 3-pointers while shooting 33 percent from long range.

• He had his best game of the year, totaling 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and six rebounds against Indiana on Jan. 2, tying or setting personal bests in points and rebounds.
• McVeigh has scored eight or more points six times, and had eight points and five rebounds in the win over Tennessee on Nov. 28.
• 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. 

Ed Morrow Jr. joins Jacobson in adding depth on the post. Morrow has played in all 18 games and averages 3.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while blocking a team-high 13 shots. He is also shooing 62 percent from the field.

• 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 reached double figures against Rutgers on Jan. 10 with 10 points and three rebounds.
• Over the last three games, Morrow has been playing some of his best basketball, averaging 7.0 ppg on 83 percent shooting and 3.0 rebounds per game.