Huskers Travel to No. 11 Michigan State

GAME 20: AT NO. 11 /10 MICHIGAN STATE Date: Wednesday, Jan. 20 Time: 5:31 p.m. (CT) Arena: Breslin Center Location: East Lansing, Mich. NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS 2015-16 Record: 11-8, 3-3 Big Ten Head coach: Tim Miles Record at Nebraska: 58-57 (4th year) Career Record: 341-277 (21st year) NO. 11/10 MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS 2015-16 Record: 16-3, 3-3 Big Ten Head coach: Tom Izzo Record at Michigan State: 511-202 (21st year) Career Record: same BROADCAST INFO Television: BTN Play-by-play: Joe Davis Expert Analysis: Jon Crispin 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: Ben McLaughlin Satellite Radio (MSU feed): Sirius-83; XM-195 Also available online at Huskers.com, on the Huskers App and TuneIn Radio

The Nebraska men’s basketball team looks for its fourth straight win Wednesday evening, as the Huskers travel to East Lansing, Mich., for a matchup with No. 11/10 (AP/Coaches) Michigan State.

Tipoff from the Breslin Center is slated for 5:31 p.m. (CT) and the contest will be televised nationally on BTN with Joe Davis and Jon Crispin on the call. The contest will also be available on BTN2Go on laptops, tablets and mobile devices.

Wednesday’s contest will also air across the state of Nebraska on the Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka and Ben McLaughlin, 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 (11-8, 3-3 Big Ten) are coming off one of their best performances of the year, a 78-67 win at Illinois Saturday afternoon. Nebraska shot 53.6 percent and had four players with at least 14 points in picking up the program’s first win in Champaign since 1921.

The biggest difference for the Huskers during the three-game win streak is on the defensive end, as Nebraska has held its last three foes to a combined 38 percent shooting and out-rebounded its opponents by over 18 caroms per contest. Four Huskers are averaging at least five rebounds per game in that stretch, led by Andrew White’s 9.7 rebounds per game. In Nebraska’s first three Big Ten games, the Huskers were out-rebounded by 6.7 boards per game. If Nebraska is to pick up a second straight win in East Lansing, the Huskers will need to limit the Spartans on the boards, as the Spartans lead the Big Ten in rebounding margin at +12.5 per game.

Michigan State (16-3, 3-3 Big Ten) comes into Wednesday’s game looking to break a two-game losing streak following a 77-76 loss at Wisconsin Sunday afternoon. In that game, Denzel Valentine had 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists to pace four Spartans in double figures, but Wisconsin shot 45 percent and went 29-of-36 from the foul line.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

.842 - Freshman Ed Morrow Jr. is shooting 84.2 percent in Big Ten play and is averaging 8.3 ppg in NU’s last three games. NU’s two primary freshman posts, Morrow and Michael Jacobson, are combining for 10.4 points on 68 percent shooting and 6.8 rebounds per game in Big Ten play.

1998 - The last time Nebraska won three straight road games in conference play (Texas A&M, Colorado, Iowa State), something the Huskers are bidding for on Wednesday.

1999 - The last time Nebraska won three consecutive games by double figures.

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 (15.4 ppg; 5.4 rpg; 3.1 apg) is threatening in 2015-16.

12 - 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).

13- Number of 20-point games by the Huskers in 2015-16 (6-White III; 5-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 MICHIGAN STATE
Under Tom Izzo, the Spartans have been one of the flagship programs in the Big Ten. The Spartans have made seven Final Fours in the last 17 seasons and made 18 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Izzo, who is in his 21st year at MSU, returns three starters from a team that won 27 games and reached the Final Four in 2015. MSU won its first 13 games before falling to Iowa in its Big Ten opener on Dec. 30. MSU had won three straight before dropping back-to-back games to Iowa and at Wisconsin.

MSU, which is ranked 11th in the AP poll released Monday, comes into Wednesday’s game averaging 78.9 points per game, while shooting 49 percent from the floor and 39 percent from 3-point range. The Spartans have been solid defensively, holding opponents to 37 percent shooting, including just 28 percent from 3-point range.

The Spartans feature one of the country’s top players in senior Denzel Valentine. The 6-foot-5 guard is one of the frontrunners for national player of the year, as he leads MSU in scoring (17.9 ppg) and assists (6.6 apg) while also grabbing 7.7 rebounds per game. Senior Bryn Forbes joins Valentine in double figures, averaging 13.6 points per game while shooting 47 percent from 3-point range. MSU has balance with three other players averaging at least eight points per game.

SERIES HISTORY
Michigan State leads the all-time series, 12-8, in a rivalry that dates back to February of 1920, and has won four of the six meetings since the Huskers joined the Big Ten in 2011-12. Nebraska brings a two-game win streak against the Spartans into Wednesday’s game. Nebraska has faced a ranked Michigan State team in 10 of the last 11 matchups.

• Nebraska won the first two meetings on consecutive days, posting a 43-26 win on Feb. 13, 1920, and a 39-20 win the following day.
• The teams played six times between 1988 and 1994, splitting the six contests. Nebraska’s three wins in the span came by a total of 11 points.
• Nebraska’s last win vs. MSU in East Lansing came two seasons ago, when Terran Petteway and Walter Pitchford combined for 41 points to give NU its first road win over a top-10 team since 1997 with a 60-51 win over the ninth-ranked Spartans.

LAST SEASON
Nebraska 79, Michigan State 77 (Jan. 24, 2015): Terran Petteway and Shavon Shields combined for 53 points, as Nebraska built a double-digit lead and withstood a frantic Michigan State comeback in a 79-77 win.

The Huskers thrilled a sellout crowd of 15,757 on #AveryStrong Day, as Petteway finished with a season-high 32 points, while Shavon Shields finished with 21 points and seven rebounds. Nebraska shot 49 percent from the floor, and turned in one of its best free throwing shooting efforts, going 29-of-37 from the line.

Michigan State, which trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half, cut the lead two points with 2.2 seconds left after a Travis Trice layup, but the Huskers got the inbounds pass in and ran out the clock.

Trice led Michigan State with 27 points while Denzel Valentine had 21 points and 11 rebounds.

LAST TIME OUT
Nebraska continued its winning ways, shooting 53.6 percent in posting a 78-67 win over Illinois. The Huskers put four players in double figures, led by Andrew White III’s 21 points and 13 rebounds, as the Nebraska picked up its first win in Champaign since 1921.

White scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, as the Huskers withstood a flurry of 3-pointers by Illinois. Freshman Glynn Watson Jr. matched his career high with 17 points, while Tai Webster and Shavon Shields added 16 and 14 points, respectively as the Huskers won its third straight game and picked up consecutive road wins in conference for the second time in the Big Ten era.

Nebraska took control of the game with a 17-4 spurt behind the play of Webster, who scored all nine of his first-half points in the surge to help Nebraska build a 35-23 lead.

Illinois opened the second half with a 9-4 run to pull within 43-39 after straight points from Michael Finke, but Nebraska responded with a 10-0 spurt to extend the lead back to 14. Andrew White III started the run with a 3-point play with 15:49 left as White scored six points in the run that was capped by a Shields floater with 13:29 left. Illinois came right back, as Maverick Morgan keyed a 6-0 spurt to make it 53-45 and force a Husker timeout with 12:02 left, but the Huskers would regroup. Nebraska went on a 12-3 run, including 3-pointers from White and Webster and pushed the lead to 14 after a White drive with 7:44 remaining.

Illinois pulled to within 72-66 after Jaylen Tate’s basket with 1:02 left, but could get no closer, as the Huskers went 6-of-6 from the line in the final minute to complete the victory.

WORTH NOTING

• Nebraska has shot 50 percent in each of its last three conference games, the first time that has happened since a four-game stretch in 2007-08 (Kansas State, at Texas A&M, Oklahoma and at Oklahoma State). It also marks just the third time in the last quarter century that NU has shot over 50 percent in three straight conference games (also in 2003-04).
• Nebraska has out-rebounded its last three opponents by double figures, the first time that has happened since a four-game stretch to start the 2004-05 season and the first time it has happened in three straight conference games in more than 35 years.
• Nebraska has scored 75 points or more in each of the last three conference games, marking the first time it has happened since a four-game stretch in 2002.
• The only Husker from Michigan on the 2015-16 roster is freshman Bakari Evelyn, who is originally from Detroit, but spent his last year of high school in Arizona. Evelyn has appeared in 10 games as a true freshman, averaging 2.1 points per game. Evelyn won three state titles in the Breslin Center during his career at Southfield Christian.
• Glynn Watson Jr. has been one of the Big Ten’s best newcomers at point guard this season. The Bellwood, Ill., product is averaging 7.8 ppg and 2.6 apg while his 2.47 assist-to-turnover ratio is the best by a Husker since Charles Richardson had a 2.57-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in 2006-07.
• Andrew White III is one of only 18 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 Sunday’s games.
• Nebraska is one of four in the nation (Florida State, Illinois 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 this week, only 65 players in Division I reach those averages.
• Nebraska’s ball movement has been better since putting freshman Glynn Watson Jr. into the starting lineup on Dec 22. NU has averaged 13.7 assists per game over the last seven 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 looks to snap a 10-game losing streak to ranked opponents dating back to 2013-14.
• 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 36.5 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.

HUSKERS WINNING WITH IMPROVED OFFENSE
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 about the Huskers’ offensive production NU’s offense has been efficient, as NU’s average of 74.6 points per game entering Wednesday’s game at Michigan State is more than nine points higher than NU’s average through its first 19 games of 2014-15 season (65.3 ppg)

• NU’s 74.6 average is the highest scoring average after 19 games since the 1995-96 season (86.4 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.
• In Big Ten play, Nebraska leads the conference in field goal percentage (.491) and is third in scoring offense (76.5 ppg).
• 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 97th (.365) entering Wednesday’s game at Michigan State.
• Five of Nebraska’s top-eight scorers are in their first year of competition as a Husker, as newcomers have accounted for 54 percent of NU’s total offense in the first 19 games.
• Five of NU’s newcomers have already posted double-digit efforts, including a team-high 16 by Andrew White III and seven 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 17.5 points per game, which leads all conference newcomers. He is also ninth in rebounding (6.3 rpg), pacing the Huskers in scoring and rebounding.

• White is one of the Big Ten’s top 3-point shooters, ranking fourth in 3-pointers per game (2.7) while shooting 44.1 percent from long range.
• In Big Ten play, White has raised his averages to 18.5 ppg and 8.0 rpg while adding nearly two assists per game.
• White has been in double figures in 16 of NU’s 19 games, including six 20-point efforts.
• He has three double-doubles on the year, posting them against Creighton (28 points and 10 rebounds), Samford (17 points and 11 rebounds) and at Illinois (21 points and 13 rebounds).
• White nearly picked up another double-double 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 11th during his senior year and sits in 16th place with 617 career rebounds.

On the season, the 6-foot-7 senior is averaging 15.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Shields ranks 10th in the Big Ten in scoring and 12th 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, 3.0 apg and 1.0 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.
• Shields moved to 11th on NU’s career scoring list after his 14-point effort at Illinois on Saturday, and is 10 rebounds away from jumping into 14th on the Huskers’ all-time rebounding 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 16 of NU’s 19 games, including a season-high 28-point, five-rebound effort against No. 21 Miami on Dec. 1.
• Shields has 71 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 Jan. 12, 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 fourth place on Wednesday as he matches Jaron Boone (1993-96) with his 102nd career start.
• 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 11.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game over the last 16 games after averaging just 3.0 points in NU’s first three games this season.
 Webster has been in double figures nine times in his last 16 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 10.9 points per game on 55 percent shooting over the last seven games, adding an experienced scorer to the Huskers’ second unit. He has reached double figures four times in NU’s last seven contests.
 Webster provided a spark in NU's win at Illinois, finishing with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and six rebounds.
 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.
 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 has accounted for more than 30 percent of Nebraska’s point production on the season, including 34 percent in Big Ten action. Glynn Watson Jr., Jack McVeigh, Ed Morrow Jr. and Michael Jacobson have played in all 19 games, while Bakari Evelyn has appeared in 10 contests.

• For the past seven games, Glynn Watson Jr. and Michael Jacobson have been in the starting lineup. Jacobson has started NU’s last 10 games, while Ed Morrow Jr. made one start on Dec. 5. NU has started at least one freshmen each of the past 11 games.

Watson has seen time at both guard spots, averaging 7.8 points and 2.6 assists per game while posting a team-best 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He leads the team with 24 steals and needs only one more to crack NU’s freshman top-10 list.

• He has been in double figures seven times, including a season-high 17 points against Rhode Island (Dec. 13) and at Illinois (Jan. 16). Against Rhode Island, he scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half to rally the Huskers from an 11-point deficit.
• Over the last three games, Watson is averaging 12.3 points, 2.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He is shooting 58 percent from the floor and 86 percent from the foul line. Watson had a 12-point, four-assist performance against Rutgers on Jan. 9 and followed it up with eight points, four assists and four steals against Minnesota on Jan. 12.

Jacobson, who missed nearly two months of preseason practice with a foot injury, has averaged 4.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in just 14.4 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 on Dec. 9 and is averaging 4.8 points on 50 percent shooting, 3.8 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 5.2 points and 2.9 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 19 games and averages 3.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while blocking a team-high 14 shots. He is also shooing a team-high 62 percent from the field.

• Morrow has provided a strong rebounder in his limited action, totaling four or more rebounds nine times while averaging 14.3 minutes per game.
• Over the last four games, Morrow has been playing some of his best basketball, averaging 7.0 ppg on 86 percent shooting and 3.8 rebounds per game. He comes off one of his best games of the year at Illinois, finishing with six points and a season-high six rebounds while playing a season-high 28 minutes.
• 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.