Huskers Host Michigan on #Averystrong Day

GAME 21: VS. MICHIGAN Date: Saturday, Jan. 23 Time: 1:06 p.m. Arena: Pinnacle Bank Arena Tickets: Sold Out NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS 2015-16 Record: 12-8, 4-3 Big Ten Head coach: Tim Miles Record at Nebraska: 59-57 (4th year) Career Record: 342-277 (21st year) MICHIGAN WOLVERINES 2015-16 Record: 14-5, 4-2 Big Ten Head coach: John Beilein Record at Michigan: 180-115 (9th year) Career Record: 731-433 (38th year) BROADCAST INFO Television: ESPN2 Play-by-play: Dave Lamont Expert Analysis: Dan Dakich 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: Sirius 135; XM-195 Also available online at Huskers.com, on the Huskers App and TuneIn Radio

The Nebraska men’s basketball team looks for its fifth straight win Saturday afternoon, as the Huskers return home to face Michigan on #AveryStrong Day.

Tipoff from a sold-out Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 1:05 p.m. and the contest will be televised nationally on ESPN2 with Dave Lamont and Dan Dakich on the call. The contest will also be available on the WatchESPN app 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 Ben McLaughlin on the call, 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.

Saturday’s game is the third-annual #AveryStrong game, as the Husker basketball team will look to raise awareness and add names to the national bone marrow registry. Fans between the ages of 18 and 44 can sign up on Saturday to join the national bone marrow registry, as volunteers will be on hand to swab the cheeks of potential bone marrow donors. Fans who are between 18-44 who sign up on Saturday will receive an #AveryStrong t-shirt.

The Huskers (12-8, 4-3 Big Ten) are coming off one of the biggest road wins in recent years, a 72-71 win at No. 11 Michigan State Wednesday evening. Nebraska relied on an outstanding performance from Shavon Shields, who had 19 of his season-high 28 points in the second half. The Huskers, who have won four straight conference games since an 0-3 start, found a way to win despite leading scorer Andrew White III scoring seven points and being saddled with foul trouble. Glynn Watson Jr. and Tai Webster stepped up at Michigan State as Watson had 13 points, while Webster came off the bench for 10 points and seven rebounds.

Michigan is 14-5 on the season and 4-2 in the Big Ten following a 74-69 win over Minnesota Wednesday. Derrick Walton Jr. had 22 points, while Zak Irvin added 19 points and 11 rebounds.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
53.2 - Nebraska’s shooting percentage during its four-game win streak. The Huskers have shot 50 percent or better in all four games and became the first team to shoot 50 percent against Michigan State since Duke in last year’s national semifinals.

5- Nebraska is bidding for its fifth straight Big Ten win, which would tie the Huskers’ longest streak since joining the conference. NU also won five straight between Feb. 8-20, 2014.

1998 - The last time Nebraska won three straight road games in conference play (Texas A&M, Colorado, Iowa State) before the Huskers’ current streak.

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 (16.1 ppg; 5.3 rpg; 3.0 apg) is threatening in 2015-16.

75.9 - Nebraska’s scoring average in Big Ten play so far, which includes games against both Big Ten co-leaders. Last year, NU averaged 57.1 ppg in the league and cracked 70 only twice.

.800 - Freshman Ed Morrow Jr. is shooting 80.0 percent in Big Ten play. Morrow and Michael Jacobson, are combining for 9.5 points on 63 percent shooting and 7.5 rebounds per game in Big Ten play. Jacobson matched his season high with eight rebounds at Michigan State.

 

SCOUTING MICHIGAN
Michigan comes into Saturday’s game with a 14-5 record and is fifth in the Big Ten with a 4-2 conference mark after a 74-69 win over Minnesota on Wednesday.

The Wolverines went 2-2 in their first four games, but have played much better of late, going 8-2 in their last 10 contests with the only losses coming to nationally ranked Purdue and Iowa. UM has been without Caris LeVert (17.6 ppg; 5.4 rpg; 5.2 apg) since the start of January, although he is potentially close to returning to action.

In his absence, the Wolverines have been a balanced club with five players averaging at least 9.5 points per game, including four in double figures. Michigan is an efficient offensive team that is shooting 45 percent from the field in Big Ten play, including over 40 percent from 3-point range. Junior Zak Irvin leads UM with 13.8 ppg in Big Ten play while shooting 46 percent from 3-point range. Derrick Walton Jr. adds 12.8 ppg and 6.7 rpg, while Mark Donnal is averaging 11.7 ppg and 7.0 rpg in conference action.

 

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday’s meeting is the 14th between the Huskers and Wolverines. Michigan leads the all-time series, 11-2, in a series that dates back to 1949, although the Wolverines’ win over the Huskers in the 1992 Rainbow Classic was later vacated. Michigan has been ranked in the national polls in six of the 13 previous matchups, including three of the five meetings since the Huskers joined the Big Ten. Michigan has won all five conference meetings with the Huskers and are the only one of the original Big Ten members that NU has not beaten since joining the conference prior to the 2011-12 season. One of Nebraska’s two wins in the series was a 74-73 win over No. 1 Michigan at the NU Coliseum on Dec. 12, 1964. In that game, Fred Hare’s buzzer beater knocked off the Cazzie Russell-led Wolverines. That win is one of three wins over No. 1 ranked teams in Nebraska’s history.

 

LAST YEAR
Michigan 58; Nebraska 44 (Jan. 27, 2015): Michigan used an 18-2 run to take control, while the Wolverines shot 54 percent in the second half to earn a 58-44 victory over Nebraska Tuesday night. The Wolverines used a balanced attack despite being without Derrick Walton Jr. because of injury, as Zak Irvin had 14 points and 12 boards while Aubrey Dawkins and Max Bielfelt had 13 and 12 points, respectively for the winners.
Dawkins had all 13 of his points in the first half, as Michigan built a 23-18 lead at the break before jumping on the Huskers by scoring 15 of the first 17 points in the second half to build an 18-point lead.

Shavon Shields led NU with 14 points, but was the only Husker in double figures. Terran Petteway was held to seven points, snapping a streak of 30 straight games in double figures, as the Huskers were held to a season-low 44 points.

LAST TIME OUT
Shavon Shields matched his season high with 28 points, including 19 in the second half, as Nebraska picked up its fourth straight win, a 72-71 win over No. 11 Michigan State at the Breslin Center.

Shields was spectacular, hitting 12-of-20 shots from the field to lead three Huskers in double figures. Shields, who missed the final 4:24 minutes of the first half after landing on his back, hit 8 of 13 shots after returning to action, as three Huskers finished in double figures.

Glynn Watson Jr. added 13 points while Tai Webster finished with 10 points and seven rebounds for Nebraska (12-8, 4-3 Big Ten). Webster helped the Huskers in the final minutes of the first half, as NU was without Shields and Andrew White, who was in foul trouble and held to seven points.

The win gave NU three straight conference road wins for the first time since 1998 and snapped a 10-game losing streak to ranked teams dating back to 2014.

Trailing 56-51, Nebraska took control with a 13-0 run keyed by a pair of 3-pointers from Jack McVeigh, who had eight points and six rebounds off the bench. Shields, who also had six points in the run, closed the run with a 3-point play, giving Nebraska a 64-56 lead with 8:34 left.

The Huskers held MSU (16-4, 3-4 Big Ten) to 42 percent shooting, but the Spartans stayed in the game by hitting 11 of 18 from 3-point range, including 6-of-7 in the second half.

With Nebraska leading 68-62 with 1:55 left, the Spartans made one last run. MSU pulled to with 70-68 on an Enron Harris 3-pointer with 48 seconds left. NU ran clock on the next possession, as a Shields basket with 19 seconds left put the Huskers up, 72-68.
MSU kept fighting and when Denzel Valentine’s off-balance 3-pointer with 5.3 seconds left made it a one point game. The Spartans fouled Tai Webster, who missed the front end of a 1-and-1, giving MSU a chance. Valentine had a good look but his shot was off, giving the Huskers a third straight win over the Spartans and snapping a 10-game losing streak against ranked opponents.

 

#AVERYSTRONG DAY ON SATURDAY
As part of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Suits and Sneakers Awareness Week, the Nebraska men’s basketball program is having its third-annual #AveryStrong game and Bone Marrow Donor Drive on Saturday.

Several activities are taking place to help fight cancer and support Avery Harriman, the 8-year-old son of former NU assistant coach Chris Harriman and his wife Cheryl. Avery has been battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia since he was 2-years old.

• To honor the fight that Avery has gone through, the first 500 students at Saturday’s game will receive a special #AveryStrong shirt provided by Husker IMG Sports Marketing.
• Fans between the ages of 18 and 44 can sign up on Saturday to join the bone marrow registry, as volunteers will be on hand to take the test to be a potential bone marrow match. In addition, information will be available to fans about the National Marrow Donor Program.
• Avery and other children battling pediatric cancer will be in attendance on Saturday and recognized during pregame ceremonies.
• The Husker coaching and support staff will be participating in Coaches vs. Cancer Suits And Sneakers™ Awareness Week, a collaborative initiative of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the American Cancer Society. Coach Miles will wear sneakers for Saturday’s game, as well as the Jan. 30 game at Purdue, to demonstrate his support for the American Cancer Society’s efforts to finish the fight against cancer.

 

WORTH NOTING

• Nebraska has shot 50 percent in each of its last four 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 battled on the glass, and was only out-rebounded 38-32 by a Michigan State team that led the conference in rebounding margin. For the season, NU is out-rebounding opponents by nearly six rebounds a game, which put the Huskers on pace to have its first positive rebounding margin since joining the Big Ten. The MSU game snapped a three-game stretch where the Huskers out-rebounded its opponents by double figures, the first time NU has done that in conference play in more than 35 years.
• Nebraska has scored 70+ points in each of its last four Big Ten games and in five of seven this season. The most times NU has reached 70 points in the Big Ten era is six, which occurred during the 2013-14 campaign. The 72 points at MSU (which was 10 points above MSU’s defensive average) snapped a streak of three straight games of at least 75 points.
• 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.
• Since moving Glynn Watson Jr. into the starting lineup and shortening the rotation on Dec. 22, Nebraska has been efficient, averaging 76.5 ppg while shooting 49.4 percent from the floor. NU has also cut its turnovers down to 10.5 per game after averaging 14.4 turnovers per game in the first 11 contests.
• Glynn Watson Jr. has been one of the Big Ten’s best newcomers at point guard this season. The Bellwood, Ill., product is averaging 8.1 ppg and 2.6 apg while his 2.43 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 17 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 one of three programs in the nation (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 games, only 65 players in Division I have reached those averages.
• Much of Nebraska’s inconsistency can be attributed to youth, as freshmen account for 37 percent of the Huskers’ minutes in 2015-16. In Big Ten action, that number jumps to 40 percent of the Huskers’ total playing time.
• Nebraska's 3-point shooting has jumped from 28.4 percent to 36.2 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.
• Six of NU’s eight losses this season are to teams in the top 40 in the KenPom ratings, including the No. 1 and No. 2 rated teams (at Villanova and at Iowa). The only non-top75 loss in the KenPom was against Samford on Dec. 20.
• Nebraska has three 90-point games this season, which matches the team’s total for the previous eight seasons.

 

MARKING MILESTONES...
During the month of January, the Huskers have hit several milestones after snapping an 11-game conference losing streak on Jan. 9.

• The 34-point win at Rutgers on Jan. 9, marked the Huskers’ largest road win in conference play and the Huskers’ largest margin of victory in a road game since 1920.
• Nebraska's 20+ victories over Rutgers and Minnesota marked the first time since 1971 that NU won consecutive conference games by at least 20 points. Against Minnesota, NU led by 38 with seven minutes left before clearing the bench.
• The win at Illinois on Jan. 16 was the Huskers’ first in Champaign since 1921, ending a nine-game losing streak there.

 

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 74.5 points per game entering Saturday’s game vs. Michigan is more than 10 points higher than NU’s average through its first 20 games of the 2014-15 season (64.2 ppg).

• NU’s 74.5 average is the highest scoring average after 20 games since the 1995-96 season (85.7 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 (.493) and is fourth in scoring offense (75.9 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 106th (.362) entering Saturday’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 20 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 17.0 points per game, which leads all conference newcomers. He is also 15th in rebounding (6.1 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 (2.6) while shooting 43.9 percent from long range.
• White has been in double figures in 16 of NU’s 20 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 1,448 points to rank 11th on NU’s career scoring list. Shields has climbed from 24th to 11th during his senior year and sits in 15th place with 620 career rebounds. 

On the season, the 6-foot-7 senior is averaging 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Shields ranks eighth in the Big Ten in scoring and 14th in steals, and is first or second on the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. 

• Shields is one of only 22 players nationally averaging 15.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.95 apg and 1.0 spg, a list that also features Kris Dunn of Providence, Denzel Valentine of Michigan State, 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 willed the Huskers to a win at No. 11 Michigan State, finishing with a season-high 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting.
• He has reached double figures in 17 of NU’s 20 games, including a 28-point, five-rebound effort against No. 21 Miami on Dec. 1 and a 28-point effort at No. 11 Michigan State on Jan. 20
• 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.
• Shields has 71 career games in double figures, including 20 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.

 

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 is fourth all time at Nebraska with 102 career starts. 
• 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 4.2 rebounds per game over the last 17 games after averaging just 3.0 points in NU’s first three games this season. 

• Webster has been in double figures 10 times in his last 17 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 10.8 points per game on 54 percent shooting over the last eight games, adding an experienced scorer to the Huskers’ second unit. He has reached double figures five times in NU’s last eight contests.
• His contributions against No. 11 Michigan State were vital, finishing with 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists, keeping NU in the game late in the first half while Shavon Shields and Andrew White III were out of the game.
• 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.

 

HUSKER 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 31 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 20 games, while Bakari Evelyn has appeared in 10 contests.

• For the past eight games, Glynn Watson Jr. and Michael Jacobson have been in the starting lineup. Jacobson has started NU’s last 11 games, while Ed Morrow Jr. made one start on Dec. 5. NU has started at least one freshmen each of the past 12 games.

 

Watson has seen time at both guard spots, averaging 8.1 points and 2.6 assists per game while posting a team-best 2.4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He leads the team with 27 steals, moving into NU’s top-10 freshman list with a pair of steals on Wednesday at MSU.

• He has been in double figures eight 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 four games, Watson is averaging 12.5 points, 2.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He is shooting 55 percent from the floor and 86 percent from the foul line.

 

Jacobson, who missed nearly two months of preseason practice with a foot injury, has averaged 4.2 points and 3.7 rebounds in just 15.3 minutes per outing. He had 11 points and seven rebounds against Southeastern Louisiana and totaled a season-best eight caroms against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and at No. 11 Michigan State.

• Jacobson moved into the starting lineup on Dec. 9 and is averaging 4.7 points on 47 percent shooting, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 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 20 3-pointers while shooting 35 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 played a key role in NU’s win at Michigan State, hitting a pair of 3-pointers in a 13-0 second half run that turned a 56-51 defict into an eight point lead. He finished with eight points and a season-high six rebounds.
• 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 20 games and averages 3.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while blocking a team-high 14 shots. He is also shooting a team-high 63 percent from the field.

• Morrow has provided a strong rebounder in his limited action, totaling four or more rebounds 10 times while averaging 14.1 minutes per game.
• Over the last four games, Morrow has been playing some of his best basketball, averaging 5.6 ppg on 81 percent shooting and 3.8 rebounds per game. He had 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.