Huskers Return Home to Face Penn State

GAME 26: PENN STATE Date: Saturday, Feb. 13 Time: 5:05 p.m. Arena: Pinnacle Bank Arena Tickets: Huskers.com/Tickets NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS 2015-16 Record: 13-12, 5-7 Big Ten Head coach: Tim Miles Record at Nebraska: 60-61 (4th year) Career Record: 343-281 (21st year) PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS 2015-16 Record: 12-12, 3-8 Big Ten Head coach: Patrick Chambers Record at Penn State: 68-87 (5th year) Career Record: 119-115 (7th year) BROADCAST INFO Television: ESPNU Play-by-play: Clay Matvick Expert Analysis: Sean Harrington Online: WatchESPN app and WatchESPN.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: 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 Saturday afternoon, as the Huskers welcome Penn State to Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Tipoff is set for 5:05 p.m. and a limited number of tickets are available by visiting Huskers.com, calling 800-8-BIGRED or at the Pinnacle Bank Arena box office Wednesday evening beginning at 3:30 p.m.

The contest between the Huskers and Nittany Lions will be televised nationally on ESPNU with Clay Matvick and Sean Harrington on the call. It is also available on the WatchESPN app and on WatchESPN.com.

Saturday’s game will also air across the state of Nebraska on the Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka and Matt Davison 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.

The short-handed Huskers (13-12, 5-7 Big Ten) ran into a hot-shooting Wisconsin team, as the Badgers hit 11-of-18 from 3-point range in a 72-61 loss Wednesday night. Freshman Glynn Watson Jr. led the Huskers with 16 points while Andrew White III added 10 points and seven rebounds. Nebraska was without senior Shavon Shields and freshman Ed Morrow Jr. in Wednesday’s loss to the Badgers.

Watson, one of three true freshmen in the lineup on Wednesday, has emerged during Big Ten play. The 6-foot guard from Bellwood, Ill., has become a solid scoring option for the Huskers in Big Ten play, averaging 10.4 ppg and 2.6 assists per game while also posting a 2.6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He has been in double figures in six of NU’s last seven games, and the only one he wasn’t was an eight-point, nine-assist effort against Rutgers last Saturday.

Penn State (12-12, 3-8 Big Ten) has been off since a 68-63 win over nationally-ranked Indiana last Saturday. The Nittany Lions held IU to just 36.2 percent shooting, while Brandon Taylor added a game-high 24 points and six rebounds for PSU. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Penn State.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

7.0 - Freshman Michael Jacobson is averaging 7.0 rebounds per game over NU’s last three contests. Jacobson is also averaging 9.7 ppg in that span.

2009-10 - The last time Nebraska had three players with at least 60 assists, as Benny Parker needs two more to join Shavon Shields and Glynn Watson Jr. with 60 assists in 2015-16.

9.7 - Nebraska is second in the Big Ten committing 9.7 turnovers per game in conference play. The Huskers have committed 10 or fewer turnovers in each of the last seven games.

63 - Three-pointers by Andrew White III this season, which is two away from 10th place on NU’s single-season list.

12.3 - Nebraska’s scoring average is 12.3 points higher than last year’s total. It is on pace to be the largest single-season increase in school history.

Season #1	PPG	Season #2	PPG	Increase
2014-15	61.5	2015-16	73.8	+12.3
1950-51	52.6	1951-52	62.3	+9.7
1964-65	68.2	1965-66	77.2	+9.0

SCOUTING PENN SATE
Penn State comes into Saturday’s game with a 12-12 record following a 68-63 win over Indiana on Feb. 6. Under fifth-year coach Pat Chambers, PSU went 9-4 during non-conference action, including a win over DePaul and a one-point loss to Colorado before struggling at times in Big Ten play. PSU’s best road effort came in a nine-point win against Northwestern on Jan. 16 and the win over the Hoosiers.

The Nittany Lions feature a pair of solid scorers in senior Brandon Taylor and sophomore Shep Garner. Taylor leads PSU in both scoring (16.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg) while Garner averages 13.6 points and 3.1 assists per game. Payton Banks (10.2 ppg) gives the Nittany Lions a third player in double figures, while PSU rotates 10 players into the game for depth. Garner leads PSU with 48 3-pointers while Taylor has 33 on the season.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday’s game is the 12th meeting between the Huskers and Nittany Lions and the first of two meetings this month. PSU broke the deadlock on the series with a 68-65 win in Chicago in last year’s Big Ten Tournament. Nebraska is 4-4 against PSU since joining the Big Ten in 2011-12. The teams played three times before Nebraska joined the Big Ten, a home-and-home series in 1980 and 1981 and in the second round of the 1995 NIT.

LAST MEETING
Nebraska missed a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds, as Penn State held off the Huskers, 68-65, in the first round of the 2015 Big Ten Tournament. Shavon Shields, who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, had a chance to send the game into overtime, but his 3-pointer was just off the mark, as Penn State advanced to the second round and ended the Huskers’ season.

Shields and Petteway nearly led the Huskers to a remarkable comeback, as Nebraska trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half before rallying in the final 16 minutes. Petteway led the Huskers with 29 points in a losing effort, his 13th 20-point game of the season. D.J. Newbill led Penn State with 26 points, including eight in a 14-1 second-half run that broke open a three-point game in the second half, while Shep Garner added 19 markers.

LAST TIME OUT
Nebraska ran into a hot-shooting Wisconsin team Wednesday night, as the Badgers hit 11 3-pointers in a 72-61 win over the Huskers.

Wisconsin (15-9, 7-4) hit 11-of-18 from 3-point range, including four consecutive 3-pointers after Nebraska pulled within two points in the opening minutes of the second half. Vitto Brown went 3-for-3 from long range en route to an 18-point effort, while Bronson Koenig had a pair of 3-points in the 12-4 Badger run to extend the lead.

Nebraska, playing without senior Shavon Shields for the first time in 107 games because of injury, cut the deficit to 44-38 after a Jack McVeigh basket with 13:32 left, but Wisconsin took command with seven straight points, including 3-pointers from Zak Showalter and Brown to extend the advantage to 51-38.

For Nebraska, freshman Glynn Watson Jr. led the way with 16 points, while Andrew White III added 10 for the Huskers, who fell to 13-12 on the season and 5-7 in Big Ten play.
Nigel Hayes led four Badgers in double figures with a game-high 20 points, while Koenig and Showalter added 12 and 10 points respectively for Wisconsin, which won its sixth straight game.

HUSKERS TO WEAR BLACK HISTORY MONTH JERSEY; PAY TRIBUTE TO WILBUR WOOD
adidas and Nebraska unveil the Black History Month collection to pay tribute to Wilbur Wood, the Huskers’ first African-American basketball player. Wood lettered from 1908 to 1910 and was one of the first black players to gain prominence in collegiate hoops.

Designed to celebrate Nebraska’s early years, the uniforms feature red tones and a cream stripe across the jersey with the classic N logo on display. While the uniforms of old did not incorporate numbers, the 2016 collection features classic block numbering with cream accents below the stripe and on the back of the jersey.

To give players optimum performance on the court, the uniforms feature the same lightweight, sweat-wicking technology used in the NBA. Targeted ventilation zones on the chest, back and side keep players cool even in the most intense moments of the game. A mid-hole mesh on the short maximizes comfort and breathability as the game heats up.

The Huskers will also lace-up adidas’ Black History Month basketball sneaker collection inspired by Jesse Owens. At the 1936 Berlin summer games, Owens became a groundbreaking athlete and symbol for social justice and equality after a historic performance where he became the first American track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a single games. Each shoe in the collection features cream tones, dark brown contrasts, gold accents and signature details including Owen’s 733 bib number treated with gold foil on the tongue and a 1936 graphic-print in the sockliner.

Nebraska will sport the Black History Month uniforms on Feb. 13 against Penn State at Pinnacle Bank Arena, as well as the road games at Indiana on Feb. 17 and at Penn State on Feb. 25.

WORTH NOTING

• 10 of the Huskers’ 12 losses have come to teams currently rated in the top 50 in the KenPom rankings, including four to teams in the top 15. In fact, five of NU’s losses are to teams in the top-12 of this week’s AP poll.
• Nebraska’s 73.8 ppg in Big Ten play is not only an 18-point improvement on NU’s conference scoring average (57.1 ppg), but is the first time NU has averaged at least 70 points in conference action since the 2001-02 campaign.
• The Huskers have been much better handling the basketball in Big Ten play. In conference action, NU is second in the Big Ten with 9.7 turnovers per game. In non-conference action, NU averaged 14.5 turnovers per game.
• Nebraska has scored 70+ points seven times in Big Ten play, which is already the best since joining the Big Ten (six in 2013-14).
• One of the biggest differences between the Huskers’ wins and losses in Big Ten play has been defending the 3-point line. In the Huskers’ five wins, opponents are shooting 31 percent from long distance, while that number jumps to 50 percent in the Huskers’ seven Big Ten losses.
• Since moving Glynn Watson Jr. into the starting lineup and shortening the rotation on Dec. 22, Nebraska has been efficient, averaging 74.4 ppg while shooting 47 percent from the floor. Watson has flourished as well, averaging 9.8 points, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
• Glynn Watson Jr. has been one of the Big Ten’s best newcomers at point guard this season. The Bellwood, Ill., product is averaging 8.9 ppg and 2.6 apg while his 2.60 assist-to-turnover ratio is one of the best ratios by a Husker in 30 years.

Huskers with 2.5 Assist-to-Turnover Ratio (Last 30 Years)

Ratio	Player	Asst.-TO’s	Year
3.04	Brian Carr	201-66	1985-86
2.73	Jamar Johnson	123-45	1993-94
2.60	Glynn Watson Jr.	65-25	2015-16
2.57	Charles Richadson Jr.	179-71	2006-07
minimum 2 assists/gm

• Nebraska is one of three programs in the nation (joining Washington and Tulsa) 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 weekend, only 61 players in Division I have reached those averages.
• NU enters the Penn State game sixth in the conference in rebounding margin at +3.9 per game. NU has not finished with a positive rebounding margin since joining the Big Ten in 2011-12.
• Much of Nebraska’s inconsistency can be attributed to youth, as freshmen account for 37 percent of the Huskers’ minutes in 2015-16. The 37 percent is the most in the Big Ten. In conference action, the number jumps to 40 percent of the Huskers’ total playing time and 35 percent of NU’s offense.
• In research by Bradley University, Nebraska ranks fifth among all power conference teams in minutes played, as Husker freshman have combined for 1,875 minutes in 2015-16. NU trails only Washington, Boston College, Kentucky, and Duke among minutes played by freshmen in power conferences.
• Nebraska's 3-point shooting has jumped from 28.4 percent to 35.2 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.